All Forum Posts by: Andrew Brewer

One thing I do like about Andrew Yang's take on UBI is that it would take the place of all current forms of government assistance and be available to all citizens. 

Having a social safety net and certain services like tax-payer funded urgent health care, primary education, roads, parks, etc is important and benefits all people, I am happy to pay into these programs because I can use the benefits.

Current government financial and housing assistance is limited to a certain part of the population which is completely unfair, especially considering the people receiving the benefits don't pay taxes. If I pay taxes, I should be allowed to access the services my tax dollars are providing. 

communism and socialism work so well in theory because they assume that people are rational and responsible adults. the opposite is true and all of us are just giant children who will try to get away with whatever we can and we only look out for ourselves. 

If the gov't gives out 1k to everyone then prices will simply get higher, rents will get higher and home prices will get higher to adjust for the greater buying power, the same as what will happen with increased minimum wage. 

Side Note: The real losers of the fight for $15 are those that have put in the extra effort and worked their way up from $8 to $18 who will have their buying power severely diminished as their lazy co-workers all get participation trophy auto-raises.

People will use their newfound buying power to compete for limited housing. The only reason a house or anything is "worth" something is because people are willing to pay that price. 

Why is a house in CA worth 10X what a house in Ohio is worth? Because people are willing to pay that price. If everyone in CA got together and unilaterally decided they refused to pay 4mil for a ****** dump in Palo Alto then prices in Palo Alto would drop significantly and immediately. Fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, this will never happen. People will continue to compete.

Jobs are going away at an unprecedented rate and this is something humanity has never seen. If nothing is done to make sure people have food and shelter there will be a bloody revolution, the masses will not simply starve in silence. On the other hand, if we give people UBI then a large percentage of the population becomes idle and that spells trouble. UBI will function as nothing more than a temporary extension on the inevitable revolution. Either way we're screwed. 

TLDR: rents and housing prices will increase if UBI is voted in, that may be good for awhile but will not solve this country's problems because the majority of people are too irresponsible and/or greedy.

i hate hearing stories like this, a-holes like this guy ruin it for all of us responsible pet owners out there

I've had between 1-9 rabbits at a time in my apartments and never left any damage or paid any cleaning fees, always got 100% of my deposit back. 

Why is it so hard for for people to clean up after their pets?

I've been out of college for three years now and my two cents on the matter are:

-having a college degree is a basic qualification for a lot of jobs. my wife doesn't have a degree and has found it very difficult to get started into a good job because even the most basic of jobs want people to have a bachelors degree. if you have the money to go, it can open a lot of doors. you may appreciate this more further down the line. for a long time i debated college, but ended up going. I spent two years in CC and transferred to a 4 year to save money. at this point I am happy I went because I have more opportunities and choices now.

-while you're in college you need to network, network, network and with the right people. if you want to have success in life then you need to surround yourself with likeminded people. network with people who want to achieve something in their lives, collaborate on projects with people. going out and binge drinking with the losers isn't networking. i have people i know that think they are networking by going out to the club every weekend, except all the people they meet are losers who aren't going anywhere. I worked my way through college and graduated debt free and with money in savings, however looking back I realize that I missed out on a lot by keeping myself too busy and too isolated. as a result i don't have any close friends from college. the result of this for me has been that i have seen friends who did network in college who used those connections to land good jobs after college. 

-college degrees are a dime a dozen these days and will not save you. when my parents and aunts and uncles graduated school in the 70's, a college degree in anything pretty much guaranteed them a good job. for our generation thats not the case.

-student loans are a racket. if you can afford to go with minimal debt then it may be a good investment for you. if you have to take out a lot of loans i would suggest get a degree in something that translates into a good job, something like accounting, hard sciences, that way you will have a good shot of being able to pay off said loans soon after graduation

Considering your position with your mentor. I might suggest spending 2-3 years working with that person and seeing how it goes. You can always go to college a few years down the road if the REI thing doesn't pan out like you think. If you are 19 now, work REI for 3 years and you'll be 22, finish your last three years and you'll be 25, not too bad. I took a gap year to work and save after high school, spent 3 years in CC and two years at university and graduated at 24, two years behind my HS class that went straight through

i'll be there

 For a strategy like this to work I'm guessing they offered cash for keys and also used the rehab to justify rent increases. It sounds like you're essentially talking about flipping mid size MF properties if people are buying, rehabbing and stabilizing, and then relisting them for sale. Unless I am missing something?

The question I always have with this is how can you afford to own with no cashflow? I continually hear of people that buy hoping to cash in on appreciation, which seems to have worked for some people but at the same time I wonder how the numbers work. If you're looking at a monthly payment of $10,000+ every month and you know that rent won't cover all of it how do you do it(especially if you have multiple properties)? Or is it just that people that can afford to invest this way simply have enough income from their W2 or other investments to be able to cover the difference every month.

House was purchased in cash from a wholesaler. I am still on good terms with the wholesaler and have the sellers number. In your opinion would a call to the owner to negotiate be appropriate?

Hi Everyone, I recently purchased a SFH in Kansas City. When I inspected the property a dishwasher, washing machine, wash and dryer were all present. When I took possession of the property these were gone. There is nothing about appliances listed in the contract. I realize this is an oversight on my part and I should have realized that when signing. I am wondering if there is anything I can do to get these back. Is the seller allowed to take appliances?

depends on the audience. There are a lot of people in my life that I wouldn't consider talking about REI with.

1) People I knew when I was younger. They still see me as a child at 26. many of them do not dream big and can't understand how anyone could.

2) Coworkers. I don't want anything circling back to my boss that makes him think I will be quitting anytime soon. I don't want to be first in line for layoffs. I also don't want to be passed over for raises or OT. I've had jobs in the past where I wasn't given overtime because the boss felt someone else "needed it more"

3) Select friends/roommates/landlords. I am an extremely frugal person at this point in my life and live on a tight budget (out of choice). There have been many times when a roommate or someone felt I should pay more because I have more. I've also been accused of being cheap and stingy a lot because I choose not to spend my money eating out/drinking/getting high/buying stupid junk on amazon/reusing bags/fancy apartment/etc (I personally don't think asking someone for their agreed upon 1/3 of utilities in a household of 3 people makes me "cheap"). For now I am perfectly content to rent half a room, cook meals at home, drive my ****** looking(but great running) '98 Toyota, buy my clothes at thrift stores, and save save save all I can. In response to this attitude I never share how much money I make or that I own property and have crafted the identity of a poor struggling millenial to keep people off my back. 

There are a few people that I share my REI aspirations with but they are carefully chosen and tend to be people with similar experience, people that have the means to invest, etc.

At some point when I feel more financially free I will probably start talking about this with more people. RIght now I am still relatively new and only own a couple of properties. I don't feel like I have the track record yet to be able to prove to a disbeliever that I do know what I am doing and have had success. When I have a decent portfolio and a few years of good returns, I will feel more comfortable. At the same time as I increase my income I will begin to increase my standard of living and at some point not have to worry about a roommate wanting to argue about the bill split. When I reach a higher standard of living I will loosen up my wallet some and hopefully not be perceived as  so "cheap" by people which I think will alleviate some of the issues.