All Forum Posts by: Brett Sayers

@Ryan of course Scott Trench’s “Set for Life” is a great one too.

@Steven Westlake we could all do well to assume that you can learn something from everyone. Even if it’s what not to do.

I get pretty bombarded with the “watch out or you’ll lose your @$$!” Talk too.

When you say you bought your 3rd, 4th, or 20th property some or all of those voices will fade out and become words of praise. Others will disappear altogether. Everyone wants to tell Tom Brady how he messed up on Sunday and he just wakes up Monday in his California King size bed master suite mansion somewhere not caring at all. Just look out for yourself and make sure you are being as conservative as you feel comfortable with. Worst case scenario, you have to go back to a “real” job.

Hey @Ryan Guffey I think we all feel your pain. You mentioned reading books to get your learn on. I recommend starting with something like 4DX, The Compound Effect, or Crush It. Those all really dig deep into what you are dealing with. There’s a lot going on in the whirlwind around you and you have to focus just a bit of attention on the little things that will get HUGE with time. 60 hrs is hard, but you may be working a happy 80-100 hrs on your real estate business someday like it’s nothing.

Save Save Save. Save on turbo until you get your first property and keep it up until you don’t need 60 hrs anymore.

1. Educate yourself

2. Work on your financial health

3. Take a jump

Hope this helps.

@Jason Young

Having $300k available to you is a huge blessing. The short of it is that you can use that as short term money to secure a property until you put longer term financing on it.

I've had to use unsecured Credit Lines with pretty high interest rates for that but with rates as low as they are on mortgages, it's great to have something like a HELOC there for you. Even if you don't draw from it for a few years, if and when the next fire sale happens in real estate you'll be ready to snatch them up.

Seems like you are in a great position Jason. Good luck to you.

@Vee Dee

I use LendingClub as a P2P investment vehicle. This may be different than what you are talking about but bear with me. Originally I tried it as an experiment to see how well it worked. Almost 3 years later and it’s throwing off 10-14% returns. I’ve decided to keep it as a hedge for if my job disappears for some reason. The payments each month are reinvested with my investment contribution. I estimate that it will feed itself double my initial monthly investment by year 4 and I can let it go ahead and grow on its own.

I’m no note guru, but it was a great way to get going with notes. The ultimate goal being to get out of unsecured debt and into something backed by property. I just don’t have the bankroll yet to buy a primary or secondary yet.....YET.

@Dylan Short

Keep in mind that some of your "CashFlow" needs to be put aside for Management Vacancy and Repairs (MVR). While earning $200-300 beyond your Principal Interest Taxes and Insurance (PITI), my MVR reserves never truly hit my bottom line. At least 20% of the rent goes towards MVR.

That is a low percentage as well due to self managing. A good idea is to budget 30-35% towards the unforeseen expenses like a new HVAC which you’ll have to repair or replace (I’ve had 3 this year), or the random dishwasher or water heater that quits on you. That will also push you to find better deals if you don’t count the reserves as “Cash Flow”.

Reinvesting that capital may short you a bit in the immediate term, but keeps very happy tenants and makes sure your investment is going to continue to grow.

The rest can be put somewhere to buy more properties in the future.

@Kyle Keller no but I share ownership of a sailboat out there. She used to be at Rainbow Bay but now at KMC.

@Kyle Keller do you have a management company, or are you self managing from Hawaii?

Also.... which island? I was stationed out on PHNSY for a while. I go back every once in a while to visit.

@Kyle Keller

1. Let the tenants know exactly what you would like to do and why. They may already have a list of things that they didn’t tell you about.

2. Give notice and schedule a time. In my limited experience, my tenants are grateful to have a landlord that pays attention and is actively maintaining the property.

3. Take whatever precautions you and the tenant feel necessary to protect from whatever may be lurking as a microbe.

4. Preform the maintenance.

I think the real root of this is actively communicating with the tenants. Minimal intrusion is helpful as well. I would stress to my tenants that preventing damage and maintaining the property is key to ensuring they have a safe and functional home to live in. I feel any reasonable person would understand that and you both could reach an agreement as to what can be done.

@Frank Agyeman-Duah sometimes you spend $500 to save $10,000. It’s worth it to walk away if you aren’t willing to put in the work required to remove a tenant (especially if there are special circumstances such as COVID-19 and some areas are not allowing evictions). Making someone move from their home is difficult and stressful for everyone. You could try to renegotiate the deal and make it work. It could be difficult and if you aren’t prepared, it could end your investing before you get started.

Keep moving forward. There are lots of deals. Another will come along.