All Forum Posts by: Stephen Masek

Wow, this is still going!  I now drive a 2021 AMG GLE63S - a 603 HP, 0-60 3.4 seconds, reported 174MPH top speed east, but it gets 1 MPG better than the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 it replaced, is great road trip vehicle, and I use it for work, meaning I carry tools, ladders, and test equipment.   I paid cash (bank check), no loans for me.  My wife's car is a 2017 BMW 340iGT we found with just 5,000 miles on it, a smooth, powerful, just outright excellent vehicle.  Both are problem free.  

You may wish to invest in a hard money fund, such as that offered by the Marshall Reddick people, rather than direct lending.  

Why are you buying now, before the bubble pops? Many excellent opportunities will be available in HOA subdivisions after the bubble pops. I just sold one triple and one double in Las Vegas, both in HOAs, and will sell out last two SFRs, one a double and the other a triple, this month. Just be sure you know the HOA rules before you buy! Some do not allow rentals.

Asbestos is still an issue for brand new buildings, and much more so for older (~pre-1985) buildings, so anyone investing in properties, managing properties, and/or working on properties needs to be up to sped on asbestos.  New, and all initial reviews are similar to what Dave Luce wrote" Got mine - and read the whole thing today. Great book - thank you so much for making this. A LOT of helpful info!" It is Illustrated Practical Asbestos: For Consultants, Contractors, Property Managers & Regulators, available now on Amazon. Enjoy!

New, and all initial reviews are similar to what Dave Luce wrote" Got mine - and read the whole thing today.  Great book - thank you so much for making this.  A LOT of helpful info!"  It is Illustrated Practical Asbestos: For Consultants, Contractors, Property Managers & Regulators, available now on Amazon. Enjoy!

Indeed, you must manage the managers.  My wife and I have sold all but four of our rental houses, and would like to sell the one we have in a nice Atlanta suburb, and the one we have in a nice Memphis suburb, leaving us with just two in Las Vegas.

Unless you can find somebody willing to sell below market, the prices here do not work.  The time to buy is when prices are low, and there is nowhere in the USA where that is now true.  I expect president Trump to be reelected, and the economy to continue to zoom, but it will eventually fall. Have you considered investing in a low expense index fund such as VOOG, and/or a stock with substantial dividend, such as AT&T or IRM?      

Our manager just had to evict a non-paying tenant from a nice house we own in Lawrenceville, a nice suburb of Atlanta (4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2,248 square feet, built in 2001, Lot 0.24 acre).  Would you sell it now, rent it for six months and sell it then, or something else?  If it were in a place with a hard Winter, we'd definitely wait, but Atlanta may be different.   

I doubt that Proposition 13 will be repealed for everything except single-family homes, but it could happen.  If it does, that value of the single family homes will also plummet, as employers and jobs would stream out of the state.  We'd not sit and do nothing while our $1,000,000 home goes down to $250,000.  Fortunately, I'm 62 and could stop working whenever I want, so we'd just go to Europe, where we already have a second home.     

We first had Jim Moody's company as managers, then switched to Buckeye for a very short time, then to Rylan.   We've done well with other property out of town, but I certainly see the advantage of being local.  Nothing around us in Mission Viejo would be  good.  There are two 20 year old  houses on our street for sale now, both at $1,000,000 or a bit more, but they would only draw about $5,000 per month rent, and property taxes would be $10,000 per year.  A  smaller and much older house at $650,000 to $750 would draw significantly  less rent.