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All Forum Posts by: Alan Pederson

Alan Pederson has started 6 posts and replied 217 times.

Post: To deck it or concrete slab it?

Alan PedersonPosted
  • Investor
  • Kennedale, TX
  • Posts 219
  • Votes 349

I had a concrete slab put in for a 10x16 storage building I had built at my house and it costs about $2,000 and it just took a day. I also had the same company put in a new 10x16 patio at one of my rent houses and it costs $400 more because they had to remove the small patio that was there. I chose concrete because I didn't want to deal with rot, termites, or dogs chewing it up.

Post: I want to learn how to rehab

Alan PedersonPosted
  • Investor
  • Kennedale, TX
  • Posts 219
  • Votes 349

Home Depot also has demo classes where they show you how to do things like drywall patches and tile work among other things. It usually takes me twice as long to do something when I try to tackle it vs calling in someone experienced. That means I save myself at least $50 an hour and the next time I have to do the same task I can do it faster and have the tools to do it.

Post: I want to learn how to rehab

Alan PedersonPosted
  • Investor
  • Kennedale, TX
  • Posts 219
  • Votes 349

I've always been pretty handy doing things myself. My dad was a roofer and carpenter and taught me a few things when I was young. With you having no skills, I would recommend that you try to tackle small jobs yourself. Things like painting and installing ceiling fans. Try to learn things every time you hire a pro. When I have to call a pro, I stand there and watch what they're doing very closely. I did my first tile job years ago and used a small cheap tile saw I bought at Home Depot. I read all I could about it and than just jumped in. It was just a small bathroom floor and I figured if I messed it up, I could tear it out and try again. It wouldn't cost that much to redo. I took my time and it came out just fine. I let the grout dry to long before I wiped off the excess and kind of panicked when I couldn't get excess grout off. Lots of elbow grease later, I learned a valuable lesson. Grout a small area, wait 5-10 minutes, gently sponge off excess grout, rinse sponge, and repeat rinsing until all excess is gone. You could even ask a friend or relative that has skills to help you with a project. I've been doing this stuff for years and I learn new things all the time. I now do most of my own plumbing work. I got tired of paying $100+ an hour for a plumber to come out and do stuff that I could easily do. I bought a few tools and now only call in my plumber when there is a major problem. PM me if you ever have a question.

Post: Drywall Installer Needed Arlington, TX

Alan PedersonPosted
  • Investor
  • Kennedale, TX
  • Posts 219
  • Votes 349

pm sent

Post: Wording in lease about breaking a lease

Alan PedersonPosted
  • Investor
  • Kennedale, TX
  • Posts 219
  • Votes 349

Someone asked me recently how I handle things if a tenant needs to break a lease. This person's father recently died and he didn't need to live in a 2 bedroom apartment anymore. He said there was a clause in his lease that allowed him to pay a penalty if he had to break the lease. I read through the lease agreement I had my tenants fill out and I have nothing in there about breaking a lease.

Should I add a clause in my lease agreement to address this? If so, what type of penalty would be appropriet?

Post: Cash flow investing ( what is your strategy?)

Alan PedersonPosted
  • Investor
  • Kennedale, TX
  • Posts 219
  • Votes 349

Local SFH for me.

Post: Are My Rents Accurate?

Alan PedersonPosted
  • Investor
  • Kennedale, TX
  • Posts 219
  • Votes 349

I go on realtor.com and look at what the rents are for similar rentals around where my houses are at. This gives me a pretty good idea if I'm charging to little or to much. I recently did a search in the entire city of Arlington, TX and when I put in 3 bed, 2 bath, house, and the current rent, it only came back with a few listings. All of them were smaller houses then mine so I intend to raise the rent about $50 a month on this house. I have good tenants and don't want to loose them but I haven't raised rent in 3 years. I could easily go up $150 a month on this house.

Post: Is Diversity For Idiots?

Alan PedersonPosted
  • Investor
  • Kennedale, TX
  • Posts 219
  • Votes 349

I hear about diversity all the time. The pro's tell you to spread out your investment money into both stocks and bonds so you don't lose all your money if the market goes way down. To me, this is a defensive strategy. It minimizes your potential loss. If your close to retirement this isn't a bad idea to look at.

I heard a financial advisor on the radio I listen to talk about how foolish this is. He said you may minimum your loss but your not going to maximize your potential gain if you do this. If you put your money into something that is very diverse and it only makes 10% that just doesn't work for me. It may be very low risk but i would rather take more risk and get 20% or more and let it compound for years especially if I was young. My 401K (for example) is in a high risk mutual fund and I watch it closely. You could say it's diversified because it's made up of many stocks. I would never invest a big chunk of money in a single company stock. Think Enron.

On a broader note, I would look at diversifying my money into different types of investments if you have a chance to. Personally, when I retire I will collect money from my 401K, Roth, Pension, rental property, and SS. Wife also has a pension (teachers retirement) which we're going to move over to an IRA once she retires and her 403B.

Post: Just Closed on my first property! Now what?

Alan PedersonPosted
  • Investor
  • Kennedale, TX
  • Posts 219
  • Votes 349

Gratz! Most people talk about or think about doing this but you actually did it.

1. I would go introduce myself. 

2. Tell them they need to start paying you.

3. Do you have a copy of their lease? If not, get one.

4. Fill out an inspection checklist and make a note of anything that needs to be taken care of. I would treat this as a new tenant and get all of your paperwork in order. Lease, deposit, inspection, pet agreement, etc... At some point they are going to move out and you need to be prepared.

Post: What is your reason why?

Alan PedersonPosted
  • Investor
  • Kennedale, TX
  • Posts 219
  • Votes 349

My mom raised me and worked hard to provide. She never put any money away even after we (3 kids) were grown up. She now lives off of S.S. and the money me and one of my sisters gives her each month. I don't want to retire and have to live like this. I don't want to have to rely on my kids to support me when I'm old. We started doing the real estate thing because our 401k's, pension, and SS just wasn't going to be as much as I wanted it to be when we retire. When me and my wife retire, I don't want to constantly worry about money. If we want to take a trip or go visit the grandkids, I want us to be able to do it without having to save up for it. So the biggest WHY is just more income.

I also like doing home repair projects. With multiple rentals, this will give me something to do when I'm retired. I don't want to be full time job busy but an occasional problem to fix every week or so will keep me from spending all of my time fishing. I would also like to get into flipping or buying homes at auction so I can fix them up. My second WHY is it gives me something to do when I'm retired.