All Forum Posts by: Andrew Hargreave

Forgot to mention, they also repaired our door a few years ago when my son backed the van out before it was all the way up.  Had to replace 4 panels.

@David Dachtera,

Check out http://www.dupagedoor.com/  I've used them for about 8 years on my house and they've been quick and reasonably priced and done good work on replacing springs, rollers and installing new openers.  Just used them 2 weeks ago to install a new LiftMaster internet connect unit for our main 2-car door.  LOVE being able to close my door remotely from my phone.

@Amanda Groover,  re CreditKarma...they use a combined score whereas the banks will pull from all 3 direct (Discover does the same thing now).  CK is always about 25pts higher than what's reported by the agencies.

I've subscribed to CreditSecure from AmEx for over 20 years (I know..lots of $ 'wasted') but I can pull my real credit report from all 3 agencies once a month.  I'm talking with GuaranteedRate at the moment and the agent there agreed to use the most recent report (2 weeks ago) as enough to do my initial credit check..and that doesnt' go against my rating.  Now I'm sure, if I actually go to sign with them, they'll pull it and give me the hard inquiry hit.

@David Dachtera, I agree.  Being a solo consultant for over 7 years, I always tend to think in terms of  time spent.....as in "I could spend 2 hours figuring this out myself or I could call in a professional to fix it for $175 while I spend those 2 hours billing a client $150/hr (iow, come out ahead).  Drives my wife nuts since her dad has always been a do-it-yourselfer and doesn't understand my mentality.  My father taught me to bring in the right person for the job from the beginning (he ran his own soft drink distributorship for 30yrs) and everyone comes out ahead.

Even when it comes to IT, I have no problems hiring a professional with more experience in a technology to get me started while I learn to manage it going forward and take it over.

I'm addicted to always learning something new.  I can't imagine a job where I do the same thing day in and day out.  When my W2 jobs got to that point, I would be trying new things in my off hours and building out my skillset (aka toolbox) and used that to either help my employer..or lend my time to non-profit organizations who couldn't afford someone to do it.  I host websites for churches, private montessori schools, the high school choir, etc.  

@Patrick Everett ,

Patrick, Mark's company is the one I mentioned over on my thread.  I've spoken with Bryan there at GC and am very impressed so far.

@Mark Ainley, I'm looking forward to learning more about GC in the coming weeks and hope I get a chance to meet you when I come to meet with Bryan.

@Anton Ivanov

Thanks for the advice..I did read your post the other day.  I've been doing research and running numbers using the calculators here on BP when I've either found a property or had it sent to me by a TK provider.  Like you suggested, once I did some digging, they weren't quite as impressive as they were upon first glance.

@Patrick Everett

Welcome as well!  At the moment, I'm looking at GC Realty out of Bartlett.  I've spoken with Bryan and am very impressed so far.  We're going to actually meet in person and he's going to take my wife and I and show us their properties on the South side so we can see all the phases.  I really like their approach so far and they're not rushing/pushing us to move quickly.  They want us to succeed as well.

I'm also looking for local RE attorney's and RE CPA's to make sure everything is setup correctly so I'm researching that line as well as getting the financial side setup (HELOC on primary residence so we can make the down payment quickly when we find the right deal) and shopping around for good lenders that we can use for the actual backing on the deal.

Lastly, I'm in sticker shock from the umbrella insurance quote I got from our State Farm rep (we've had everything...home/5 cars/son's renters) under SF for over 30 years...the $1m policy is over $1100 per year additional to what we already have.

Welcome Bryan! 

I'm a newbie as well from the Chicago area.  Our company was just bought a company in Cincinnati and I may be looking out in that area sometime in 2017.  I've managed the data centers for my company which are located in Hamilton and Blue Ash for the last 5 years.

Good luck on your journey!

Hello all! Just getting started to REI late in life (well...late relative to my young teen-20's). Like many I've read about already, REI was something I never payed attention to throughout life other than thinking "other people did it" and it didn't hold an interest to me.

After catching a Clayton Morris podcast about 2 months ago and then reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, I've become hooked and driven to dive into this new adventure in life.

I've been in computers/IT/Technology since 1984, worked at a few companies, ran my own consulting business for 7 years and then re-joined the full time workforce for a client.  The small company I've worked at for 4 years was just acquired by a 700 person company out of Cincinnati and I'm not sure what the future will bring (they already have a very large well defined IT group so my niche isn't guaranteed long term).   Hitting the big 5-0 this past year, I don't know that I want to rely on the 18-hour days that I've spent the last 30 years putting in.  Technology is an always changing area so it keeps me very interested as a profession, a hobby, and 'fun time'.

However, since reading RD PD, I've found a new passion for something new to learn and I'm extremely interested in buy & hold investments.  Since I still work 10-18 hour days, I don't have a lot of free time to manage properties though (and all my skills are IT related...I'll take 5 trips to Home Depot for a home repair and STILL have to call in a professional to finish it.)

Obviously, a turnkey provider solution is what I'm looking into and have started conversations with a few of the fine folks I've found here on BP.  My plan is to acquire a property before the end of 2016 to get me started and learning the ropes.  We initially want to try and get something locally to get our feet wet.

My wife is skeptical but open after trying to explain the concepts to her. We're not planning on quitting our jobs any time soon. We're looking into REI for long term wealth and having something to pass onto our children someday..but planning on having our passive income to allow us more freedom.

The fun part is I bought a physical copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad and gave it to my 20yr old son, he read it in two days and is excited to start REI himself. He then gave it to our 17yr old son who's halfway through and already thinking differently. I'm keeping my eyes open for any opportunity that would let them pool a little of their savings together and maybe get started.

I live in Shorewood IL (just West of Joliet) and am lucky enough to work from my home office managing data centers in the Cincinnati OH area. With the new parent company being located in Cincinnati, I'll likely be travelling there more often (actually have a week long visit Oct 17-21 for company event.) I might also be interested in B&H in the Cinci area as I have a co-worker that lives there and has expressed an interest in REI as well.

I want to thank all those who have already posted SO much information here on BP for us newcomers and I am always open to learning new things.

Also, should anyone need/have any IT related questions, I'd be more than happy to offer my help in return (for over 15 years I've focused on supporting small businesses and their IT needs.)

I look forward to making many new friendships!

I recently attended a 1 day seminar from Mark Kohler  (http://www.markjkohler.com/) about tax and accounting planning for REI. It was a really interesting day for a newbie like me who's still working on pulling the trigger on our first deal. He has some good books on the topic you can purchase (Amazon Books by Mark Kohler)

I've never heard of Aillo's plan though.

Good luck!

Just to correct something:  Their website says $99/yr for rents $0-$600 and $149/yr for rents $600-$800...etc.   So their "fee" is once per year...not each month...and they only pay up to 3 months of missed rents.  The tenant also pays a $49.95 application fee.