All Forum Posts by: Mark H.

I always view my current home as a future rental. I intend to move to another house in a few years, and I will make sure the future house will also have the right features to become a rental eventually. At some point I don't want to work for the house, I want the house to work for me.

In addition, I live far below my means and stay away from giant fancy houses. I essentially live the same living standard as my tenants

If I ever need to move for job relocation or whatever reason, I know I can easily rent out my house no problem. Less risk, less worries.

I dream of having free time for all kinds of activities I enjoy and which happen to cost money. I don't want to work in a cube for another 20 years. REI is helping me reach my goal of early retirement.

In the meantime I've discovered that I enjoy REI and friends tell me that I'm very good at it, so why not keep at it?!

I've learned from experience that you cannot change others. You can show them different options but the choice is theirs to make. I also let them face the consequences of the choices they make, no bailouts thank you. Some former friends were financially decimated but refused to admit responsibility, lived in great denial and always blamed external factors for their own failure. I don't need friends who just want to cry on my shoulder but won't lift a finger or change their attitude to improve their situation. I've seen those ones go back to their parents for financial help or even move in with them in their late 30's!! Their parents enabled them, their parents can deal with their issues - I make sure to stay focused on my success.

My wife was initially scared of the debt, but let me buy one house at first to see how it goes. Once I showed her the tax it saved us, monthly cashflow and price appreciation, she felt better. Later she was ok with me buying more houses. This year she thoroughly prepared for and attended the public auction and bought a foreclosed property! She's become a full partner who has observed that REI builds wealth much better than a 9-5 job. I feel happy talking with her about all kinds of REI options. Her appetite has grown and she is thinking bigger than me how to expand our RE investments. It has taken 7 years to get her to this point. Now it's all good :)

You will succeed in REI only to the extent that you badly need to prove it to yourself. No mentor, book or any other resource out there, will ever make you successful, unless you have that BURNING DESIRE/HUNGER/DRIVE inside you to succeed. There never was, is nor will be any substitute for that inner desire. Access to resources is quick and easy nowadays, but plenty of people with this access still don't succeed. It all comes down to YOUR brain.

Aside from that, throwing your tv in the trash would be a step in the right direction. You could then be reading every evening with less distraction.

Good luck!

When I was unhappy with a former PM, I cancelled the management agreement in the middle of the contract period. The cancellation clause said I would owe the PM the monthly fee for the remaining months of each lease. In my opinion that clause was not fair, the PM already got a 50% commission on the first month. Shame on me that I originally signed that agreement as is. Anyway, I made a personal decision to cancel no matter what, and if the PM had come after me for extra fees (on multiple leases) I would hire a great lawyer and put up a tough fight. I wrote a long list of specific examples to show to a judge how the PM failed to live up to the contract. By the way,the PM signed all my leases in my behalf. Low and behold, the PM confirmed that I don't owe him the extra fees. I believe I gave him such a hard time stubbornly disagreeing with him on multiple issues that he also preferred we part ways :) LOL . Since then I've found a PM who thinks like me and we have built a very positive relationship, and I made sure the cancellation clause now says I owe no more fees if I leave. Learned my lesson. Sorry, no legal advice, but I wish you good luck.

 Hmm, I actually used that software as a loan applicant for 7 years, I was not impressed one single bit.

One tip: Learn the underwriting rules of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on their websites, so when you talk with lenders you can tell which strict rule hampering loan approval is an overlay. Sometimes underwriters can ease the overlay rules as opposed to the rules of the note investors (Fannie Mae) which are set in stone. You can also ask other lenders about specific overlays for your scenario before you decide to submit an application. Generally, experienced investors can take advantage of some rules not available to non-investors. 

Good points David and Chris.

The spreadsheet idea is very helpful in my experience now that I own multiple properties, it gives a great snapshot quickly to underwriting, it helped me quickly qualify for commercial loans, not as much for conventional.

I also learned to keep everything digital both in REI and my regular business. This way I submit all my docs immediately which leaves the lender totally surprised, but they move it to underwriting immediately.

I recently did multiple refinances in one closing with a lender I had used for 12 previous loans, so I was very familiar with their underwriting process. Unfortunately this last time I had to deal with a new underwriter who asked for explanation s about endless small details, as if he could never be satisfied. After 3 months of fully cooperating with their demands, I got exhausted and told them if I'm not qualified enough by now then let's cancel the whole deal, I'll go with a different lender. At that point they realized they went too far (the processing manager agreed that this underwriter exhausted everyone). So we closed on the loan, but now I'm doing new loans with a different lender - much easier! If a lender gets too difficult to deal with, try another lender, don't waste your time.

LMAO !! Now you're inspiring me to develop a new mortgage origination software. I develop enterprise applications for a living. I assumed that long established software out there has been perfected after years of usage ... I guess there is still opportunity out there.