All Forum Posts by: Jeremiah Dunakin

We used rent redi. The background checks are nice but the  actual site is trash. It does not send alert to app when something pops up. I think it sends email when payment is made, however when a maintenance request is made I’m not alerted. It is kinda hard to set up. Not impossible but harder than it should. My tenant had problems with them after 18 months as well and we now don’t use it at all. When it is time to renew we are not going to

I’m not sure who your 401k plan is through. I also don’t know how much you are trying to get. That’s said I have taken a loan from vanguard on my 401k and it was the best decision I’ve ever made. The loan process was easier than ordering a pizza online. No credit check no asking what loan was for nothing. I put in how much I wanted how long to pay back up to 5 years and where to send it. In a couple days it hit my account. I pay back payments from paycheck that is reinvested. All interest is paid back to me. There is a couple small fees. Before ot is said about potential loss on stocks cashed in. I took my loan and the bottom fell out in market. I’m not a genius but lucky. So I loaned out high and and bought back in low. I’m not saying it’s for everyone. What I am saying in my situation I will make way more from a single loan than I ever will from the 25k I took as a loan. It has allowed me to buy my first rental and that will allow me to buy another one and so on and so on.that was my experience best wishes

It seems most want to beat you up, and show thier knowledge and flex about not getting property management not vetting ………

None of that matters now. You own the properties. Will you be able to build back up reserves betweeen all six properties? Not sure the cash flow but are you able to withstand this short term cash drain? Are you taking a profit from any of them? If so an idea would to not take any money out and throw every bit of cash flow into a repair account.While it may be stressful short term will these places make money in near future. Can u financially support these places if another repair comes up till reserves are met.that is what I would ask myself. Am I able to weather this short term storm, or is it to much and have to scale back?

I agree with this. Generally people do not have agendas and usually keep thier personal belief and views out of things generally. That said sometimes when people don’t get thier ego stroked they say all the popular buzz words. I don’t understand why people ask for advice from people then get defensive about it. Sometimes the truth hurts. However loses your butt hurts more. Most folks here generally have your best interest in mind and don’t care one way or the other. They trying to be helpful. these people are not yet men. The advice can be prudent due to having no dog in the race

I agree, if I could get out of my way. I could be a monster.  I think if most were honest and took self accountability we would see where the problem trully lies 

I think at least in my circumstances it boils down to self discipline and perseverance. 
we had this conversation at work. A lot of times people in America is what I’m generally talking about have every opportunity to be something. Maybe not Uber successful but able to carve out a decent life. There are always a ton of excuses we can all use. Schools, president, social economic class, race, religion, privilege, geography, education, mom, dad, school lunch lady didn’t like me, the raiders got short end of stick on tuck rule………..

I think at end of the day the effort is not there to better ourselves. Instead of eating leftovers we eat hot n ready pizzas, instead of paying for a college class and doing it get ahead we buy a six pack and play madden, instead of driving our old car we buy a new one. It comes down to self discipline.  I’m not gonna go to happy hour I’m gonna save that money and attend a free online class to learn accounting. I am my biggest enemy. To the working poor which struggle I say same thing. No new clothes or shoes and learn to cook. A George Foreman grill a family pack of chicken breast and frozen vegetables go a long way. 
it has to become a priority that you are willing to forgo convienances for. Same as working out. It’s not because of your genes that we don’t lose weight. It’s because weighing out our food and exercising is “too much”

I think a couple things. The fear of intrest rates definitely takes some error out.when I started out a couple years ago. Rates were at 5% and I had some wiggle room in the case of things going sour(and they did). 

I also think what is holding people back is same thing that held me back.

1. Scared of just not knowing, regardless of info and podcast flowing. 
2. I was petrified of getting sued. Got umbrella coverage and I sleep easier.

Analysis paralysis. I thought I had to find perfect house in perfect neighborhood with perfect terms. I heard on BiggerPockets podcast. Someone found a 400k property for 125k and didn’t put no money into it got 4K and a chicken sandwich back at closing. They then found out the basement was rental that all they had to do was paint it red and they had another rental. 
That didn’t happen to me. I ain’t mad at anyone who does get that. I’m pretty happy for them. The vast majority of us get a decent deal at best I assume. I ain’t sayin buy whatever. I just think the ultra sweet deals for first time is not to prevalent. 

4. Scared of failure/what others will say. I know a million real estate investors with no real estate at my work. I hear the same things from them. Always first thing I hear do you an LLC? Get a heavy vehicle for tax right off. I also hear how they would do things how they wouldn't change this or that. A bunch of know it alls with no skin in the game.

5. Getting spouse on board. My wife and I didn’t see eye to eye on it. Eventually she said do it cause she trusted me. She didn’t want headaches from it. Now she sends me houses and is totally on board. 

80 is to hot. I keep mine at 68. I have had it that way for 20+ years everywhere I live. I would check your air filter, then check your outside unit. Look at the coils and see if there is build up. It will look like a dryer vent covered with lint. Those coils need to breathe. They can be cleaned in about 1/2 hour and 15$. Any hvac guy that tells you the system can’t handle below 80 is a crook. 

 Jerry gets it. He is a 100% right. It’s ok to want some positive encouragement. There are far to many on this site that want to prove how great they are and how they know it all and can’t wait to throw out the latest buzzword or quote from podcast or BiggerPockets author book.When I first started on BP a few years ago people were so eager to encourage,help, and guide as we all look for answers. Now it’s turned into a frat club. When the realtor percentage rates first hit there was a couple posters on there acting a fool. Way to Hollywood for all of us simple folk. Now the regular pages are just the same words I hear on podcast.

When I started my one and only SFH I spent 1/2 year longer renovating than I planned almost doubled the budget, moved a family of four and a dog into a 700 sq ft home, slept in laundry room had no a/c(I work in extreme heat) almost got a divorce, lost 600/month for g months longer than I planned, had cops called when I found perfect tenant three times in two weeks had "maintenance calls" three times in in a month. Everything that my wife said she didn't want to deal with and why she didn't want to get a rental. The maintenance calls were so simple. The cops stopped coming and my tenant is outstanding. Things settled down. For the first year I thought I made a huge mistake.

Fat forward to today I have a good amount of money saved for repairs that I haven’t contributed to. My wife sends me houses that she wants to buy for rentals. My tenant is cool and has taking care of the place better than I ever could have imagined and signed another lease. Things will get better. It will happen m. Even if they don’t you stuck your neck out and tried. The thing is you ain’t gonna fail. You don’t need beat up, it’s ok to hear other people on the come up who ain’t perfect you got this. You smart and ambitious enough to invest in yourself in the first place. Use that same grit to tread water till you can swim