All Forum Posts by: Ryan Landis

At the end of the day, you understand the location and are having quite a bit of principal paydown a month. Would you self manage? Any value in you doing that? Moving money out requires transaction costs/etc. (1031 intermediary, buying a new property and being subject to the 1031 is brutal, etc.). Not sure if you answer the question in regard to a primary residence, but I probably would not fool around with a 1031 over $50K for something I held over 12 months (you are at long term capital gains so net net after the intermediary and you not getting rushed into anything, I say you end up better - spoken by another person familiar with CA whereas those in lower price point markets might be much more enthusiastic about the avoidance of taxes on the ~$50K sale - I don't know your tax bracket but is that like ~$10K in taxes possibly???).

If your job is solid, and it won't impact your DTI enough to make it so you can't go buy the next property you want to, just keep it. You will get to start to depreciate it and with some wiggle room and growth down the road you probably will be happy you kept it. That being said, you can't lose money selling at a profit..

@Paul Johnson I tried to follow, if the contract (or you) explicitly mentioned a net the Seller would get, I would stick by that if you can. One thing I did in the past (again this might be a bit different) was a Seller was going to carry a portion and I brought more to close to make sure they got their "take-home" amount they wanted, by just reducing the carry. For you, not sure what market you are in but I imagine a 6 unit will make up for any misunderstanding over a couple thousand. It is very difficult to sue for specific performance as others have mentioned.

@Sean McDonnell that one made my day!

@Josiah Patrick Zebarth I actually struggle with the same question quite a bit. In my head I know I am getting up to do the "right" thing but that is all a perspective. Does my son want me to work at all (probably not, he just wants to play with me). So where I usually get caught up is the I know I am working on this for my "why" but balancing my take on it vs. what those I am doing it for. Not sure if that makes sense, but it is very difficult to say your why is your family and then miss a dinner to go work on a property deal (granted that helps get to a long term goal it completely misses the short term goal of the why in the moment).

@Trevor Aydelott I am sure you know this, but you probably can change the post to "Is it me or do most professionals suck at their job" ;) 

I 100% feel your pain on the agent side, but seriously I have been so let down by accountants, attorneys, etc. that I think just most people don't produce quality work (or you are not a big enough part of their business to get their attention). Anyways, not defending realtors, but sadly I just think most people aren't good at what they do...

@Paul Whitford alright well I will chime in as someone who has one to give you some context just like @Syed H. did. I have a Masters as well, and it definitely helped for what I was initially planning to do (I had my own pivot, but it still helps every day in that space too). What everyone is talking about is work ethic - a Masters does not solve that problem. All of the people that get them and don't do anything with it is on them, not on the degree. I know a couple of guys from undergrad that had options to go to Harvard/Wharton/Stanford etc for MBAs, and that is a bit of a "what do you want to do after/what network matters to you/opportunity cost of income earned during that period." I went to Cambridge, out in England and I loved it. Did it get me my first job out of grad school - maybe. Has it helped me out a lot, 1000x percent. But I also like to think my work ethic is insane, so the degree itself didn't get me anything, it just opened up a bunch of doors. Had I stayed in private equity the pedigree is always helpful to have, and the networking/relationships can be significant. 

Would I do it again? Hands down.$30-$40K toward a rental is probably not that big of a move IMO, assuming this Masters can get you an extra $50K+ a year and open up a network of people that are very successful.

@Michael Nijhawan as @Frank Wong mentioned, don't sell yourself short. I will say though, once you get 1 under your belt, the sky is the limit. So do what you need to in order to get that closing!

No right or wrong, but I think people highly underestimate some of the medical costs/nursing facilities/etc. Being financially independent on $20K a year is great, and by all means, I think that is a terrific thing, I just don't think it prepares you for some of the more serious life events that frequently do happen down the road. I also think there is an interesting movement happening with people in their 20's pre-kids, etc. I got one little guy and it changes things quite a bit. Just my 2 cents. 

I also don't know if I ever could "retire" - my head just doesn't turn off like that. At least not yet.

But, what is interesting, is that everyone in this FIRE category is still better off than everyone else living paycheck to paycheck (they aren't prepared for the above either).

@Jonathan Lo agreed, look into it and have some contractors come out first. Also, ceiling height can be an issue unless they let you grandfather it in (I have seen some pretty low ceilings in Oakland for example). Ultimately, they just want it to be safe - but your insurance will likely care too

@Sahir Noorani depending on your down payment, and how flexible you can be in location, it is not too terrible if you look in the East Bay (Oakland, Alameda, etc.). If you need to live in SF/Peninsula, more likely you will need to be renting out rooms to really make something come close to breakeven. That being said, getting the Bay Area income and having anyway to make your housing cost lower makes it a win-win

Very interesting - will be curious to see how this pans out in places with very high land costs (i.e .Bay Area, etc.)