All Forum Posts by: Justin Sullivan

@Melanie Johnson

So after reading most of the responses the consensus is to pay off your debt. I’m going to tell you how I started and you make the decision what is best for you. Ultimately this is your journey so you have to do what helps you to progress faster snd ultimately what you can handle. Many other people could not have taken my path just from the sheer stress of carrying debt.

So you have $19k in debt with $25k in savings. How much are you currently paying towards your debt each month? Also what is the current interest rate? I see you said you have arrangements to get a lower rate if you make payments so it probably isn’t the 18-24% that everyone in the comments above is thinking. So how much more are you going to

Be saving each month if you pay that debt off?Would you be able to buy a property in 6 months? Would you feel comfortable and be able to sleep better at night if you pay it off? Does this debt even stress you out right now?I mean you have payment Plans and have been crushing it thus far so my thoughts are no!!

Next thing to think about is what percent of return are you going to receive off a buy and hold investment. Is it 10% where you interest is only 6%? Now your in the black 4%. You have to attack this entire thing with what brings you a larger return.

My situation I lived off of credit cards for a year then carries the debt for another year and just recently paid them off. Did it suck yes!! But ultimately this is the way that I felt moved me where I wanted to go the fastest so that is what I did. I don’t recommend doing it my way but upu have to do what is comfortable for you. I also don’t need a ton of cash in the bank to feel safe and secure. I like to have no cash in my accounts because now I know my money is working for me.(this is active accounts not reserve accounts)

So to wrap this up don’t just pay off the debt because you think debt is bad. Take everything snd use it as a tool to move your forward. You may realize that you want to continue paying the minimum on that debt or even less than you’ve been paying so you can acquire 2-3 properties. Use debt as leverage.

Another thing to keep in mind is you don't have to buy in your personal name. You can open an LLC and that credit card debt won't be an issue for debt to income ratios. There is a million different ways to attack this situation just plan it on commit and move forward with whatever brings you the highest return with the least amount of stress!!

You guys all took this way to far. I simply started off by saying to put It in an escrow account. Do any of you even know what that is? I doubt you understand the purpose of that considering the flack you guys are giving me over it. Honestly what everyone said means absolutely nothing and is just good to see another point of view. What really matters is what the lease says and what advice he gets from an attorney. It is cool to see how many different point of views everyone can have. Really you guys lost me when you spoke about Facebook. Just the fact that you use that app says a lot about you. But I am done arguing my views. I would do whatever my lease says if I accepted pets and if I did the fee would be for the entire term of the lease and be stated in my lease pending my attorney approvals.  Always follow the lease or speak with an attorney. You don't just remove a fee and break your lease since the pet died. Now that lease is null and void because the landlord broke it and no telling what the tenant could do at that point. It's not likely that someone will squat or refuse to pay if they are good and paying but crazier things have happened. So, IN MY OPINION, the best thing to do is continue to collect the fee and set it aside, IN AN ESCROW ACCOUNT (which is a separate account which doesn't bare interest nor is allowed to be touch or moved) until a later date upon speaking with your tenant and an attorney to come up with the proper legal game plan. No one is taking that money and pocketing it.

P.S. I don't really care about the guy I quoted. I literally just googled his name and surprising his quote met my points so it worked out perfectly. Yes Jim I do have plenty of mouths to feed because I like kids and love my family. My wife and I are happily married and we enjoy our life. Why are you concerned with my family size? Does that sting your pride since you may not have one? If you want to get real I don't care at all about what you say or do. This is a discussion platform so that is what I am using it for. Everyone has different points of views hence the back and forth which is healthy and good until you get someone like you who get all butt hurt when someone doesn't see things your way. This is part of the problem with our government. You probably voted for Biden and approve of all this democratic ******** going on in our country right now. I get it you read some Shakespeare and philosophical **** on your many lonely nights and now you want to show off that you read books and can remember quotes. News flash dude, NO ONE CARES about macheveelli or Shakespeare. This is the real world not back in the day anymore.

@Mel Hayes

Hey, So basically there is several ways to go from NJ to California. I say that to say this, its whatever way you and your partner feel most comfortable is the right way. The only way I would not recommend doing it is verbally. So basically in my situation I did work with family where they owned the house and I renovated the property for a lump sum payout upon closing. With other partners I have created a Joint Venture agreement and also loans agreements. So these are good because they spell out the duties of each party and what they must bring. One party can go on the deed while the other party brings the money and at the end the split is 60/40. I have paid partners a return on their money at 10% interest on there investment. I haven't shared an LLC or deed with anyone yet but I am open to it. I would start with Joint Venture agreements so its just for one specific project and not an LLC that would need to be disolved. Keep in mind that I am just an investor I am not an attorney so by no means is my advice to be used without first checking all details for yourself and by no means will what I am saying work out for you. You need to speak with an attorney about how to structure your business. It isn't expensive maybe $150 for a consult and you can learn a ton!!!!

@Tristan Roth

Go for it but just make sure you disclose that you have no experience and try to find things to talk about or bring people in to speak to add value to everyone else.

Prime example unveator renovate homes all the time but that doesn’t mean they know how to swing the hammer. Manage and organize it properly snd you’ll see a ton of value.

@Jacob Beg

So if you feel as though they might not be who they say they are then ran as fast and far away as possible. Poor credit is enough to deny someone let alone all the other misleading scenarios. Landlord passed mother won’t guarantor(red flag, does family not trust her) no bank account, no actually proof of employment. One of these things is a lethal problem let alone all of them together. If upu have to even guess if they are worthy tenants then they aren’t worthy. Wait it put dor hood tenants because the extra time waiting is much better than having to evict or them trashing your place or the million only things that can go wrong.

Like Mary said make sure you deny her foe a proper reason snd not just a gut feeling. Credit score limits is a perfect out and honestly anyone with poor credit shouldn’t be approved anyway. They have poor credit for a reason. I did at one time in my life because I didn’t pay my bills. Now my credit is excellent but back then I would have been a risk.

@Stefan D.

SO you need to call the right people for the right job. You don't call a licensed contractor to replace two downspouts. You call a handyman for that. That is another thing yes the market is busy but if you have work and its schedule properly you should still be able to get guys on your job site. Maybe your job was taking up too much of time needed to focus on this project hence needing someone else to manage the project. 

Keep things like that in mind moving forward and I wish you the best!!

@Jim K.

"it is better to be feared then loved, if you cannot be both."

"Never was anything great achieved without danger"

I am hoping you know who the speaker of these quotes are. I would rather be feared then loved and Ill take the risk of dealing with the magistrates and explaining a simple escrow account over losing money on a business transaction.

@Jim K.

I am not saying that the kid selling lemonade needs to hold quarterly return meetings with his family but I am saying that why rush to change it so fast? That's my only thing. I don't see the need in rushing to remove the pet fee right now. Give them some time bring it up to them but set that money aside to give it back if they decided not to move forward with another pet and if their is no damages from the pet. $50/month is not a lot of money especially is the pet chews up a rug and scratches a couple doors. You might still be out of your pocket paying for repairs.

As for same business model, why not emulate the big dogs in the world. They obviously have done something correct in order to be a publicly traded company worth billions of dollars. So if you can pull a few pointers from them then go for it. This is a business transaction its not charity or subsidized housing. The landlord offers the tenant something and tenant in return pays for that. He has to think about himself and not worry about the $50/month that the tenant already agreed to. Honestly if there lease says $50/month for 12 months then he can't remove it without breaking the lease. IF they didn't put a clause in there of pet dies then he'll be breaking the lease by removing the fee. 

I know someone who lost their business because a home owner refused to pay them the final payment of $250,000 due to a illegal contract. If he breaks the lease by removing the pet fee then all bets are off and these tenants could do whatever they wanted. He really should speak with an attorney about this I just like to see the different view points from everyone. But first and foremost is for him to protect himself and my opinion is for him to keep collecting the payment and put it in an escrow account to determine at a later date.

The best way to do this is hard work and lots of research or just partner up with someone looking for capital. This way you don't have to do all the beforehand research but still reap the benefits!

Otherwise you can just do demographic search crime population growth etc and pick a city then go from there. You can also narrow it down to landlord friendly states and cities with low taxes

@Mary M.

So I actually had this exact problem happen to me recently. I purchased AT&T phones and intended on switching from T mobile only to find out I would have to pay off all my brand new phones at T mobile and take a few hundred dollar loss along with putting out almost $3,000. So we returned the phone and thought we were done only to find a charge from Allstate hitting my business account for $32. and some change. I saw it once and just chalked it up as a insurance payment for one of my properties. But then I saw it again and dug in and found out I was charged 10 times totaling over $300 for something I never even needed. So I called the company and fought for my money back only to hear One month refund then two then three then the absolute max is no more not changing. But then I decided to split the difference I was at 10 months they were at 6 so I said lets refund 8 and you guys keep two. They quickly agreed and I got $255 refund and they got to keep around $60 for my mistake of not noticing this payment coming out of my checking account. Companies do this **** all the time. They keep deposits take extra money. If the tenants don't want another pet and don't want to pay the extra fee then they can speak up to their landlord and say we aren't getting another pet so we want to have the pet charge removed. Until then I say put it in escrow and let them mourn their pet. Some pets are family I know I would be devastated if my dog died even If it was expected, and I wouldn't want to hear about money while mourning my pet. I am not saying for him to pocket the money but to keep the charge on and set that money aside so it can be given back at a later date or just reinstated once they get a new pet. 

Honestly none of us know anything and really should be asking an atttorney what to do to prevent any legal troubles. I just know that if you keep the money set aside in its own account you can't get in any trouble for taking it if you aren't suppose to which I don't even know. For all we know the pet fee could be for the entire lease due to extra wear and tear from the pet and him not be able to take it off even if the pet dies. We don't know until we look up the laws or speak with an attorney who did. But I do like hearing your point of view on the situation!

P.S. Comcast cable charges everyone a sports fee so they don't have to charge extra for the sports package and I hate football, baseball, basketball and don't ever watch them. Played them as a kid but don't like them now but I still pay it and have no choice!!!