All Forum Posts by: Erik Mogan

@Omar Khan I remember your response! Thank you for your advice.  I actually reached out to people on LinkedIn like you suggested and that's how I was able to switch jobs.

Hi, everybody!  Six months ago I asked for advice on how to fix my life, and I've returned with an update.  Since I posted last, I have

• Had a lot of conversations with different real estate investors to figure out the path I wanna take in REI.
• Come up with a semi-competent business plan laying out my financial and real estate goals in the next 5 years.
• Switched jobs, so now I'm making a bout $2,000 more annually, but working 26 fewer hours a week.
• Paid down about $2,000 in debt and seen my credit score jump (on average across all 3 bureaus) 54 points.
• Kept my second job but negotiated a $.50/hour pay increase.
• We haven't kicked out my wife's aunt, but she now brings in a little money by babysitting some neighbor kids. (We're still waiting on her disability which, in the state of Kentucky, does take a long time to get approved.)
• Moved, so I'm paying $400 less a month in rent
• Lost 37 pounds (that's not real estate related, I'm just very proud of it).
• My wife found a job she loves so a lot of the stress I was experiencing from that has dropped off.

My biggest accomplishment thus far is that I've reached out to a hard money lender in my area (that a couple of RE investors in Lexington pointed me towards), and I'll be meeting with him in the next couple of weeks to discuss using his services for my first deal.  If anyone has any advice on that, I'd love to hear it.

Thank you so much to everyone at Bigger Pockets who gave me advice and encouragement on the previous post and in private messages!  I look forward to continuing my education on here. :-D

As a banker, I would NOT suggest telling people to deposit it at a bank. Unless you have a note on your account of some kind, or you are tight with your bank, most banks won't allow non-customers to deposit checks to accounts they aren't on. I think your renter is doing this because they don't have the money before that date. I'd suggest moving up when their rent is due (pro-rating it so you don't lose out), or go directly to their bank and cash the check in person. If they receive any overdraft fees or the funds aren't available, that's on them.

Thank you, everyone. I spoke with my wife this evening, and she has agreed that we need to separate her aunt and cousins from us. After reading your comments, I realized part of the problem I had was I wasn't being firm enough, but after I got off work we went to get some coffee and talk; just the two of us. I told her that she was putting her aunt before our family, that she was jeopardizing our daughter's future to help other people, and I couldn't be with someone who would do that. She agreed and said she was just worried about her cousins (I haven't mentioned yet, but they are 3 and 15), and that she didn't want them to be homeless, so we compromised: they can stay with us through the end of our rental agreement in April, but after that they are out. This gives them over 2 months to figure something out, and we were gonna be in our current place until then, so it feels like a fair compromise. I have already spoken to our landlord and told him we wont be re-upping our agreement, because I don't want it to be April 29th and she still hasn't found some place so we have to let them stay with us even longer. I'm taking a hard line against this without completely pushing my wife out of the way, but if I get the whiff of her trying to snake her way into staying longer, I'm gonna put my foot down and take more drastic measures. Tomorrow I'm going to speak to my branch manager (we have a one-on-one meeting scheduled) and tell him I need his help to move up. The nearest assistant manager position is almost 80 miles away, and I would only get a small raise despite essentially doing the same work, so I'm gonna shoot for the moon and tell him that he's gotta help me get a branch manager position or I'm switching jobs (I have already applied at two other banks and have a few more to apply to after I post this update). Sorry if this is rambling or incoherent; I'm doing it all on my phone while my laptop charges and can't track and edit my sentences as well. I feel a lot more confident about the future now. Y'all told me essentially what I already knew, and you helped me find the words I needed to get my point across. Thank you for the messages in my inbox and all the resources and information. :-) I'm gonna go back to my normal lurker status now; gotta read all the blogs and forum posts so when my time comes, I'm ready as possible.

Hi y'all!  Despite the dour tone of this post, I'm a genuinely happy person.  I half-need to vent, and half-need some help.  This isn't me looking for a hand-out or a pity party.  I need good, solid advice how I can make my way towards achieving my dreams.

The situation:

• My wife lost her job shortly after Christmas and has had trouble finding something else. 
• Her aunt and two kids live with us, and they bring in no income; in fact, they're a drain because I have to pay outrageously for a place that can fit all of us (I'm paying almost $1300 a month to rent; in Lexington, that's why on the higher end). The only relief they provided was that when my worked, her aunt watched our 4-year-old kid.
• I work at a lower-end bank; I won't say the name, but suffice to say I get paid $12.80 an hour and have to work about 66 hours a week to make ends meet. 
• Since December 31st I've only had 4 days off, and that was only because my wife had to have some dental work done.
• Over the last year the bank has essentially made it impossible for promotion by removing assistant branch manager positions and almost exclusively doing outside hires for managers. 
• Due to the weird nature of our bank, there's no room for lateral movement into commercial banking or mortgage lending or anything.
• My wife refuses to let me kick out her aunt and cousins because her aunt is disabled (but doesn't get disability because apparently it take around 9,000 years to get approved for that) and they have nowhere to go.

Now that the sad stuff is out of the way, here are some things I have going for me:

• Work ethic! I work 66 hours a week but I love doing it. I've gladly given up my nights and weekends when I wasn't in such dire straits because working hard is in my genes. I consistently hold more than one job and I crush it.
• Time management: Due to the amount of hours I work, I have to structure my life around schedules; as such, I have been able to accomplish everything I need to accomplish by exercising extreme control over my time.
• Personality. I said it at the top, I'm a genuinely happy person. I know the stuff that's happening to me is mostly my own doing, and the stuff that isn't is fixable if I'm willing to sacrifice a little, so I'm not raging at the heavens and being all 'Woe is me,' about everything
• Budgeting! Like I said, money's tight.  Every penny is accounted for; every dollar has a place in my budget, and any extra I get (very rare) goes into a savings account to help out the next month.

Again, this isn't a pity party.  I don't need a hand-out.  I need advice.  I can't pay down my debts and build my credit until I lower my expenses and upgrade my income; I can't move until I figure out what to do about my wife's aunt; I can't take time off to interview or job hunt until my wife finds a job, but if she finds a job we essentially have to keep her aunt around to watch our kid. I feel like I know what I need to do, but it will help if I can hear it from other people.

Please, people of Bigger Pockets, give me advice.

Congrats on your first deal! I haven't started yet, but I agree with Terry; I'm the only one in my general circle interested in doing any kind of REI, and it wasn't until I came on the forums and attended an REI meeting that made me realize how much I need that like-mindedness around me. You'd be a part of the Queens REI group, right? See if they have anything on Facebook or here on BP. Good luck!

Would it be easier for you and them if you moved their due date to the middle of the month?  Just charge them a pro-rated amount for the first half of the month then make them start paying on like the 15th?  Not saying you shouldn't evict them, but if they're consistently late to the point of eviction, this may be a way to avoid the headache of doing that.

The house looks amazing! I like the bold choice in colors; the mural is a nice touch, too.

What a roller coaster! I'm glad y'all were able to get it all done.

Awesome! I love the tile in the kitchen. I'm excited to see your next flip.