All Forum Posts by: Joe Garretson

Howdy, I'm looking at a few different pieces of land in south central and southeastern Colorado that have grazing leases in place. These plots are 60-100 acres and I have no intention of building on them; at least yet anyway. I'm looking at the covenants that guide a few of the properties but I'm curious if anyone has any experience with owning land with grazing leases in place. Some of the research I've done says to look into questions around fencing the property, water/irrigation, minerals for the land. 

I'm pursuing this as a lower cost option to start investing and in theory, a very low risk, nearly passive path to get started. Any guidance on previous experience would be appreciated!

Hey @Jason R. Besanceney, your first post was tagged in SLO. Are you at Cal Poly? When you say you're a college student, there's a lot that goes into that. Are you a freshman? A senior? Close to graduating? Are you going to stay in that area post graduation? 

From my perspective, there's a couple of paths. If you're a few years yet from graduating and/or will be staying in the central coast area for a few years, do whatever you can to get into a house hack situation. Finding roommates in a college area should be pretty straightforward. Beg/borrow/but don't steal the down payment through whatever means possible. 

The other path is if you're near graduating or don't have long term plans to stay in that area, captain obvious would say keep your rent expenses as low as possible through sharing an apartment, couch surfing, whatever and save every last penny until you know where you're going to land. There are a ton of areas around the country that are very affordable and while not as beautiful as SLO, give you the opportunity to invest sooner so you can get started. 

Hey @Lionel Thomas, I see this is your first post. Welcome! Why did you land on Memphis? It looks like you've been located in Albuquerque so are you doing this remotely to buy and purchase your investment property? I'm planning a similar venture living in the Denver area and purchasing in the Green Bay region but we've got a ton of family in the area and will have boots on the ground to help. 

Hey @Christian Nunez, what's your goal with talking to an advisor? You seem like you've got a question or questions in mind so throw them out here so the forum can provide some feedback. 

That's not 1%, not even 2%, it's pushing 3% rule! Because I'm doing some research on the GB area, I'm curious what your experience has been owning a property built in 1888. Issues, things that need to be fixed? What's your take on that specific zip code? I've been looking more down near St. Norberts and the surrounding areas. 
I also see it was listed for sale at $100k for a bit, I'm assuming that was you? Zillow's got your value at $127k now. Are you in it for the long haul? That's a cash flow and appreciation beast you've got there. 

Lots of info there. Not sure I agree about US/UK trying to start WWIII but that's probably a different forum for us to argue in lol. 

I was going to ask a very similar question to the OP. I'm in cash stash mode for my first investment property. I'm at $13k at this point, all in Betterment at a 90/10 stock/bond split. The market is eating away at not only earlier gains but principal at this point. At my current savings rate I'm estimating to be at my goal of $50k in August 2024. That estimate is predicated on 5% return on investment in the market. Got any suggestions beyond sticking all the money in Betterment that might balance out the market over the next two years? Or just figure that over the next two years, my return will be close enough to 5% to negate any gymnastics of moving money here, there and everywhere?

Hi, I'm in a similar situation. The greater Denver area has gone nuts with appreciation and there's not many options to spend under $300-400k within hours of my location. I've been looking at investing out of state and I'm looking at areas where I have family that can be useful in terms of knowing the area and providing a reason to go visit more often. 

Hey! I live in Castle Rock and use a guy named Eric Cook with Barker Financial Services in Littleton. They're off C470 and Broadway. He's experienced with real estate investors.

Congrats, I've got a 12 year old daughter and 13 year old son. We've got 529 accounts going for both of them and make regular deposits. Family can make deposits in them as well and there's tax advantages for them so don't be afraid to mention it. 

I've also opened Betterment investment accounts for each of them and as they've gotten older and make a few bucks here and there, they invest in those accounts.

Do your homework on life insurance for kids. I personally think any product like that for children is a waste of money, lots of personal finance thought leaders agree with that. However I know that's a product line pushed hard by insurance brokers. Just be aware before you buy anything. 

 Hi @Jesse Lopez, I've only had funds with Donut for about 5 weeks at this point. So far so good. My only concern at this point is the withdrawal process. And that's only because I haven't pulled any funds out yet. I don't have any experience with them on this front so I don't know how difficult it is. I've heard horror stories about getting cash from apps like Robinhood, trading in crypto for cash and so on. The app says that withdrawal is straightforward and the app has the button right at the top to do so, but again, no experience yet. The interest they pay is high and supposedly guaranteed.