All Forum Posts by: Jason Powell

Hi Mathew, 

I'd be happy to meet with you or talk on the phone. You can judge my competency for yourself, but at a minimum I can say I'm heavily into real estate myself, have many BP member and RE investor clients (some quite big players in the market and just looking for me to do be the third party eyes as you describe), and don't bash on RE as many planners do.

I read many of your posts and think you give solid advice generally. Would be cool to connect regardless of what became of it.

@Jorge Leon Jr   You are essentially putting your money in a savings account just for the end goal of paying a fee to borrow it at the exact same rate. That's what these guys are saying. If you're able to save up money from your job so rapidly and you're wanting to leverage, why not just use your savings to buy one property at a time with the minimum allowable down payment? At the end of 5 years, I guarantee you'll own more doors than if you would have focused on paying off a loan just to borrow it all over again at a later date.

With borrowing rates still at 5% plus or minus, paying off debt is not the highest and best use of your money given what you express your goals are.

that's a cruddy HELOC. get a different one if possible. All mine have 15 year draw, and the ability at any time to convert any portion to fixed interest 15 year amortization (can even do this at the 14th year and buy yourself another 15 years).

All mine are interest only too, and 5.25% or less.

I'd check US Bank and Key Bank for starters. That's where I have a couple.

clean, ozone generator, then Zinsser Binz Shellac. 

This is the process a restoration company used used after a guy died and decomposed in my unit. They mentioned that's the same process they would have used after smoke from fire or cigs.

Anything porous has got to go to really get rid of the smell properly.

As some others have said, having the extra expense of a truck will only afford you the opportunity to perform $15/hr tasks that you could hire out. Besides, you'd have to probably work 10 hours a month minimum just to break even, cost savings vs added cost of the truck. Work smarter not harder. if you've got extra time on your hands, focus on building a higher value skill or task.

Great topic to bring up, and yes controversial I'm sure. As a financial planner, I've got to weigh this same question into advice I give clients. At the end of the day, I'm a fiduciary and have to tell my clients what's in their best interest, even if that means working the system in a way I may not agree with.

I personally think it's fair for everyone to play by the same set of rules and do whatever they can to maximize their own benefit. That's what we all do with taxes right? That being said, I do feel strongly that we should have an asset based qualification component and not just income, for the same reasons you've cited. That would eliminate scenarios you've brought up.

I'm in the vast minority, but I lease my wife and I's vehicle, and genuinely feel like it's been a better financial decision. However, I've paid FAR less than what I'm seeing people quote here. First lease was a Ford Cmax Energy ($35k MSRP), and that cost me $118/mo with $0 down out of pocket, not even license or tags. I have leased a couple cars since then (Corollas mostly), all for less than $145/mo with $0 down.  And I've never paid a penny for maintenance, tires, brakes, or even oil changes.

Depreciation and maintenance on a mid-range used vehicle I figure has to at least be in that ballpark of cost, PLUS I get to deduct the lease payment on taxes.

The biggest kicker of them all though.....Opportunity cost. I've taken the 15k I would have spend to buy two used cheap cars and doubled it in the last 5 years. Pretty much made my leases "free" if you look at it that way compared to the alternative.

Pay off cc debt. Save up for FHA 3.5% down payment since you have a good job. I think you're one year ahead of yourself. If this was 2009-2011 I might say differently, but with this point in the market cycle coupled with your financial position, I'd say hold off.

Banks won't let your parents cosign on an FHA multifamily, because it's an owner occupant only loan by the way. I've looked into "being your parents" in that equation (the money partner). It's a no-go.

CC debt + no money down for you + loan from parents = high likelihood of significant friction between you and your parents. I'm not a naysayer against high leverage at the beginning, but this seems a little premature in timing. 

This is normal in my market. I personally wouldn't show all the units to anyone who "was interested in making an offer". Granted, the listing agent/owner should be able to paint a very clear picture of what you can expect to see as far as the condition of the unit so there aren't any surprises that kill the deal after the contract is signed.

@Derrick E.

"......tell whether or not they work hard or sit at a desk all day."

Please explain your reasoning on why hard work is only synonymous with manual labor. 

I'm genuinely interested to hear your perspective. My day job often feels very grueling to me, much harder at times than when I worked 50 hrs/week doing manual labor on a job site.