All Forum Posts by: Craig Horton

My Son just retired from the Phoenix, Arizona, Police Force.  He spent 20 years as a Police Officer.  He has several rentals and is looking to invest in a self-storage facility.  I would like to try to connect him with David Greene.  Is there a way I can E-mail David direct to try to set up a connection with my Son Larry. 

I will be buying the David Greene book at my Barnes and Noble Store because of his career in law enforcement.

On the last podcast interview with the investor in Mobile Home Parks, the issue of male facial hair and real estate investing came up.  In my opinion, male facial hair including mustaches and beards will result in less response from people who want to be your customers in business situations.  I learned about this trend from Brian Tracy in one of his seminars.  When comparing men who have facial hair like beards and mustaches to those who don't, in general people are more likely to buy from those males who have no facial hair attire.  I would like to hear opinions from both sides of this issue.  Thank you.

I am always amazed that if you are serious about real estate investing, you do not have a Business Card for contact information.  At times I will attend Seminars or Conferences to learn and meet people.  I get very frustrated when that person I want to contact in the future does not have a Business Card.  Perhaps someone can comment on why it is bad to have a Business Card.

Thanks for letting me vent a bit.

The problem some landlords run into with insurance is they do not have replacement cost coverage.  With a major fire, the landlord may have to come out of pocket to rebuild if they have less than replacement cost coverage.  All landlords should carry replacement cost coverage in my opinion.

Hi Michael,  Very good thinking.  We have recently done some upgrades in two apartment projects to install washers and dryers in the units.  This has helped our occupancy.

Thanks.

Is it possible to generate 100 applications on a Tenant Waiting List  for apartments in a community of 65000 people?  That is a goal I have for our family business for the apartments we manage.  

Hi Wilson,

We only own enough apartments or houses so we can manage them ourselves.  Having a lot of units does not make a lot of sense if you do not have a good management team.

I am not a big fan of property managers as members of our family are the management team we use.  

More units is not always better.  With too many units, you may lose control of the operation if you do not have a good management team in place.

Twenty to thirty houses is enough for me as I manage them myself with my Wife. Any more houses than that would require a Property Manager outside our family.

Hi Wilson,

The management level in apartments can be very intense.  Just be sure you have a team in place when you own and manage apartments.  We manage our houses ourselves.

The house tenant usually never calls us to complain about someone in their parking space or having a petty arguement with their neighbor.  Makes my life a lot better.

This week I have been working with my Dad as an active Real Estate Investor for 40 years.  Here are five tips to succeed as a Real Estate Investor for 40 years:

1. Set written goals of what you want to achieve and review those goals at least once each week.

2. Try to have more than 50% ownership in any real estate investment so you have control in the investment.  

3.  Be wary of providing personal loan guarantees where you do not have 50% ownership

in a real estate investment.

4. Easier to manage and grow with single family homes in my opinion.  Our business owns and manages both houses and apartments but I like the houses a lot better.

5.  Remember my major motto after 40 years of investing: "Happiness is a positive cash flow!!"  Cash flow is very important as an investor in real estate