All Forum Posts by: Lauren H.

What you are able to accomplish financially is directly related to what you are able to give up today in order to secure your tomorrow. 

I fully second everything Joe Kim says above. 

Only invest in employer 401k up to the amount they will match. If you get an opportunity, apply for hardship withdrawal from 401k and when you look at the tax hit, think about the fact that half of that money was FREE money from your employer.

Abandon all traditional savings routes and realize that Cash is King. The cash you have now and it's ability to produce income is worth more than the 3% it will make you in traditional savings.

Take a look at Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker. What are you willing to give up? Move into a smaller house, cancel your cable TV subscription, cut back on cell phone plan. Spend less on eating out/entertainment. Better yet, move into the smallest of your rental units that you are able to live in and collect a larger rental payment from your primary residence.

It's all about what you are willing to give up to get to your goal. In North America people want nice things, and they want them NOW, but this will only make someone else rich. If you haven't already done so, begin to look at every purchase you make as a business decision: is this purchase getting you closer to your goal? If not, keep your money because no one else will spend it better than you. 

Other than that, be patient. Cash is power in real estate.

Listen to Sylvia B, but don't be afraid of a sprayer. It's just paint, you can back roll over runs with a roller and if you didn't apply enough, you go over it with another coat. 

My husband and I own/remodel/self-manage a 4plex and have painted 3/4 unit interiors and replaced all the windows last summer and painted the exterior.  We went all-out and bought a commercial grade Grayco sprayer. I hate masking and my husband's eyesight isn't good enough to spray, so he masks and I spray. 

It's easiest to pick one color to use for everything and just go semi-gloss or glossy everywhere (interior). Paint the ceiling, walls and trim all one color, unless the trim has stood up well to abuse. 

Remove all fixtures that a can be removed for interior painting. Get a masking tape roller that has a sheet of contractor paper attached to do mantles and light fixtures. 

Exterior: 

Buy the highest quality paint you can afford.  Spraying will be faster than rolling, you don't want to have to cut in around every single window, door, gutter, etc. If you don't want to buy a sprayer, just rent one.

Be ready to work on a ladder. 

Make sure the hose is long enough.

Work on a hot day, pressure wash first thing in the morning and wait.

Mask it off and drop cloth, starting at a place on the house where you can afford to mess up. 

Buy 10% more paint than you think you need. 

Wear a respirator. 

Rent the sprayer for 2 days just in case.

In anticipation of tenants who have little respect for property (compared to an owner) I've installed water alarms in areas that can cause trouble: the lowest point on the floor under the washer, behind the toilet in the bathroom, and under the sink in the kitchen. Then add to the lease a statement something like 'occupants are not allowed to tamper with or disable moisture alarms' in addition to the usual language about notification of leaks. The water alarms are cheap and make a really annoying shrill sound when they go off, but not as loud as a smoke detector.

I don't allow my tenants to have their own clothes washer either. If they don't maintain their machine, then they aren't going to care about the floor/subfloor.