All Forum Posts by: Adam Treece

Hi all, 

If anyone is interested we will be having an REI meet up at the new Okinawa Rycom Mall (Aeyon near Camp Foster) tomorrow night (Sunday 5 Feb) @1830. We will be meeting at the Starbucks and will have some investors just talking about their investing. Hope to see you there!

@Jim Stanley

Seems like you have quite the dilemma on your hands.  The question I would ask myself would be this; what are my goals, and does this help me reach them?

I know its not much, but maybe give it some thought and it may help clear things up.

Best of luck

-Adam

@Account Closed

First of all I will say, yes this seems pretty common...I know I certainly had issues getting support from my spouse, and still do to some degree.  That said, she has never tried to stop me from doing it, she just has never expressed any interest and generally tries to avoid any conversations dealing with the subject.  

Just recently though, we did close on a quad in Atlanta, and she was apart of the deal.  I will say what has worked for me is just being persistent with you desire to learn and invest in real estate.  Hopefully your significant other (over time) will realize how important it is to you, and will also be able to eventually see the fruits of your labor.  I think the longer I have been dedicated to it, the more accommodating my spouse has been with it.  This is not to say she is fully supportive, but at least she doesn't think I am crazy anymore (that was the case at first). Because she trusts me and knows that I am not going to get into something unless I completely understand it, she eventually conceded that it must not be that terrible of an idea.

In my opinion, the differences usually stem from a lack of education in the matter, and potentially the lack of a solid financial education too.  Maybe you could persuade your significant other to read some of the same books that got you interested to begin with (if there are any), and if that doesn't work, my best advice is to just stick with it.

Hope this helps.

-Best of luck, 

Adam 

Here is a list of some great Real Estate books.  Also not listed below, the BiggerPockets books are also excellent.  I read the "The Book on Tax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor"  and it was good read.  I am also currently reading "The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down" which is also very informative.

1. Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens: The Secrets about Money--That You Don't Learn in School! - Kiyosaki, Robert T.
2. Loopholes of Real Estate - Sutton, Garrett*
3. Real Estate Riches: How to Become Rich Using Your Banker's Money - Roos, Dolf de
4. The Advanced Guide to Real Estate Investing: How to Identify the Hottest Markets and Secure the Best Deals - McElroy, Ken
5. Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant: Employee, Self-Employed, Business Owner, or Investor...Which Is the Best Quadrant for You? - Kiyosaki, Robert T.
6. The ABCs of Real Estate Investing: The Secrets of Finding Hidden Profits Most Investors Miss - McElroy, Ken
7. Commercial Real Estate Investing: A Creative Guide to Successfully Making Money - Roos, Dolf de
8. Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! - Kiyosaki, Robert T.
9. The Millionaire Next Door - Stanley, Thomas J.
10. Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Kiyosaki, Robert T.

And lastly two Business books which are my favorite and I think translate very easily into the Real estate world are:

1. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It - Chris Voss and Tahl Raz

2. Start With NO...The Negotiating Tools that the Pros Don't Want You to Know - Jim Camp

Hopefully thats enough to get you going.

@Rick Baggenstoss 

Thanks for the info.  Just curious if you have had any experience doing this, and is the upfront cost going to be worth the savings, or would you just go with the RUBS route? 

Does anyone have any experience going through the of sub-metering process with Dekalb county water in Decatur, Ga or within the surrounding Atlanta area? I just purchased a quad in Decatur and water is paid by the owner for the time being, but I would like to get that cost diverted to the tenants in some fashion. Thoughts?

@Jimmy Dang I organize it here, but I am sure there are some BP members who organize one up there too.  Try touching base with @Pyrrha Rivers and see if she is still up that way.  I am sure if you poke around you can find something, and if not, then just organize it.  I guarantee that people will come.

@Jimmy Dang Where are you at here in Japan? If you are in the Okinawa area, would love to have you join our monthly REI meet-ups. If you happen to be in mainland, I am sure you could probably find some there too if you haven't already. Being stationed overseas provides a great opportunity to save a little more money than usual...take advantage of that and soon enough you will be on your way too.

@Andrew K. Thanks!  It looks like you have been at this for a while, I would love to hear more about how you have grown to where you are today while serving at the same time. How long have you been investing, and how did you get your business up and going?  I have to agree that the convenience of investing in your own back yard would be nice, but unfortunately living in Japan that wasn't an option for me so I was forced to look to other markets.  It has been a long road and required a lot of patience, but it is finally paying off.  As far as other markets I was considering Raleigh, Nashville, and perhaps even Charlotte.  I am a data junkie of sorts, so I started with this document here (http://uli.org/wp-content/uploads/ULI-Documents/ET17.pdf), and once I saw some things about markets I liked I started digging in deeper into the markets themselves through my independent research, and then finally got in touch with someone who was working on the ground in the markets.  

@Bryan C. this may answer a little bit of your question as to why Atlanta.  Bottom line is there is so much variation in the economy there (Coke, Sports, Airlines, Tech, Automotive, Movie Industry, etc.) and there is a continued growth with International business occurring there too, so I just see a lot of potential for the area in the years to come.  To answer your other question, I will be closing this week and taking the property over on the 10th.  It also sounds like you have been able to expand your investing while in the military too, I would be curious to here more about your journey too.  How long have you been investing?

Thanks for the response, look forward to talking more with you both.

Steve Bracero that's great. Keep it up and I am sure something will meet your requirements. I would like to try that at some point down the road, I just don't think I'm set up for that right now. How are you looking to finance your deals? Also if you are talking with people and "negotiating", I would highly recommend reading both "Start with No", and "Never Split the Difference". Both great books on how to negotiate deals.