All Forum Posts by: Eric Bowlin

That's funny, I use allure vinyl plank flooring as well.

Everyone makes investment mistakes. Look at each property as a "Sunk Cost". You cannot and will never recover the money you have already lost. You must decide if you will make more money by keeping those properties with negative cash-flow, or selling them and using any proceeds to buy better, positive cash-flowing properties. You should really look up and understand the concept of a sunk cost because the vast majority of people make emotional decisions about their lost time or money. The time and effort you put into these properties is completely unrelated to what your future returns will be.

The textbook example is a long 3 hour movie. After 30 minutes you realize it is a TERRIBLE movie. Do you sit and watch the rest of it because you already spent $15 and an hour of your life..or do you leave? The answer would be to leave...the time and money won't come back but you can still use your next couple hours to do something fun.

As far as your family life... Emotional support is important but I wouldn't let it stop me. You came from another country, alone, and through sheer force of will accomplished something that most people never could. It would be nice if we could forge a path and have someone there by our side every step of the way...but If you know you are right, you just have to take the lead and drag everyone else with you.

Most people are born and raised to crowd-think. "if real estate was easy, everyone would do it"... "you'll lose everything because it's impossible to evict bad tenants"..."Real estate is too risky..You should just get a good job"... "I could invest in real estate but I don't want to deal with the hassle"...a thousand excuses to not be successful. The same excuses regurgitated from someone else for another situation. Don't fall into their negative thoughts. Help them understand why they need to listen to you. Perhaps have him read some Robert Kiyosaki.

@Jeremy Tillotson Great idea! I've used staffing companies before and didn't even think about that as a solution here. A good friend of mine used to work as a scheduler for one staffing company. We broke down the numbers and they really aren't even that expensive, usually give their guys good benefits, and only charge 3 or $4/hr markup on their actual labor costs.

@Roy N. I was doing a little research about them this morning It is very interesting what they can be used for and I'm sure their use won't go away for many many applications. I just personally don't see how long they will stay with social media or advertising.

From what I read from people who follow such things...A lot of people complain advertisers have used them in many completely irrelevant and useless ways..which led many end users to stop using them.

Perhaps in the future as good web addresses become difficult to find or too expensive (because they are all bought up and being auctioned for thousands)  and if advertisers have excellent quality information behind the QR code..then maybe they will become more prevalent.

From my point of view, and most of my social group, I don't spend my time on them. But I'm not part of a normal group since probably 80%of my peers from college are still single, binge drinking, and working day jobs. So I'm part of a bias sample.

Technology is very interesting... Could talk about it for hours..days even.

Just for fun, google "are qr codes relevant". A lot of Good info on the topic.

Quite possibly different social sub-groups use technology differently! Being 29..I know a lot of 20 somethings. My youngest sister is only 21 and still in college. 

I would agree and I think most people have tried it simply as a novelty. I couldn't dislike it so much if I hadn't tried it.

If the particular demographic you are targeting is likely to use it, and it is successful for you, then awesome!  

I might say..just take the first page of the flyer and put it there..that way no one will take it!

@Kirk R. A Closet isn't defined in the IRC to the best of my knowledge but your local state or county codes may define it.

4.5x11 means those BR are roughly 11x11? You will have to physically build a closet so it can be considered part of the house. Even building a 2x3 closet takes up a huge portion of your already tiny bedrooms.

Perhaps do a half bath and keep the closets butted back to back at the end.

On a side note though..Honestly, everyone who hires people on a regular basis should have a workers comp policy. If you have 0 labor that wasn't covered under other policies, you won't get charged anything extra and it's only a few hundred bucks a year. If you happen to hire someone and they aren't covered... lied to you..policy expired.. THEY hired someone illegally.. either way you are covered. In MA it only adds around 10% to the cost of labor.

*not an insurance agent. cant give insurance advice

@Jeremy Tillotson  Yes I have workers comp and $2 mil liability coverage. I also own a construction company and know what labor costs to employ. I also wouldn't waste my time doing a 2 hour demo job and neither would any contractor I know.

I can't speak for other states...but i've seen in MA If you hire someone to work on your property, your homeowners policy will cover them. They are the 'contractor' and should have carried workers comp. 

I know this from a family member who hired a painter who fell and got hurt. I think the painter was covered but he had his brother help and he wasn't covered...or something..I don't know the details but point is he didn't have it. Her homeowners covered it 100%. Not optimal but it works.

There are a lot of caveats and every state has it's own legal definitions of employee vs contractor. I would avoid doing what you seem to allude to in your other thread..which is having a legal entity hire an employee illegally..probably paying them under the table and not carrying insurance on them.... Hiring a sub-contractor which you have every intention of giving a 1099 to if they exceed the $600 threshold established by the IRS...I'd do that even if I didn't have workers comp.

Disclaimer: Yea yea.. I'm not an attorney, insurance agent, accountant, or whatever else it may be and I can't give any sort of advice at all besides my opinion.