All Forum Posts by: Michael Jones

 Do you live in the main home on the same property? If so, put a new thermostat in the tenants unit with wifi capabilities and connect it to your device. Then put up a blink camera on the drive and when you get a notification that he has left on the camera just go to the thermostat app and turn his air off or up. 

Why go through this trouble? if you want to have the tenants pay for the water bill why not just raise the rent enough to cover the water and explain to them the purpose for the increase. You are then left with just one bill to collect each month from the tenant. 

Never return the deposit on the day of move out. what happens if there are fleas in the carpet or bed bugs in the wall sockets that you did not know about? 

Also, it is very difficult to catch all issues on a walk through when the tenant is standing right there. Its human nature to feel pressured and rushed.

I cashed out my 401k, took the penalty and walked away with 90K liquid. I used it for a down payment on a four plex. Waited six months with profit building and the remaining portion of the original 90K and bought a second four plex. After a year I refinanced both four plexus and was able to pull out around $100k in refi money. I used this to pay the down payment on two more four plexus leaving me with a total of four. The third year I rinsed and repeated and pulled more cash out by refi of the last two and bought two more buildings. 

I know have 28 total doors spread over six buildings and five years since I cashed out my 401k. I profit more per year than I had in 401k when I cashed it out. 

I'm not a CPA, financial expert, stock market broker or even highly educated but I can tell you that there was no chance I would be pulling six figures a year profit from my 401k today if I had left it sitting.

That is the success story side of the coin. Here is the ugly side:

I know more about bed bugs than I ever cared to know. I keep rubber gloves stocked up for peoples toilets when they clog and it saves me $150 drain call. I keep hot water heater burner assembly kits in my truck in case I get the "my hot water heater isn't working" call. I can go on and on. 

The point is that yes you can cash out your 401k and turn it into better money. But I promise you it will not be easy. It will be sleepless nights and hard work and cleaning up other peoples messes and your own mistakes as you learn how to manage the business of tenants. 

The hard work will pay off if you are willing to do the hard work and learn to read people and treat people the way you want to be treated without letting your business suffer.

But cash out your 401k and treat people poorly including tenants, outsource all of the dirty work to vendors and property management companies  and you will have a better chance at the nearest casino.

Good luck and I sincerely wish you the best.

Get on marketplace face book and find one of the local guys selling used washer and dryers. Buy a used one for $150.00 and ask them to deliver and install it for you. Venmo them the money when the tenant tells you its hooked up.

These same type used sellers will also haul away the old one so you solve that issue as well.

@Brandon Fuhrman

Both. If i have to sacrifice either one on a purchase I am walking away.

And guess what.....all of my properties are in the Louisville market so it is very possible.

If you would like to talk with an investor that has built a small portfolio here in Louisville i would be glad to have a cup of coffee together. And I have nothing to sell but just love talking property.

you can repair the building. You can change the tenants to better ones. You can raise rents to improve cash flow.

You can never change the neighborhood. Make sure the neighborhood is one that will be a good area to invest in for the long haul. you are stuck with the neighborhood.

@Lawrence P. Schnapf You are basing this on the one tank that she can see. Is this one heating tank that the homeowner buried 60 years ago when they changed heating systems or were they a contractor that was being paid to dispose of oil tanks properly and took short cuts by collecting the money for disposal and burying them in a backyard and there are a total of 34 tanks under the dirt?

No one will know for sure until the first tank is dug up and ground samples are pulled surrounding the tank and submitted to the epa.

Sounds like an exaggeration but I am sitting in an office and can look out of a window and see the asphalt cap that has to be reported to the epa every five years due to a contractor burying paint cans in the ground rather than disposing of them the proper way 60 years ago. The cost to clean out and move the contaminated dirt, refill with clean dirt, dig and monitor water wells for contaminate levels and then have those wells closed off after inspection and a lifetime asphalt cap placed and maintained is in the millions. Yes, an exaggerated millions.

Again, too many risk for a property investor and a buried tank. Run Forest Run!!!

Yes I have had experience. Run Forest Run. Don't try to out smart this as it could end up in the millions. Just move on.

If you have your property in an LLC you will have to hire a lawyer for things like filing an eviction as an LLC is considered and individual in the eyes of a court and you can not represent the interest of a LLC without a law license.

However, if the property is in your name you can represent yourself in court and your interest.

Insure accordingly with umbrella policies and also require your renter to carry renters insurance. For example if they have someone visit them and they slip and fall and sue you it will go to your insurance company. Your insurance company will then push it to the renters insurance company and in cases of non neglect the renters insurance company will be the one paying out the claim.

So when a tenant tries to sue you they will actually sue their own insurance company.