All Forum Posts by: David Dachtera

Well done! You've read about tenant screening, and probably read a bit about property analysis.

Just understand that no amount of screening or analysis is going stop stuff from breaking or keep tenants from breaking stuff for what ever reason. It's going to happen. Plan on it!

You can negotiate with property managers, especially if you intend on bringing them a lot of future business. Management is like any other expense - it comes out of GOI before debt service. Figure it into your numbers - don't try to increase income by skimping on expenses - it will ALWAYS bite you! ...and invariably it ultimately hurts your property value.

Are you starting to see now why I promote getting educated first?

Please take my earlier post to heart.

Are you an entrepreneur (wealth creator) or a consumer (trying save what you don't have yet)?

Your time is your most valuable resource. Value it - it's worth a LOT more than a tradesman's wages!

If it's not, go get a J.O.B. and trade your time for a few dollars.

 That's actually a great strategy: buy a 2, 3 or 4 flat, live in one and rent the others out to pay for the property and for cash flow. It can even work for 5+ (commercial property).

Do consider, however, the implications of your tenants knowing the owner / maintenance man lives on-premises. How do you feel about excusing yourself from a family doings two hours from home (for example) because your tenant called with a problem? You're on call 24x7 instead of paying someone else so you can sleep, have a life and build your business on your own terms.

Your choice...

@Mark Smith

"I would really like to self manage to save money, ..."

In my opinion...

You may as well stop right there. You're not ready to be an investor.

Investors are entrepreneurs - entrepreneurs look for ways to MAKE money.

Consumers look for ways to "save" (read: not spend) money. Trouble is, you can't save your way to success - you MUST invest for income FIRST. Then, control costs to preserve your wealth.

That is, you can't preserve wealth you haven't created yet.

Every hour you spend unclogging toilets, mowing lawns, painting, ... is time NOT spent building your business.

Do you want to be a business person or a groundskeeper? ...plumber? ...painter? ...?

If you want to be a property manager, then learn how.

If you want to be a property OWNER, you'll know what to expect of your property manager once you have a property to be managed.

My best advice is before you attempt to invest in real estate is to FIRST LEARN HOW!

You wouldn't attempt mountain climbing after reading book or some blog posts about it, would you? ...or after taking a 3-day climbing "bootcamp"?

Pick a strategy - SFR or multi - and learn all you can about it. THEN jump in head first! You can diversify later.

Again, strictly my opinion...

@Debbie Lee:

"Tarek & Christina ..."

OK, That's the couple from "Flip or Flop".

Thanx for that. I almost threw money at them earlier this year, also, just to see if they had anything I'd never heard before. Good to know I made the right the decision.

That's an astute observation, Brandon.

See, the "hard" part of real estate investing is not education, though that is of ultimate importance: learn how before attempting to do it, and it's not marketing though you will need buyers or renters in order for your exit strategies to be effective as well as needing sellers and strong team members in order for your lead generation and property acquisition strategies to be effective.

No, the "hard" part of real state investing is entrepreneurship: that which distinguishes the average consumer ("poor Dad") from a successful entrepreneur ("rich Dad").

For example, the average consumer ("poor Dad") looks for ways to spend money. The entrepreneur ("rich Dad") looks for ways to invest money to produce income.

The average consumer looks for reasons why things can't be done. The entrepreneur looks for ways to get things done.

I could go on with those comparisons, but those two are some key fundamentals. Conquer them and rest will fall into place quite easily, almost as if "by magic".

Disclosure: I have no relationship of any kind with Robert Kiyosaki or the Rich Dad organization.

Hi, Cory,

In my view, there are two schools of thought:

The typical consumer looks at a windfall and thinks, "how can I spend this?", or looks at "a lot" of money they've saved up and thinks, "I can reduce my interest expense by paying down (some loan: their home loan/mortgage, credit line, etc.)."

Now, there's nothing wrong that, of course.

However, let's look at it from an entrepreneur's perspective:

The entrepreneur looks at that sum and says, "where can I invest this to produce income?"

In the end, you'll need to choose which is right for you.

@Roy N.

This got "TOS'd" last time I posted it, but I'll try again...

From the MyRenatus Home page, click on the "Education" tab. Ignore the drop downs.

Scroll down on the page that opens to find the course catalogue. The info you seek is there.

Again, thanx much, @Brian Gibbons.

I'll be off-line for a while starting the end of this week, but I will make those a priority when I plug back in again.

@Brian Gibbons,

Yes - Robert Allen was one of my earliest adopted mentors. I especially liked his self-deprecation. He said that he graduated business school in that third of the class which made the upper two-thirds possible.

I also like his "bath tub theory of economics": The idea that you can think of your finances in terms of "faucets" letting water into your wealth "bath tub" versus "drains" which let it escape.

I was also part of his "WinKids" Self Esteem program early on.