All Forum Posts by: Jad Allen

In the beginning partnerships are great.  For a beginner it can even be comforting.  However, it is after a little time passes where it gets dicey.  From experience and observation it is apparent that partnerships in long term investing are very difficult to maintain.  

In short term investing partnerships can be great.  Like flipping.  After each flip is done both can go different ways or chose to work together again.  With long term investment strategies you are often stuck with someone who has different values, goals, and plans.   

Either way I wish you luck.

If possible I would avoid having a partner. Partnerships can get very complicated fast.  The value of a partnership is when each member has differing strengths.  For example if you had capital and your potential partner had experience.  

There is no reason that you guys could not start your investments at the same time and learn from each other as you go.   

The key to sanity and happiness is often having many friends and connections, but no partners.   

Landlords not accepting the 50% rule are mostly being dishonest with themselves. Most landlords convince themselves that they are making more money than they really are.

It seems that many starting or smaller scale landlords have a harder time accepting this general expense. I understand this as it can be discouraging to look at a property and only clear a couple hundred dollars per door. We all want to make more money. However, in the end the numbers never lie.

In my experience vacancy's are the biggest single expense that is under estimated or forgotten.

Overstating of profit is not just a trait of real estate investors. Have you ever talked to someone about stocks?

Josh depending on the timing I would be willing to do a meet up.  

 In reality there is already a local group of investors who loosely stay in contact with each other.  Mostly phone calls and the such.  For the most part we know or know of each other.   

Even though the area is not large it seems that each area has their own group of established investors.  The groupings seem to be Mid county, Pa, North/South Beaumont, West Beaumont, Hardin County, Vidor, Orange, BC and Pa.  

From my experience there has not been a lot of cross mingling.  Most local investors tend to pick just one area.  For example I know of one investor who only works in Groves.  I also know a couple like this in Orange and Bridge City.  Very few will own or operate in Beaumont and Port Arthur.

Several years back a few us would try to meet every so often.  However, as everyone was busy eventually the meetings died off.  Really the meetings were just reasons to hang out for an hour or two.

Oh, I should also mention that most of the investors I know are landlords or house flippers.  

Well the title concerns will vary greatly depending on the state in which the property is located.

Since, I live and invest in Texas I can only comment on the title issues regarding Texas properties.  

John D mentioned one of the biggest concerns in that often title insurance or a free title may not be available.   

Auction.com will often put a property up with a quit-claim-deed or equivalent.   This is something that should be avoided here in Texas as this type of deed does not convey ownership to the buyer.  

There are no REI groups in the area. That is not to say there is no networking here it is just mostly done over the phone or lunch.

Now for your plan of purchasing a 2-3 unit here in the area.  Just be careful in watching your numbers with this plan.  In this area there are not many small multiple unit properties that sale for a reasonable amount.  

Most of what you will find will be large older homes that have been converted to multiple unit properties or newer build duplexes.  The older homes often are a maintence nightmare in rough areas.  While the newer duplexes are priced so as the return on investment is not very good.

Be very careful in regards to the title offered for the property.  

Getting the right deals is more important than getting the most deals or fastest deal.  Since you are just starting out I would say be very picky in the deals you make now.

If the dollar were to collapse then everyone is the country would be affected. The standard of living in this country would deteriorate and deteriorate fast.

As the price of food and materials rise then there is less and less discretionary income to be spent on things like phones, cars, t.v.’s, cable, movies, restaurants, ect…. As basic needs (food, housing, fuel) consume a larger percentage of wages then there would be less money for the extra’s in life. How will the economy look is restaurants, stores, and shops are run out of customers?

Then to make matters worse the countries that produce the products we currently use will demand more and more dollars to provide these products.

Before it is said that we can just make everything here realize it will not be easy to now produce these goods here in America as the equipment costs will rise along with the basic materials. It takes tremendous amounts of wealth to build a factory.

The real cost of everything will go up. So as Americans have less and less percentage of their wages to spend on goods, the price of everything will rise and rise quickly.

Absolutely everyone in this country will see a drop in their quality of life in a dollar devaluation stage. Even the richest amoung us.

In truth this is already happening but it is at a slower pace so from day to day it is not as noticeable.

I was not going to post it but I had the same exact thoughts when reading the original post. In this case it is apparent that the Dad is paying for the inexperience of his kid.