All Forum Posts by: Joseph Beilke

So......  I didn't get Lagavulin yet.  

I just got back from Ireland and visited the Midleton Distillery, just east of Cork. What an amazing place—the history, the stories, and the overall experience were incredible. I tried a bunch of Irish whiskeys; some I really enjoyed, while others just felt a bit weak.

My top three were Redbreast 15, Midleton Very Rare, and Blue Spot 7-Year Cask Strength. Later in my travels, I met the son (a bartender) of one of the founding fathers of the Dingle brand in the town of Tralee. Dingle itself is about 75–90 minutes west. They make some amazing whiskey, and I fell in love with their Palace Bar Triple Distilled Sherry Cask. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a bottle. It was the most flavorful whiskey I had, with a higher proof than most Irish whiskeys, along with great aroma and color.

I did the “tourist” thing and picked up two bottles of a Jameson distillery-only release. Nothing too special, but they’ll make nice gifts anyway. Overall, I actually drank more beer than whiskey in Ireland and discovered that there are some lighter lagers that I prefer over Guinness.

One fun shock: after chatting with a few bartenders, I learned that Coors Light is extremely popular in Ireland, two bartenders told me it’s their best seller!

What have you all been up too???

There is so many great answers I can give you for this questions.   But I think the best answer is.....  Enjoy  being homeowner first and foremost. 

Many of the skills you will need to learn when it comes to be a rental property owner will come by default of home ownership.  Everything to trouble shooting HVAC drains, to swapping out toilets. Next learn your the community you want to buy your first rental in, go to parks, bars, community events.  Listen conversations and ask simple questions like, "what do you like and dislike about your neighborhood".  By doing this you will slowly learn your demographic and what is and is not important to them.  For example, if you hear time and time again that its some hard to find a place that will let me have a dog.  You just learned that there is a demand for that.  You buy or make rental dog friendly, have a fenced in yard, no carpet.  You charge a higher amount because you can.  

Lastly, do and don't be like everyone else.  No reason to reinvent the wheel, but stand out!   

Good luck and welcome to BP

If the new income is just enough to make the mortgage payment and not make up ground with the repayment plan which I bet is a 12 month repayment plan, I would probably lean on a longer term private loan to make up the rears.

NEXT I would encourage them to find 2nd job and sell stuff to work out of this hole.  

You can find me in Speakeasy's, Whiskey & Bourbon bars, Breweries, and my back yard smoking meats.  Other places online are Rennlist, and Reddit mostly.

I occasionally talk trash on Call of Duty, helps me decompress.

I agree the with previous posters.  I gave ChatGPT the OP and replies  of this tread.  

This was written by ChatGPT.

"ChatGPT is a great tool for many things, but it doesn’t always get its answers directly from the web. Most of what it provides comes from its training data, and then it can pull in real-time information from the web when needed. If the algorithm leans toward inaccurate or widely repeated information, it can still give a misleading answer. That’s why I like to follow the linked source material whenever it’s available, to see if the information is truly valuable. If you have zero clue about a topic, ChatGPT can at least help point you in the right direction."

I'm not at all familiar with the Chicago area, but I can chime in regarding earning more cash flow with your plan.

I would do a little of both—pay down your credit card while also saving the amount needed for closing costs, as well as additional funds for fixes, replacements, and repairs. The property you should focus on is one that needs improvements and upgrades but is still good enough to pass a VA appraisal inspection. You can live on one side and make the other side a very desirable rental. That unit has the potential to bring in top rent with a great tenant, and in the meantime, you can work on upgrading the side you live in.

With a 100% loan, it's unlikely you'll be able to cover the mortgage with rent from only one side, but your cost of living will still be reduced. This will give you extra money to save toward another property, allowing you to make a larger down payment and fix it up for another great tenant.

@Steve K.

Sent you a DM

Try not to over complicate it.

If my owner wants a certain dollar amount, we shoot for that number with pets included.  If the Service Animal that perform as task or ESA that perform helps a person cope, or the have no animals.  We still get the same monthly rent.  

I never charge a monthly pet fee.  I do charge a one time per pet upfront cleaning fee of $250.

Tenant must obtain 50K in pet Liability coverage over and abovet their standard renters insurance that I require before they get keys. (Other insured is the property owner)

IF they can't get pet liability coverage do to breed it fall on them.

OK OK OKAY,

Next closing I'm gonna buy Lagavulin.  You all have peer pressured me into this.

HELLO!!!!!  Where are my Bourbon and Whiskey friends??   Let chat up business and magic juice.  

For me it has been a busy but difficult first 4 months of 2025.  I have 5 listing, 8 buyers and 2 closing and 1 under contract.   The news and markets scare people, the interest rates are average historically, but still consider high. Home prices in my part of Florida have not balance out and people are struggling with price drops.  My rental are still doing well and the rent rates have remain the same.  I have only 2 tenant that did not renew and rates may not have gone up, but they didn't go down. That my Real Estate life in a nut sell.

Now for bourbon, I have dial back my buying for really 2 reason,  not enough money and my bar  is full.  But for my birthday I got an infinity canter (32oz) and I have been adding 2 to 4 OZ of remaining bottles as they get close to empty.  I have to say that has added a whole new level to the hobby. Once the bottle reaches 2/3 full I'll start to drink it.

How's everyone else been doing.  Any good brown water or real estate stories???