All Forum Posts by: Christopher Schmidt

@Rodney Robinson I lived in Brevard 14 years (and looking to move back) and have watched the market there really explode. I'm hoping this year too that I get a few properties in Brevard again, to give me some cushion income. I'll probably be looking at Palm Bay area too, I think it offers a lot of opportunities that can be found relatively cheap. Good luck!

@Mark Ferguson I must have zero'd in on that Gallardo when you first mentioned it in your post, started day dreaming and missed you mentioned the Diablo :)

Trying to get started now...but my 5 year goal is to be in a position to afford it's cousin with the same V10...the Audi R8... :)

Hi Andy,

A lot of that sounds similar to what I experienced. I had 2 arrangements a few years back with myself and 2 other partners.

In 1999, Partner A (Mom), Partner B (Dad) and Partner C (Me), purchased a condo while I was in college as an investment (let my friends pay the mortgage, that's what good friends do). A & B were on the mortgage, but A, B & C were on the deed. It still exists that way for us. All I have to do is quit claim and I will be of the deed. I have no mortgage liability for this and the debt doesn't show on my credit report.

In 2000, A, B & C purchased a SFR to duplicate what we did last year. Though I had a full-time job while attending school at this point, so A, B, & C were both on the deed and on the mortgage. Since graduating, my parents continued with these properties as their investments but I continued to remain on the deed and mortgage. Just this month, A & B refinanced the SFR while C signed a quit claim deed and is no longer responsible for the debt or the property. The debt, which previously showed on my credit report should report as closed when the bank next reports.

Good luck...

Chris

@Greg B. very familiar situation. I'm in IT and am completely tired of the rat race, the computer, etc...I made my goal this year to aggressively get more passive income so I can be a little more free..best of luck....one investment at a time.

As I started out about a year and half ago, I had the same question. I came down to the same reasoning as @Jesse Hyder with cashflow and @KYLE Z. with vacancies (or reducing risk exposure). My properties I don't expect appreciation (multi's are in area's I wouldn't live but I haven't been shot at yet either :)) to be significant and my goal was primarily additional cash flow.

Mostly right time, right place. My first property, I worked with someone who had no kids, no debt, and a good amount of savings and was tired of the <1% return in the bank. I'd worked with her 7 years, talked about real estate and she finally invested with me. I pay her 10%, interest only with a balloon in 5.

Second property, was right next door, so I actually leveraged that with a credit card 0% cash advance for 18 months...put a little work into it and once I file for taxes this year, will refi to pay off the cards (yes I know many hate this method).

Not sure I can sustain on that, but it got me in the game. @Christopher Dumelle

In 2013, I set out to better track the performance of my rental properties. I wanted to treat it more professionally, at least from a documentation perspective. Here’s the results of my properties, 2 duplexes, or a total of 4 units.

Expenses that were common to the property (the duplex) were just tracked as 50% for each unit. Individual repairs, rents collected and other expenses were charged against the ‘unit’ that occurred the expense.

• Property 1: Unit 1 – Cashflow ROI = 15.42%
• Property 1: Unit 2 – Cashflow ROI = 13.08%
• Property 2: Unit 1 – Cashflow ROI = 21.80%
• Property 2: Unit 2 – Cashflow ROI = 3.56%

Property 1 I acquired in 2011 and took care of some maintenance as necessary early on, so I’m glad to see they both performed consistently this year. Property 2, Unit 2 had the inherited tenant move out, so I took the opportunity to make some cosmetic repairs that I will most likely need to Property 2, Unit 1 when the tenant moves (though I am not pushing them to move out anytime soon).

I actually have zero cash in the properties, so a cash-on-cash return would seem inappropriately high. I thought the Cashflow ROI (amount of net cash flow generated as a percentage of purchase price) would be a more appropriate measure. Though I suppose if you assume I paid for the units in full with cash, the values would be the same.

2014 goals, same results, 4 more properties =)

@Donald Longo , I wish I was more assertive starting out at 23 too (I didn't make a move until about 31), so it's great you are thinking ahead. I invest a little in Rochester, if Syracuse is anything like it, I bet there is a a large presence of investors you can meet up with. I too am in health care, though in IT...what do you do?

This year I've decided I wanted to get more aggressive and better prepared to transition out of the 9-5 (if it were only 9-5) job...my goals towards that in 2014 are:

1.) Get real estate agent license.

2.) Purchase at least 4 more 'doors' (100% increase).

3.) Flip at least 1 property.

4.) Start a blog, why not?

5.) Most importantly, spend more time with my kids (which is why I want to move away from the 9-5 to begin with).

Chris