All Forum Posts by: Christopher Mooney

 Hey Bob, i see your name all over anything Cleveland, that’s awesome. Thanks for the input. 

 Thanks for the thoughtful response Ali! Gives me some good food for thought

Hey all,

Have a portfolio of 6 properties in Cleveland, OH and as I'm looking to scale, I'm trying to better understand the numbers and essentially take a more active "Asset Manager" type of role, while allowing my property manager to do their thing.

Looking at my Profit & Loss statement from 2022, expenses were about 53% of income (excluding mortgage costs). For a couple properties, that amount was low (30%) while other properties it was very high (80%) due to ruptured sewage pipes (I'll always pay to have sewage lines inspected during due diligence moving forward!) and other maintenance headaches.

My question/scenario is two fold.

First, I believe 50% expense ratio is kind of a benchmark number a lot of investors use. What's everyone's thoughts on that?

Second, could I reasonably expect this ratio / the expenses to go down over time? While having 6 properties is commendable, I feel like I'm barely turning a profit here and it really feels like something has to work better or be done differently in the long run to truly grow massive wealth with real estate.

Thanks all!

Mooney

Thank you all for the great input here! This has given me a lot to chew on. I'm open to exploring both the HELOC and a 401K loan, especially since I'm not getting any younger and financial independence is the next major life milestone I'm pursuing.
Thanks again everyone!

Hi everyone,

I’ve got great credit, good income, but not much liquid for a downpayment.

I'm considering either a 401K loan or a HELOC on my personal residence to raise money to do my first out of state BRRRR.

I’ll have more through the HELOC, but from what I’ve read a 401K loan is likely a lower borrowing rate and the interest gets paid to myself anyway. I’d need to get enough for a downpayment and will use hard money to find the remaining purchase and rehab (if I could find those terms). 

What’s everyone’s take on this? 

Hey all!

I live and work in NY, but am interested in off market marketing in Cleveland, OH and Kansas City, MO. I intend to wholesale some, but the goal is to keep as many properties as possible (wholesaling to fund business operations and generate cash to invest).

If you had $300-$500 to invest virtually and not much free time to cold call on your own (I'm out of the house at 6AM and back home at 7PM), where would you spend that capital? Mailers + cost of a Google Voice local number? Another strategy?

I look forward to hearing your inputs!

@Berry Starnes  so your loan to yourself via the 401K requires you to pay interest to yourself? 

@Shiloh Lundahl that's a very awesome answer! Thanks for those insights!!!

Is holding 3-7 years the sweet spot for tax benefits? 

There are clearly people on both ends of the spectrum here, few relies actually based on science, but rather what their favorite political talking head tells them (left or right wing, both full of it). 

I work in the world of finance and investing. And all the best investors have a strong understanding or risk and diversity. How I am looking at things are in terms of those two. Is climate risk real? I definitely believe so. Is it increasing exponentially now? I also believe that (so does unbiased science). But I weigh climate risk more heavily than many others here clearly. I also look at political risk…from NY but don’t invest here and avoid very blue states (even though I tend to vote blue). There’s tons of other risks to consider too. 

Now for the diversification part. Maybe you don't put all your eggs in one basket. Maybe buy some rentals in Tampa but then also in the Midwest. You get high potential for appreciation plus some stable cash flow. Buy some long term rentals, multifamily and an STR maybe. I think this helps better ensure you have long term success.

Whatever you choose, take everyone’s opinion here (including mine), with a grain of organic grass fed rice. Or better yet, a grain of Millet…less climate intensive 😆