All Forum Posts by: Andrew Bondarchuk

I disagree that sex offenders of young children can be rehabilitated and they absolutely do not deserve a second chance. The damage done is significant, and for someone 10 years old, molested since the age of 6, the scars are permanent. Take this deal, make sure everyone knows there is a sex offender in the neighborhood and then refuse to renew the lease. The community will recognize your public service and moral fortitude.

Wow @Ellie Hanson - that sounds like a great way to break into investing. I'm curious, what was your business? My wife and I are kicking around some business ideas but they all have significant startup costs. Among them are a moving company, a bar/restaurant or a storage facility. All of these ideas would require obtaining a business loan which is what I'm trying to avoid.

Thanks again @Keishee Hill for breaking down the numbers and the process. I have no family members or friends with available funds for a loan but I plan on going to some investor meetups in the near future and to start networking. In the meantime I'm only trying to increase my own available cash. If I can find a lender and the numbers work, wonderful! If not, I'll need an alternative plan.

Thanks @James Wise - still waiting for a phone call from Uber. Hopefully the speeding ticket didn't scare them off! 

@Keishee Hill

Thanks for sharing! I would definitely look into some sort of financing, but the ideas to raise capital are to get to the point where I can have some "skin in the game" with my own funds as I see is required for some of the more favorable financing options. Basically I am trying to come up with a down payment without accessing 401(k) funds.

Does anyone have any?

I am trying to think of ways to raise money for a down payment to break into the REI world, and my wife and I have been kicking around some ideas. This would be in addition to our full time jobs which is paying the bills but leaving little left over between checks. This is what we've come up with so far:

Becoming frugal

I'll lead with this one since it's the most obvious. We have already taken the vow of frugality and I have cut a lot of monthly expenses. In fact I am projecting a savings of roughly $500 a month and I believe there is still room to improve. This is a great long term solution and something everyone should do anyway, but raising money this way is very slow.

Monetized YouTube page

Here's a great way to earn checks randomly. The work comes in with development of content and finding an audience. We plan on using my wife's already existing channel and she is going to put up a video blog and hopefully grab some traffic. There is already a lot of content on her page from a few years ago when she was writing and performing her own music and doing covers, but I believe the covers will have to be removed in order to monetize the page. Check her out by searching YouTube for "teagankipi" :).

Driving for Uber and/or Lyft

So I'm still waiting for a call/e-mail/text but I have applied. I know that due to a speeding ticket from last Thanksgiving that the board would have to give special consideration in order to approve. This may or may not be an option for me but I'll write it here because it seems like something that SHOULD be easy to break into for extra cash.

Writing a children's book

This would be a fun project to do with my wife and daughter. We have so many ideas already just because of the hundreds of books we've read in the past 2 years and some of the crazy and imaginative things our daughter is now saying. We're writing these down. My wife can do the illustrations since this is one of her many talents and I would develop the story line with their help. Even if this project makes no money, it's not at all a loss or a waste just given the rich experiences it will provide and the satisfaction of creating something we love.

Flipping furniture

Have you ever seen Flea Market Flip? How hard can that be? Find some broken furniture on the side of the road or something old and tired at a discounted price from a thrift store, throw some screws in it, some hardware, a coat of paint and sell it for $200. This also could be a fun thing to do together so also not a waste of it doesn't work out.

Finding other part time work/odd jobs

Craigslist seems like a great resource for odd jobs and I plan on getting on there to see what I can find. Outside of that I thought about picking up a serving/bartending job on weekend nights but this would be a last option since I am giving up my time with my family and I would absolutely hate that. At least with Uber or Lyft I would be creating my own schedule. 

So these are some of the things we have thought about and they can all be started pretty much right away. I'm interested in any ideas anyone else has. Please share your ideas for things you plan on doing or things you've actually done that helped you accomplish your goals. :)

@Kenneth Sok

Don't bother with the odor until your tenant leaves. He's only going to bring the smell back anyway after you do all that work, unless you tell him he can no longer smoke in the house (at the risk of losing your tenant). 

I inherited a fake plant from an elderly couple who smoke in their house. I have had it out on my pool deck, in the elements, for a year. I've sprayed chemicals, cleaners, hosed it down, etc. and it STILL has the smoke smell. 

The point is, you won't do enough to remove the smell unless you gut the affected rooms and doing so while you still have someone smoking in the house is a waste of time and money.

@Harold Anderson - the B&B idea is a very interesting one. The only issue is we don't have any spare rooms - we're in a 3 bedroom, besides the master for my wife and I, our daughter has one and my father in law that I take care of is in the other. It may not be much longer before the third bedroom is clear so I'll keep this idea in my back pocket. For now I am focused on keeping my money, not spending it, and looking for ideas to make an extra buck here and there.

That's very cool @Barbara G.. It certainly does sound like he found his niche. My stepmother is very good at this as well, buying and selling primarily antiques and jewelry. It takes a lot of work and a lot of knowledge about the value of things, but then again so does RE investing. 

I am definitely running away from this deal. I didn't account for vacancy - if anything I would lose money on this one. Thanks again to everyone for the advice. I'll keep looking! :)

@Bobby Mitchell - that's some great stuff! I wish I had made the decision to stop spending money before I financed two cars at the same time. Then about a year ago we bought our first home and put in new floors, windows and AC. The AC was necessary but not the other things. Improvements cost us $40k and we are hoping that the value of our home has increased to offset those improvements. Now I am stretched too thin and paying down a lot of loans. Luckily there is an expiration date of about 3-4 years on most of those. 

As far as assets, I don't really have any of the expensive toys to sell. I do have a garage full of stuff that may get about $350 in a yard sale. My wife is being considered for a promotion in 60 days so that would be a great help to our bottom line and we are getting the discipline now so that when the day comes, the increased income won't result in increased spending as has been our M.O. for the last ten years. We both make a very decent income but we don't see any of it because we have had a high consumption lifestyle for far too long.

It's good that you found that discipline and took control over your situation to realize your goals. Good luck to you - your plan is a good one!

Hey @Barbara G., thanks for the feedback! How did your son make money buying and selling on eBay? Sounds like a hustle - I'm very intrigued by this.

I guess I could always drive for Uber if all else fails!