All Forum Posts by: Jim S.

I like the vinyl planking personally, have it in my ski condo. Works great despite short term renters with ski boots, skis, hiking boots, etc. 3 years in no visible damage and the unit itself looks great. If I had to redo another unit I'd do the exact same thing.

Great story! Wish I was acquiring properties already at that age - by the time pure 30 you'll be in a very good position at this rate. All the best with the new property management venture. Would recommend doing some reading on SEO/SEM so you can promote that business fairly cheaply :)

The options you listed are all valid but I'd be more inclined to go with either of the following: 1) Buy a property out of state using that as a downpayment. An investment loan in a multi-family elsewhere will run you 25% + closing costs, if you look in more affordable markets in the middle of the country you may find a deal where the numbers work. These cheaper properties are typically overlooked by bigger investors. For myself I found an excellent triplex in upstate Ny for $113k that should rent for $2100/mo last month. 2) Use as downpayment on an FHA loan. At 3.5% down 20k could get you a 500k multi-family! Make sure the numbers work and if there are existing tenants that would be even better - look in C areas that are gentrifying for the best return imo.

There's a lot of people out there with crap information that think it's worth people paying to hear/read. The most ill ever pay is $20 and that's for a book I've gotten a legitimate recommendation for. Pretty much anything out there will be the same info repackaged a few different ways. Use free resources like BP and some of the better blogs/podcasts and you'll get all the information you need to start out.

Might not have anything to do with the "and make me a more attractive partner" part of your question but my philosophy is that my side hustles should pay at least $50/hr or it's not worth it to me. Opening credit cards + checking accounts if done properly can make $100/hr with no real consequences although there is a limit to how often you can do each (many offers can only be done once every 12 or 24 mo). I'm happy to spend 15 minutes to get a new checking account (which I'll later close) or credit card to get a $200-500 bonus. Can easily make a few grand doing this with almost no time spent.

All of the news outlets are acting like sheep and funneling consumers into Equifax's hack website they setup for the 143 million consumers with lost SSNs, addresses, etc. - https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com.

The part CNN and others are NOT reporting on is that there will surely be a class action lawsuit over this and by putting your information into this form you agree to the barely visible "Terms" link which waives your right to participate in a class action lawsuit. 

Sent an email to CNN's tips line to see if they can at least mention this at some point - the fact that you waive your right to sue is not at all intuitive for the average consumer trying to see if their private information was stolen (in the case of most on this forum the answer will be yes).

Relevant section pulled out:

PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE SECTION CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS BY REQUIRING ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES (EXCEPT AS SET FORTH BELOW) AND A WAIVER OF THE ABILITY TO BRING OR PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION, CLASS ARBITRATION, OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. 

If you participate in the class action you'll surely get at least as good of a credit monitoring service + likely monetary damages, I would not recommend signing up for this BS website setup by Equifax but if you even check if you're affected you will be removed from the class. 

This should be a story in itself imo, consumers should be pissed when they hear this.

You don't need to choose between saving in a 401k and advancing your RE goals. I'm maxing my 401k currently - the intent is to use it to loan myself money for down payments on investment properties. I'm using pre-tax money, which is matched by my employer, to get a loan where I pay myself the interest. Depending on your circumstances it could be a good option. You need to know that A) you'll want to stay with that employer for the term of the loan, it is typically due within 30 days if employment is terminated and B) you'll be able to afford both your new RE expenses + loan repayment. You can take up to 50% of your 401k or $50k as a loan, whichever is greater is the maximum. Eventually when I'm doing REI full-time I'm going to roll this into a solo 401k and then I will not need to worry about the employment contingency.

I think your responses will vary based on what each person currently invests in. For myself I actually plan for this exact scenario to happen. My scenario - I'm 28 and have $110k worth of illiquid stock sitting in a "unicorn" startup that I worked for that is expected to IPO in a couple years. It may never happen but if it does I intend to try to find some more multi-family units in upstate NY (currently live in Denver but like the economics out there). Recently closed on a 3 unit for $113k which is expected to bring in ~$2100/mo in rents. I'm pretty happy with that deal so far - I'd look to buy 3 more just like it when/if my stock becomes liquid :) If I were further along in my investing career I'd use the whole thing towards a down payment on a 5+ unit w/ commercial financing.

Great deal + awesome story. Thanks for sharing & appreciate your service!

Thanks all! 

I agree having a CPA handle it would be preferable.

At some point I'll have enough complexity in my taxes to not feel comfortable filing them myself but for the time being I just try to research all of the aspects well in advance (I.e this question will inform my taxes in 9 months). 

If I hadn't been doing this in the past I wouldn't be as interested in real estate as I am now. It's only after seeing the magic effects from depreciation on my first property that I realized I can create cash flow while claiming a paper loss to reduce my normal earnings. 

Appreciate all of the input so far!

Jim