All Forum Posts by: Anthony L.

I think we are on the cusp of a different type of economic crisis, not like the recession we had in 2007. The recession from 11 years ago was caused by irresponsible lending and an overvaluation of real estate in many major markets, leading to mass foreclosures. New instability we haven't seen since the Great Depression can be set off if we face an economic downturn today. The fact of the matter is the majority of working Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck at the moment and it will get really ugly if a wrench gets thrown at those that are most vulnerable.

The current trend now is an affordable housing shortage in the most popular metro areas across the country, and there doesn't seem to be any resolution in sight as new residential construction in this country is stagnant. In short, the majority of people will stay renting/super-commuting if they want to continue their careers and lives in cities like LA, NYC, SF.

Affordable units are not being built because they are not profitable for developers, who only profit from McMansions (which both aging Baby-Boomers and young people don't want now and especially not during a downturn) and luxury condos/apartments, so more and more Americans in HCOL cities continue to rent, many of which are already rent-burdened. I predict that as the renter pool continues to grow in the new few years, economic inequality will continue to grow exponentially, leading to social unrest as well as calls for economic reform, which could explain the growing appeal of Bernie Sanders back in 2016 to those that are most at-risk.

I predict America will become much more like Europe in the coming years; normalized social unrest/tensions, even more economic inequality and pushes for more social programs subsidized by higher taxes. Perhaps more crime and a bigger drug problem to those that are already living paycheck-to-paycheck today get a wrench thrown at them if the economy were to do poorly.

For those of us that are looking to invest in residential real estate today, we need to tread lightly and not depend on appreciation, but cash flow from properties near economic powerhouses, such as government jobs, hospitals and universities.

Hello Joshua, first of all, I'd like to say congratulations for building that handsome portfolio. As a dissatisfied resident of Southern California and former PA resident, just reading the prices and returns for those properties makes me green with envy! I think I understand why you would want to put every cent back towards the business: for every property that gets paid off, your cash flow increases exponentially. Eventually. The problem with this idea is that you aren't leveraging the business to make your own lives easier in the present. To summarize, here are 3 suggestions: -You should definitely have the business pay for your truck, gas and other work expenses. This will lighten the burden from your wife and will be tax-deductible -Since you are already cash-flowing, you don't need to pay off all your properties ASAP, at least not until your other immediate expenses are taken care of -Pay yourself. From your cashflow figures, you and your family have more than enough money to live comfortably [in Pittsburgh] and still easily pay off all your properties in full over time

Thank you for your updates, it gives me hope that you turned a potential nightmare situation into a profitable investment!