All Forum Posts by: Jeff Irwin

I guess along with the headaches of toilets, tenants, termites and trash, I was actually looking for more information about real life typical money advantages or disadvantages. Over the long haul, the stock market earns 7%. 

 Prior to 1997 capital gains were taxed at 28%. 

That's interesting.  Also, not very encouraging.  But I prefer to hear truth so, it is what it is. No, Dad didn't  quit when the market turned down. He worked his *** off  teaching full time and driving Greyhound buses part time until succumbing to ALS , aka Lou Gherigs disease. He invested everything he could. 

We are new here. We have been reading Mark Ferguson's Build a Rental Property Empire, and just ordered "The Blueprint".

We are early fifties and looking for a better way to reach retirement. We attended our first meeting with the local REA.

I am cautious about this process because of the following. My Dad had gotten into real estate investing years ago and had what ended up being three negative experiences.

1)One nice property with what appeared to be a nice couple renting it. They broke up and the  woman and her kids squatted without paying rent for about 3.5 months. Ugly eviction---we had to carry her stuff out to the curb with the police looking on. She burned the carpet all over with an iron and they had smashed holes in the sheetrock. Dad fixed it and sold it.

2)He bought a patio home at the wrong time in the market at a high interest rate and had no cash flow as well as no exit strategy Sold at a loss.

3)He bought a quad unit near a college and it cash flowed well. It would turn out to be the best of his properties. However, the market soared and he was keeping his eye on the resale value. When the market took a downturn, he got so discouraged about his imaginary loss that he no longer enjoyed the cash flow. He sold it and got clobbered with capitol gains tax.

After these experiences, he decided that real estate was no longer a game he wanted to play. He worked really hard and saved a good amount of money in the stock market.

So, now you understand where I am coming from with doubts and fears. However, my Dad didn't have the information that we have today. I think that makes a big difference. We have been watching our money in the stock market lose value all year. So, I am educating myself all I can and hoping to find a better way.

Just to clarify :

The prices I quoted  are the costs for both of us together,  not individually. 

anybody have any feedback? 

Hello BP

My wife and I are new to rei . I have been educating myself by reading an awful lot here on BP, as well as reading books fromBrandon's top picks, and currently reading Mark Ferguson's How to build a rental property empire.  

We are thinking about joining the Jacksonville real estate investors association, and looking at their 3 day boot camp this coming weekend. However, I have read mostly negative reviews about reia groups in general. I'm just wondering if anyone has personal experience with Jax REIA or has attended their boot camp. Prices for my wife and I are $300 to join and an additional $500 for the boot camp. Or, $600 for the boot camp without membership.

Are we really going to learn that much in a boot camp?

Are they generally worth their weight in gold or just a wooden nickle? 

We are reading  as much as we can, on bigger pockets, and numerous  books. We are doing paper analysis and finally found a sfh that met criteria but when we called, it was already under contract and was reserved for owner occupant buyers.

Where can we look for property to invest in? Should we befriend a realtor to look for us? Should we form an LLC first ?

my concern  is that I am getting into this game at age 51. Don't  I want all my properties to be paid off before retirement? 

That way my monthly  income would be better in retirement? ?

so, to analyze  this from an investment standpoint, the market value would be 180k but my cash outlay would be 20% of 90k.

So, the other option is to let it go to market and use my portion of the equity to buy other properties.