All Forum Posts by: Kristi K.

to your point 5, I do think there is a job shortage that is likely to persist... but i don't know if it's in the most exciting of fields. for example, i believe we will need hundreds of thousands or potentially even millions of home health care aides.

the people telling us that AI is going to AI everything are the people selling AI.

"everyone else needs the USA more than we need them" - I have no idea how to validate that. maybe it is true. how would you measure it?

We assume that....but just ask around or think about it deeply. WHo else would be in the #1 position? Some people might say China....but their economy is a 'house of cards' as we hear over and over, plus a totalitarian Communist regime is not likely to be trusted, so not them. The EU? Too fragmented and diverse to be powerful enough. They can't even protect themselves without the US, hence NATO. So not them. India? Nope, lol....

It's really just us.

the people telling us that AI is going to AI everything are the people selling AI.

So true, right? And AI will always have a huge trust factor.

America is FAR from being the "trusted" person on the international stage. At least, not trusted in a good way.

Yes, I would say China and even Rusia are far more "trusted" internationally than USA.

The USA has a long history of stabbing people in the back. Or meddling in foreign nations affairs and only ever making things far worse.

Example, Iran. The Iran we have today, that USA hates, that so many hate, is all thanks to USA. Many are probably just a bit too young to remember it all. We really f'd that country up.

There is a long list of countries the USA has used, abused, and the people don't forget.

China does not have that history. Nor even Russia. USA is king-Con on the international stage.

This is why our allies don't ever even fully trust us, because they've seen us F so many others and we just say "yeah, but, were like buddies n all, we wouldn't do that to you...." until we do.

Afghanistan is another. In 80's we made so many great promises, and Osama was our operative. We trained and funded them. And then when they did the job we gave them, when they achieved all the goals, we f'd em hard. So hard, that they never forgot it. And what happened, something far worse came in and took over and there we are back again many years later to deal with a mess we could have avoided if we had just honored our promises.

And than we did it AGAIN......

If you think the world is in some love-fest with USA, that's because you havn't been out around the world. Most places in the world have a very negative perception of USA and Americans.

And fact is USA earned that. Only way to change it is to hold self accountable and stop the BS. Stop "nation building" which is code word for nation imploding given its trackrecord.

China is HUGE in Africa. There taking over and Africa is THE resources powerhouse. What's USA doing, saber rattling about making Gaza a damn resort..... wtf.....

China builds roads, hospitals, infrastructure, is taking over a continent with there smiles and gifts. USA could learn a thing or 12 from them.

We can't even keep Russia in check who is a laughing stock compared to China.

The world does not need the USA, they simply are happy to use the USA if and when it suits them. NATO, China, all great examples of this. USA is #1 at being used, because we like the ego-stroke. Europe giggles and says they'll happily let USA enjoy the ego and let them enjoy the wealth. There not dumb.

Get out there, travel the world, find out for yourself. The reality is far different than the domestic propaganda.

I usually agrree with ya.....but I really believe that, given the choice, most nations would rather be like us, and do business with us, than either China or Russia. And yes, I've travelled around a good bit....I see and hear both the disdain (and a little bit of jealosy) and the love and admiration for America.

Completely agree that our foreign policy has been a nightmare at times....under both parties. Misguided good intentions at best and outright greed and power mongering at worst. Bring back the Shah.
And Great Britain and other European powers have nothing to talk to us about...remember British Petroleum and Saudi Arabia...? Talk about a power grab.....

It's really the theory of America that people love. And unfortunately, the actual practice or actions that have made unnecessary enemies and disdain.

Iraq is a good example of what I am trying to say.

When we first rolled in there, in was nothing but cheer's, flowers, hug's n love. It was amazing. Next thing, the local military/police just wanted a chance to do normal things of running and helping there country, under USA control etc.. There big-wig general was all set. It was a slam dunk.

Than these D.C. morons took over and acted as if we were still in active combat. Demanded us control thru n thru, that nope all the soldiers, Generals, all of em were out and we'd instill something else. Complete idiocy. 48hrs later things started exploding.

And the rest is history.

Nothing was gained by any of it, and a hell of a lot was lost, all for the sake of power/money grab to funnel everything through big-corp..

That's the kind of stuff that the rest of the world leaders have seen and why none of em truly trust us. And USA earned that distrust.

And across Africa, yes, they do prefer to work with China or Russia vs USA in many ways because there is fear that USA will change there mind mid-stream, maybe decide there government needs to be changed, overthrown, or whatever. Because we've done that, a lot.

I don't think they necessarily "like" Russia or China, but they don't fear the partnership with them like they do USA. And that cost's the USA opportunaties.

Our meddling to "make things better" almost never works out. Afghanistan (twice now), iraq (3 times now), Syria, Iran, Libya, Ukraine, Vietnam, Korea...... Our list of fails is long. Try to name some "nation building" we got right......

USA has gotta change the way we try to influence things or were just gonna keep building that list of distrust. And work on understanding we don't really always know what's best in foreign nations and foreign cultures.

We started getting things right in Iraq when we started focusing on taking a back-seat and assisting vs being the "nation builder" and that only happened because of ISIS, yet another line on USA's "whopsies" list.

Korea was the same, we had it done and in the can until McArthur wanted to really make sure he was set for a POTUS run and pressed the Chinease into getting into it. And all the way back to the 38th and where we sit today. There would be no "Rocket-Man" if he hadn't done that stupidity. And he was warned, i know because I knew the Lt Col who warned him personally and got it straight from the horses mouth himself.

The first step in solving a problem is first admitting you got one.

The USA is not loved, cherished and trusted in the world. We need to do something about that.

Of course I generally agree with ya, we have messed up. I still believe we are envied and liked aroubd the world much more than you think we are.

And the goal to get America back to being 'loved, cherished and trusted' is not necessarily a good goal. Depends what we have to do, or give up, to regain that status.

If saving the world several times over, keeping the current bad guys at bay, building and re-building multiple countries, showering much of the world with our financial largesse (all while being disrespected and treated like general crap BTW) is not enough, then I am in the group that says F 'em.

Let China take over that role and go bankrupt doing it, it'll be fun watching them go down the tubes.....

The only place in the world I have personally traveled other than obvious danger zones like Afganastan or some place like that.. were I felt the people did not like us. .Was in Paris in Coffee shop the waiters are brutal :)

We were turned down service in a restaurant in Paris because they said there were no available tables. We were already inside and could see they were only 10% full but nope, we had to leave🤷‍♂️

1 Vote

Denver, Colorado

Quote from @Vaughn Ramcharitar:

Thanks all for the great replies....appreciated..

Would prefer to sell entire portfolio and not singly as the properties held in Tx master series LLC...60 performing properties ~ $17M and considering an institutional buyer

You will get the best price by having them vacant and selling individually but I’m sure you already know that. Nice job on creating such a portfolio.

0 Votes

Houston, Texas

There is some great fishing in Matagorda Bay.

1 Vote

Houston, Texas

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Kristi K.:

Quote from @Michael K Gallagher:

"light clean out required once tenant moves out."

I had a realtor tell me last week "light rehab, under $30K" on a house that wasn't on the MLS.

I met him there that afternoon because these kind of houses don't last long around here. Minimum $100,000 rehab based on my 10 minutes of inspection, shingles missing, foundation problems, cracked tile in house, cracked drywall joints everywhere in the house, rotting deck in backyard etc.... Total waste of my time and his.

let me guess new western ?

Haha, no, this was actually a wholesale company out of Austin but I'm seeing the same thing with all of this companies leads as well. Retail sale at best after repairs are made.

0 Votes

The model they are using here in central Texas is you get an email on Friday, the open house is the following Tuesday from 1 to 2 pm and you have to make your bid by 3pm that same day using their minimum bid. Most that I’ve looked at over the last couple of years you are just retail price after you factor in repairs. Not worth the risk.

2 Votes

Denver, Colorado

Quote from @Robert Ellis:

if you are saying balloon framing is better than new construction I think you should demolish a few hundred houses like I did my friend

Never heard of balloon framing until now, I looked it up, it’s not good, but what John said about 50s and 60s builds in Central Texas is very true, the wood inside these homes are way better than what’s available today. I love to gut to the studs on these homes.

2 Votes

I used “hard earned” money for my first deal in 1985. How times have changed😬

0 Votes

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Quote from @James Hamling:

Quote from @Steve K.:

Elon is getting $8M per day in tax dollars, while cutting government programs that cost much less than that per year. And he was not elected. The programs he's cutting employ a lot of good people and provide a lot of good services to the country. Has anyone seen the letters that federal employees are getting? These were not written by government employees and are insulting to good people who provide civil services. They say "stop being lazy and find a real job in the private sector". It's absurd and unjust. I know for a fact that Elon is a con man from when I worked in the solar industry, his solar company was a total scam and gave the whole industry a bad name. Trump also has a history of scamming people (Trump University, his charity, all of the contractors he never paid, everyone who got the short end of the stick during his multiple bankruptcies, claiming $70k tax write off per year on his taxes to do his hair, his company was found guilty of fraud, etc.). It's a con job by two of the biggest con artists in history. People are still worried about Hunter's laptop or Hillary's emails when the conspiracy is right in front of us. Like I said earlier, these two will be the world's first Trillionaires while the rest of us suffer.

Ok, this Trump Derangement Syndrome is way outta control now. How about some FACTS and TRUTH OF CONTEXT for this:

Yeah, what an Evil Guy Elon and Space-X is charging the US $8m per day for what was $16m+ per day.......

"HOW DARE YOU SAVE US MONEY ELON!!!!!!!!"

Get out of you propaganda bubble Steve and read some facts. Stop being a tool used by those with nefarious reasons. Your better than this Steve. Your smarter and better than this.

0 Votes

Denver, Colorado

Quote from @Derek Harville:

Hi all,

My grandfather has passed away and my grandmother is left with handling finances for the first time in years. She's on a fixed monthly income and cannot afford home repairs. I have already spent around $4k in repairs for her. She would like to gift me the trailer to repay me for some of the money I have put out. I'm reluctant to accept as I see the trailer as more of a liability. She's not in great health herself, but seems like she can still carry on a few more years if nothing bad happens. Found out today the sewer line is in need of repair.

This is an OLD single wide trailer. One window AC cools the entire trailer and struggles in the summer. Most larger windows are an odd (old) size and solid pane and do not open. Water heater is new. The electrical is outdated and dangerous, although still functioning. Due to it's age I'm not sure if it can actually be moved. She does not own the lot and pays like $150 per month lot rent. A subdivision of nice $400k homes was built across the street back around 2004. The owners of the lot/property seem to neglect her land and the adjacent homes/land they own on the same street. All that to say, I'm not sure when they will want to cash in and sell the lot due to the appreciation the subdivision has provided. My grandmother is the last tenant in a string of their abandoned properties.

I don't want to be stuck with trying to figure how to dispose or move the trailer. I don't want to rent it out as it seems like an electrical liability - and I'm not sure if renting it to others would be legally possible seems how we don't own the land. I don't want to keep putting money into repairs on something that will never generate a return. Best case scenario in my head is finding a buyer that would move it if possible. (When the time comes). Or someone even taking it for free? If my grandmother were to pass away without deeding the trailer to me, would it be on the land owners to deal with it? My grandparents have lived there since 2001.

Open to any advice others have to offer. Let me know if you need any more details. Thanks BP!

I just got a quote of $7500 to demolish and haul away an old Mobile Home. There is no resale value in it. Don’t let her gift it to you. In Texas you can’t move mobile homes older than 1980. And in order to take them to a scrapyard, you have to have a title. I just learned all this in the last two days as I’m tearing down a mobile home from the 1960’s.

1 Vote

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Quote from @Matt Devincenzo:

Quote from @Kristi K.:

....

This is how they advertise it, $180,000

....

The county has it appraised at $188,000 and here are some pics.

My question is how can someone be so far off on value and continue to keep their job?
...

I'm not familiar with the area, so could you share what your value expectation is on this? I didn't see anywhere that you posted what they said ARV was, or what you think it is based on comps...the County assessment has no bearing whatsoever on value. It could be 50% high, 50% low or right on the money but no matter which of those three it is makes no difference. The comps are all that matter.

Comps in this neighborhood are a little over $200K. The county is a little low on ARV but it would take $80,000 to get it to a $200K value. I have gutted to the studs the last 5 properties I have bought from tax/foreclosure sales in this county and this one is not far from a full rehab.

0 Votes

San Antonio, Texas

All Forum Posts by: Kristi K.

Kristi K. has started 16 posts and replied 365 times.

Post: Trump Policies Will Put Downward Pressure on Real Estate Rents/Prices

Post: Sell Single family portfolio

Post: Investing in Sargent TX

Post: Comically Bad Realtors

Post: Any experience with New Western wholesalers in Colorado?

Post: Airbnb Investors Are Winning — Columbus Proves Why Old Rentals Are a Bad Bet

Post: Anyone Use Hard Money for Their First Deal?

Post: Trump Policies Will Put Downward Pressure on Real Estate Rents/Prices

Post: Grandmother wants to leave/give me trailer! Help!

Post: Why do Wholesalers Lie