All Forum Posts by: Karen M.

My advice is not to spend your grandfather's money and work on your own personal finances.  Just because you found out your grandfather has money does not mean that it is up to you to manage it, especially if you have no experience and track record. 

I will second checking out the FIRE (financially independent, retired early) blogs, including Mr. Money Mustache and Early Retirement Extreme.  These will likely seem crazy to you, but they are interesting to read, and you can see how adjusting your lifestyle can reduce the amount of time and resources needed for you to escape your work.

I also second the idea of working to make your job more tolerable.

Third, when you are looking for partners, Dave Ramsey's advice is to look for people who have the heart of a teacher, not the heart of a salesperson.  Be careful with your money.

I think that the idea of becoming a realtor might be a good one too! What do you think of that? 

Lastly, I have been working with stock options for income in the past 2 years.  I use Motley Fool Options / Motley Fool Pro.  It is entirely different from real estate, but I decided that my life wasn't the right fit for real estate (land lording) at this time.  Most retired people who use options use it as one piece of their income pie, not the whole thing.  Just another path out there.

Have fun with it! 

Dear James,

I am so sorry for the stress and danger of what you are going through.  Here are a couple thoughts, I'm not experienced with this so take my suggestions for what you paid for them. :)

I was thinking along the same lines as what Guy M. said above, and he was more detailed that my thinking -- but -- what Guy said "personal security counsel" -- consider getting you and your dad bulletproof vests to wear  (and wear them! use them!) if you are in the area if there is any danger of you getting shot -- and, consider getting security to accompany you to properties if you have to be in the area.  Maybe an off duty police officer or a retired police or retired military? And maybe you need coaching on this particular situation if this person is even worse than it seems already.  If you are working where people get shot, please, please be careful and think about your self-defense. (This reminds me of the gun thread, but you don't have to carry guns but you may want a safety plan in place.)

Second, not to criticize you dad, but given this experience, I'm just wondering if you and he avoid this kid of land contract setup in the future?  This individual is a problem, but is this type of a deal the right fit for this area?  Might be something to reevaluate.  I think it's noble to want people to become homeowners in the city but it sounds like the neighborhood  and residents might not be the right fit for that. 

Good luck, I will pray for you and your family.  

Karen

Has your renter recovered fully from his health issues?  Pain and poor health suck and if he has physical limitations, that may be contributing to the messiness and work reliability and depression.

Best wishes again, I hope things get better for all of you. 

Hi Ramesh,

I am a stock market investor, and the question of when to sell a stock investment comes up all the time too.  In general, when I buy shares of a quality company, I aim to hold the investment for a minimum of 3-5 years.  Ideally I would hold a great company that is doing well for a lifetime, with plans leave it as part of my estate.

You are having great success with this property!  Congratulations!

Unless you are very concerned that property values are going to collapse, I'd hang on to this investment.  Investors are all about the long term view.  When you move your money around too much, the transaction costs will drag on you, especially in real estate.

It appears that this property will be a workhorse for you!  If there are no concerns about the property losing value or neighborhood turning, or maintenance issues, and assuming that the property is performing well, I would hold.

Maybe you will find something you like better *as an investment* and that will perform better and reduce your risk.  That's when you could trade up, carefully.   I am not hearing about any red flags with this property that are making it a poor investment, so why change it up? 

As for your primary residence, is the place working for you?  I understand wanting to improve your primary residence.  But you've only been in this place a short while.  I would suggest asking the BP people here who have house hacked how they eventually worked their way up into a better personal residence.  Make a plan for how you will get there. Perhaps you can look around for a distressed property to fix up, I think that's what Brandon Turner did. 

Take your time, and best of luck! 

I would think that the firefighters would be working *all the time* and not in the property much, but what do I know?  I would also think that fire fighters are taught very well how to respect, maintain and care for their equipment on the job, so some of that might transfer into respect and general care for your property. 

Plus.. firefighters!   Who doesn't like firefighters? :) 

I have a question, could a person's leasing requirements vary from property to property?   I believe they can.   So, a freshly remodeled property may have a "no dogs" rule, whereas an older property may allow dogs.  I don't believe you have to be consistent across properties, but for each property your standards must be applied consistently.  

I might put a "no dogs" rule on a nicer place. 

Also, beware of getting too in love with your property -- some damage will always occur -- and it's something to be prepared for as a part of doing the business.  By all means, do everything you legally can to lower your risk, but be prepared for normal wear and tear for sure, and maybe a few oops moments.  

Very interesting question.  I think that concealed carry is much better than open carry.  People might feel tense around you if you are carrying a gun openly.  It's just an emotional thing.  The other day I went into our village hall after a Cub Scout meeting (later at night) and the police were practicing going up and down a stairwell and managing corners with firearms.  It's not something you expect to walk in on.  It was all fine, of course, I know our police officers are perfectly safe, but seeing a gun out in the open is attention getting and you want your clients' attention on the houses.

If you carry, you have to be well trained and very very attentive.  A lady left her loaded gun in the restroom of a church up here a couple years ago.  Idiot!  I'm not saying any of you are that dumb but you have to be 100% committed to ake the guns very seriously, 100% of the time. 

For safety, I would suggest some self defense classes in addition to / in lieu of concealed carry.  Do you know how to fight?  Are you in shape enough to run?  Do you know what to be aware of when touring homes?  Some things like that are also helpful preventative measures.  I think that the realtor community should have education for their agents on prevention and protective measures and this is always a good thing.   Defense is serious and there are other options to guns. I think everyone should have some safety practices in place. 

Thanks everybody for your great feedback -- Bigger Pockets is a wonderful place and I love this community.  I'l figure a way to get into RE eventually... 

Hey Joel, thank you for the insights.  During the summer I bought a few real estate agent books and read them, and I came to the conclusion then that being a real estate agent right now is probably not the best fit.  I keep coming back to it though, just as I keep coming back to looking at being a landlord for passive income.  My interest might be a distraction, but, there are a lot of nice things about both being an agent, and/or having investment properties. 

I was thinking that if I become an agent, perhaps I will do it when the boys are teenagers and getting ready for college.  Part of my issue is that right now I'm a housewife that works part time -- and it's a dilemma -- should I go an earn more income, or should I focus more on what I'm doing -- caring for home and family?  I can work on widening our social circle and being active in the community, just in case I get into residential real estate down the road. 

My immediate neighborhood has homes $150k - $350k range. 

I am not sure that I will have the right amount of hustle -- I have tenacity, I don't give up, and I could succeed by just grinding it out, but then again.  It's nice to be with the family on the weekends.  Thats a goal in itself!

I'll start another thread here because I spied a home I would like to buy, but cannot afford the cash for.  Never mind, I won't start the thread, it's the right property but not the right time for us to become landlords (even in a nice house for auction.com in our town, next door to some of our friends!)  I don't have the cash to buy it, I don't want to sell out of our stocks to raise enough of the cash to figure out down payment / loan deal / hard money whatever.

I'm rambling.  Auction.com is very interesting.   Watching the market is *very* interesting, but I think my market to watch for right now still is the stock market.  I'm several points ahead of the S&P this year and I have been making income with options.  It's working and fits my life so much better. 

Thank you for talking to me about it!

Karen

P.S.  Commercial seems like a smart place to be.  All the commercial people I've met come across as very sharp and very smooth!