All Forum Posts by: Juan Rango

@Rhett Tullis  What kind of knowledge we talking here!? Million dollar?  Haha!

@Shinwon Moon  It sounds like you found something that works for you.  Ultimately we all have different reasons we invest for.  Retirement, income, kids college,  the thrill.  I personally want to retire early so the thought of huge leverage and debt scares me.  A squirrel almost took me out on my road bike just this morning.  I keep defending my position so that people can keep poking at it and exposing its weaknesses so that I can figure out the holes.  That's why I think this platform is worth far more than $200 a year for the pro version that gives you access to tons of information  and fun calculators.  I knew this post was playing devils advocate.  I will continue to post my strategy so that a bunch of investors can tear me a new one.  It's great!  There's a time and a place to buy rental properties for me but right now isn't that time.  I'm a pretty boring investor but taking calculated risk, discipline, hard work, and jumping on opportunity when you find it is my philosophy.  Index funds aren't sexy and they grow slowly along with the market over time.  I'll continue to drive boring cars, live in a boring house, and buy boring clothes.  I hope to see you pass me in you're Porsche!  Only time will tell... let's get coffee or a beer (if we've done well) in 30 years and laugh about it!

Over 30 years....

The 4 hours was based on the fact that I wouldn't want all my eggs in one property and would want 1.2 million of multiple single family or small multi family properties. 

@Steve Harlow Thanks for the post! The volatility of the stock market can be killer! I'm not trying to pretend I can beat an experienced RE investor in index funds that is crazy. They have a huge advantage. I just think at a certain hourly income if you are choosing to put money in a single or even a few buy and hold rental properties vs. passive lower return investments it makes more sense to do the passive income. Most the time you spend on rental properties is on finding, maintaining, and managing and not adding value. I can add value to my index funds every time I work a couple hours extra as a W-2 earner by throwing those funds into stocks, bonds, REITs, etc... I've done the math on 1.2 million dollars worth of rental property that requires $200,000 upfront and 4 hours a month to manage vs $200,000 of index funds at making $25 dollars an hour after taxes 4 extra hours a month and investing ina Roth IRA on a monthly basis. The side by side comparison made me post this to begin with.

@Ryan E.  Thanks for the post! That is some good tangible evidence of the volatility of the stock market.  It has since recovered.  It's all  about guarding your assets.  I would never have a large chunk of change in stocks if I'm within say 5-10 years of retirement. It is not necessarily risky if you invest in index funds.  The real estate market also tanked back then.  Risks and rewards to both.   Those that know real estate well and understand it can do very very well just like the stock market.  I just don't have the desire to learn a new craft and I think that leveraging a ton of rental properties seems dangerous to someone who is inexperienced.  Seems like many of the most successful members on the podcast took advantage of a post apocalyptic real estate market in 2008 and I would have bought everything in sight had I not been a poor premed student at the time.  The same can be done in the stock market.  Buy low sell high.  

@Steve Harlow  Thanks for the post!  I've experimented with lending club peer to peer lending.  Currently getting 5-6% return on that and it's not liquid at all.  Plan on pulling my capital out of that.  I like the idea of syndication, REITs, land, and notes.  I'm pretty comfortable with large cap index funds as those companies have huge market shares and if they fail everything else isn't going to be doing well in the USA either.  We've seen the government bail those companies out.  They aren't going to bail me out if I over leverage rental properties during a down turn.  

@Dave Foster @Jay Hinrichs @Matt Swearingen @Jessie Niu @Kristina Heimstaedt Thank you everyone who posted! I gained a lot of perspective on the topic. I can't tag everyone individually but you all gave me a ton of insight into the many possibilities of REI. There are many avenues to take. At the end of the day I will continue to learn so that I can recognize a good opportunity when I see it. Malcolm Gladwell wrote a great book that states it requires 10,000 hours to achieve greatness in any field. A principle I think applies to just about any profession. I think the public would appreciate if their doctor sticks to the passive investments :) Best of luck to you all!

@Bill F.  I just finished Ben Graham's "The intelligent Investor"  I will read it again and again.  Great book!

@Llewelyn A. One thing you are forgetting is the time invested and have to remember that 600% is over 30 years which works out to a 20% return.  I was thinking wow far better than the stock market until you factor in time spent on the property.  For me it doesn't make sense because I can make extra income in my spare time.  If in your free time you can't earn extra income then I totally get but if you can the return can be similar depending on how much time you invest into the property.

I was trying to promote a disucssion and a debate and I learned a ton.  This platform is great!  Learning more here than books or podcasts.   I felt that so many people believe rental properties are amazing long term investment strategies but for the average joe like myself I am not 100% convinced that small multi family and single family retnals will give me the most bang for my buck.  Especially a small time guy like myself who has to spend hours analyzing deals just to find one that works.  I could work an extra two hours a night at a part time job invest it upfront in an index fund and probably make it decently close to the average joes rental property.  Not to say that all rental propertys are average joes!  I will continue to look for the ones that aren't! 

@Wilson Churchill  Point well received!  Thanks for the comment.  I couldn't agree more with those factors as key in success.