All Forum Posts by: Clint Galliano

I recently marked my 25 year anniversary with the company I work for. I have just over $900k in 401k & company stock. My home is owned free & clear, due to selling company stock to pay it off. We currently own 3 rentals, 2 bought for cash, one inherited. And we inherited about $950k. We don't live frugally, but we also don't spend to "keep up with the Joneses".

As others have said, increase your income, reduce your expenses, save & invest the difference.

@Mike D'Arrigo Thanks for the list...too many people want the easy deal, serve it up on a silver platter. I initially was interested in what CM was saying just due to his wife, whom I'd followed in tech media for years. But when he is telling people that because properties are freshly rehabbed you don't need to account for maintenance or CAPEX in your analysis, on top of "if they want air conditioning, they can bring their own window unit", I knew it was all B$.

#DoYourDueDiligence!

Thanks everyone for the #QuickTips! Feel free to continue adding to discussion!

I'll add another one that I have used in the past:

When screening properties to evaluate, use the three "percentage" rules of thumb...70% - Target 70% of market value as your purchase price (or better), 50% - Expenses are roughly 50% of gross rents, and 1% - Market rent should be about 1% or better of the purchase price of the property.

Now the caveat...these "rules of thumb" should only be used as screening tools for deciding whether or not to further evaluate/analyze a deal, not as your only analysis.

I like "Quick Tips!". I find a lot of them very helpful. I try to gather my own quick tips to share at REIA meetings, but sometimes draw a blank. So, I figure why not start a thread for collecting "Quick Tips!"?

I will post my first one: Stessa, one of BP's advertisers. I am not sure if I ran across them on Facebook or here on BP, but they are pretty neat for tracking your property accounting in a frictionless manner. 

Regards,

Clint C. Galliano

JJRA, LLC

I was looking for other opportunities than the declining oilfield, (at the time), and REI was something I could do in addition to my regular job.

@Chad Bellanger - Unofficially, about 6 years.

But I have only been serious about it for the last 3 years or so.

If your pro forma margins are indicating only $25-$50 of cash flow, that is too thin, assuming you are considering it as a rental. In other words, it's not worth it. Your hazard insurance has the possibility of varying that much from year to year here in Louisiana, ($300-$600), thus negating your cash flow. 

In response to the comments regarding selling a home that needs flood insurance, it does make it harder, but people down here want to live where they want to live and regularly buy homes that need flood insurance. Heck, most of South Louisiana is one type of special flood zone or another requiring flood insurance.

Welcome to BP, @Chad Bellanger! I'm in Houma and invest in Thibodaux. There are a few of us in the tri-parish area. Search for real estate groups in Houma on meetup dot com to find the local REIA group.

Congratulations! Welcome to BP!

I suggest attending any of the local REIA meetings to look for contractors.

Good Luck!

@Ryan H., As another reply says, your heating system should not be on the same circuit as your outside outlets. Caveat: This is for a central electric furnace. It may be possible that you have a different type of heating system that is tied into the same circuit as the outside outlets. Can you give us an update on what the actual issue was?