All Forum Posts by: Bryan O.

Agreed. Any investor that knows 1/10 of how to buy a property can see through most of the deals offered, but it is definitely a tactics problem since most of the wholesalers in the area have similarly bad deals. They swarm and I have started feeling out the clusters of people at meetups just to see if they have a New Western operative embedded so I can make a quick exit and find another group. Definitely not a fan of their style of business. The good thing is that making less friends and having worse deals can't be sustainable for too long, so for the moment it is just grin and bear it.

@Loren Whitney keeping the appliances clean is typically the tenant's job. A functional dishwasher that smells is a cleanliness issue. I would email them the manual on the dishwasher and then refer them to clean the filter and run with vinegar or other cleaners. Offer to send a maintenance person to see if it was installed improperly (i.e. the drain line doesn't loop, etc. but let them know if it is a "fixing" issue you will pay for it, but if it is a "cleaning/maintenance" issue they will be billed for the service.

@Jennifer Story it should be a pretty simple decision, just compare what the property makes you now (and add in management, etc. since it will be remote from you) and then compare that to what you would make if you sold and bought local. You mentioned "Several doors" locally. My guess is that means your best bang for the buck is to sell it and reinvest, but you would need to do the math for both scenarios to see which is better.

Paying off is a matter of personal choice. Mathematically, paying it off gives lower returns, but it also may be the thing you need to sleep better at night. Your personal tolerances and your goals will tell you what to do there... if you are still in your growth phase, paying it off gives you tons of "dead equity" that is the opposite of your goal and makes no sense. But if you're in a phase of going more passive, then more doors may be more headache than your goal.

@Alexander Johnosn I think you said your rental has no mortgage. I would leave your 401k alone and get a line of credit on that free and clear property, or if you have good equity in your primary get a HELOC. You're looking to liquidate a fund with pretty hefty penalties when you have dead equity right now. I'd start there.

@Leonard Nester I have heard that the restaurant business is one of the most competitive and difficult out there. I would buy in 2 pieces: the RE and the business. That way if the business fails, operator fails, whatever, you have the option to shut that down but still have the RE to lease to another business. Additionally, keeping RE as RE and business as business allows you to value both more easily.

I can't wait for a downturn. Trying to find contractors that are worth anything is nearly impossible and they have no incentive to do a decent job... give me a slower market where they WANT the work and I'll be much happier... I don't care what the paper value of my properties are because I'm not selling.

@Gilbert Dominguez I have a certain amount of reserves I keep for emergencies with the property. Early on, all cashflow went to the business to continue building and buying more... now it goes to medical bills and a stupidTooExpensive primary home... in a couple of years it will go into more investments. A few after that into toys...

It's whatever you want to do with it... it's your profit and congrats for having it!

@David Easley it isn't important to buy near you, but it is important to know what you are doing, which means that buying near you can be helpful since there is a learning curve. Regardless, it is not bad to move away if you made sure the property you bought near you was a good deal.

For my first rental, I moved from Colorado Springs to England. That's adds a few minutes of drive time to visit  ;)  The most important thing that I had to do was get a very good PM. I knew I wouldn't be managing from many time zones away and since I did most of the work on that property myself I had no network of contractors to rely on. My PM was great and when we moved back I took control again after 5 years and we still have drinks when I'm in town.

TL;DR: moving is no problem if your deal is sound and you vet your PM or have a good network.

@Jeremy Whittaker the only thing you lose in the down market is an exit strategy. If you sell then, you lose money. Otherwise, depending on where you live, the cost of rent may climb in a down market because everyone is becoming a renter, so if you didn't plan to sell anyway you could win even more.

As long as you do not see a scenario where you would be forced to sell during a bust, then it is very likely a good idea based on cash flow and ability to reinvest that reduced living cost income.

Hi SMART investors and entrepreneurs!

The cold is here... it's time to cozy up to some conversation about real estate and investing! Construction should begin this week to convert my basement to a short term rental and my note is going performing! In that one sentence I just culminated hours of learning and network in short term rentals, private money, 401k/IRA investing, creativity, and negotiation! These things do not take being a genius (insert comment from @Garry C.  (thanks Garry)). Come on out and talk shop, brush up, help someone who has questions, or learn a new thing.

Wait for it...

But wait, there's more! They have a food truck and beer! Though with the cold I'm wondering if they'll add some mulled wine to help defeat that cold nip in the air. Hmmm.

See you all tomorrow. For those of you that have come a few times, please leave a rating and review if you have not. Meetup has started ranking the meetups, so please help people find us. For those that came once or signed up and haven't yet attended, come on out. Feedback is welcome; as with investing, learning and growing is part of everything. Help us make it better. It's your event as much as ours, and since we aren't selling anything there isn't an agenda to try and sway us!

See you tomorrow night,

Bryan