All Forum Posts by: James Murphey

I was looking at a property that several STRs' on it recently.  It was very difficult to know what they would rent for.  I went to the website for the property, and by booking different dates prices would change depending on if it was peak season or not.  The best way I can think of is to ask for the actual pro forma, and analyze it carefully.  I am sure some people that invest in a area long enough develop their own rules of thumb when looking at STRs'.

Interesting.  It is nice to know there is an option for some investors who might need to offload proprieties in case they get into trouble.  Thanks for the info

@Brett Sayers This is a very debatable subject, with great points on both sides, but I do think any argument for disclosing you are the owner is to mostly satisfy your ego.  You can still show that you are serious about, and take pride in your job as a property manager without disclosing you own the property.  In Mike Butler's Book Land-lording on Autopilot he advocates not disclosing this information.  It makes a lot of sense.  If someone knows you own the property they immediately will know you are the one they need to negotiate with. The chance of them asking a quick question that you do not seem harm in until afterwards are much higher.  If they ask you anything you can just say let me talk the owner about that.  Then you have time to think it through as you have the meeting with yourself.  

  There is a reason why the car dealer has the sells agent bring run back and forth to the manager when negotiating a sale.  It provides a level of safety for a good sale, and makes you feel like the salesman is just doing their job.  The salesman is also at the whim of the horrible owner of the dealership, they are just doing their job.  Does that mean that the salesman does not take pride or care in their job just like the property manager? No way.  

The argument that you need to identify yourself as the owner so they know you are serious does not make sense.  Most of us have jobs at business and organizations that we do not own, and we take those jobs seriously.  So why identify yourself? unless directed by the law, or to satisfy your ego, or just weaken yourself in negotiations there is no other reason.  

@Kristofor Rahmas Deal check sounds good. I will check that out.  Thanks!  @Robert Leparulo I can not remember which podcast I heard this on, but I use it when looking at bigger multifamily.  The investor said they would simply use the 50% rule, and then check what the supposed cap rate would be.  An example would be if a multifamily cost 800k and the annual expected income is 60,000.  You would simply divide 60,000 by 2 giving you 30,000.  Then you would divide 30,00 by 800k to get a Cap Rate of .0375.  This is an actual property I analyzed with this method.  It is a quick way to check if a deal is worth analyzing.  Hope this helps.  

@Shane Elias-Calles It is a tough call. $3600 for 6 months is reasonable, but I tend to agree with most people on here. There is a wealth of information on this website.  Especially, in the books.  I would make sure I have read several of the books first then if I you still feel the need to pay for coaching then make the jump.  Books I would read first are: The Book on Real Estate Investing,Building Wealth One House At A Time, and Retire Early with Real Estate.  Hope this helps  

@Eugene M. I agree. It is a tough call though since you have the GI Bill.  Even though it would not cost you much money there is still an opportunity cost.  If you are currently making more money by not being in school, at your job or investing, I would consider not going back.  It is difficult to say.  If you are already financial set I would just get the free degree.  Let us know what you decide to do.  

I agree with @Scott Passman this is highly personal.  Some people have no problem running the systems of a good property management system others become their tenants friends.  A great book that has solid advice about property management is Land-lording on Autopilot by Mike Butler.  He is a former detective turned real estate investor with over 70 SFRs.  He describes the wrong way and the right way to manage your property, and it is everyone's favorite 4 LETTER F-WORD.......FREE.  The systems he uses that is not the book.  Check it out.  Hope this helps.

I agree with @Account Closed there is a lot of bad information out there about retirement accounts. Typically, the Roth is best for most people. The IRA is usually best for higher income earners trying to lower their current taxes. The self directed IRA or self directed Roth IRA require a good deal of research. You can invest in things such as precious metals, bitcoin, and real estate. There needs to be custodian that allows you to do this, and there is a lot of legality about how money is handled. There are special taxes to be aware of also. If you are considering doing the self directed I would do my research.

@Kishan Patel I think it is fine as long as you do not have multiple tenants or plan on getting more.  If you have several tenants handling them all with different payment methods is just added work and stress.  I think the best way to go if you plan on scaling is to pick one payment method or system, and stick with it. Have one for check, and one for digital.  I do not want to have a situation where Bob uses cash app, Steve uses Venmo, Deloris uses checks, and Bill pays with bitcoin.  I want one platform that will handle all of the payments.  Hope this helps

@Account Closed I think it is a great idea.  I have been invested in crypto since 2014.  I just wish I would have had more foresight in the possible price increase.  I thought making 5 times my money was great.  Should have waited, and had a more strategic plan.  There is a great book called Cryptoassests.  In this book actual financial analyst look  at investing in crypto. Even with a small amount of ones portfolio held in bitcoin 1% of a persons portfolio annually.  The annual return since bitcoins inception would be around 38%.  I know many people love to trash bitcoin, but it is hard to argue with 38% return annual if you are only investing 1% of your portfolio.  The importance of asset allocation is essential when investing in a risky asset.  Let us know how it goes in a few months or year.  I would love to see the possible returns you get from accepting it, and holding it long term.