All Forum Posts by: Brian Tremaine

A lot of good information & ideas. It's true my cap rates are low (3.6%) because I have long-term tenants and  tend not to keep pace with market rates. If I did some upgrades and brought the properties to market rate (Zillow) I would have a 4.5% cap rate. That is something worth considering

Hi ,

I have have been buying & holding single family homes for 30+years as an investment approach outside my occupation as an engineer/consultant. As I near retirement my wife and I wonder whether to stay in real estate or transition into another retirement plan. It seems like all plans being pitched can be described as diversify into the stock market & mutual funds, or buy annuities and pay someone 1% of my net-worth annually regardless of performance. I never had great luck in the stock market. My "retirement plan" today is to keep consulting part time. I'd like to hear from other investors on what their long term plans are and also those in retirement how have you changed your business model pre & post retirement?

As a second issue, since I have held most of my properties for many years half are mortgage free, fully depreciated and have insanely low taxes (thanks Prop 13). So I'm asset rich and cash poor. 

Regards,

Brian

In a related topic people always complain about high HOA fee's but if you've ever looked at a long-term budget forecast from an HOA it has figured in the monthly cost to amortize 30 years of painting, gardening work, HVAC, road maintenance, roof, gutters, plumbing, fences, etc., etc. That's really what needs to be accounted for in the expenses of long-term RE ownership.