All Forum Posts by: Margie Kohlhaas

I was newly wed and 7 months pregnant living in Santa Barbara, CA. We cashed out a chunk of my 401k at the high and borrowed from my future inheritance to get a down payment to purchase our first foreclosure house for $530k. It was in rough shape but had previously sold for over $800k so we assumed it was a good investment. We made quite a few improvements and sold it for $749k in 2016. Looking back it was the perfect scenario. I borrowed 401k money at a high and paid it back at a low. My 401k had crashed in half so I didn’t feel bad about taking half of it out prior to the crash. It goes against everything Susie Orman and Dave Ramsey will tell you about borrowing against your retirement but in those crazy housing markets sometimes it’s the only way to get your foot in the door.

Adding to this thread or perhaps I should create a new one? If I collect $2000 in rent and pay $300 of that in utilities, what would I owe my property manager if their fee was 10%? Would it be $200 or $70?

I'm still using Excel for my 4 properties. It's important that the smaller companies offer security for your bank accounts, etc and the option to integrate into other software platforms if you do rapidly grow. 

I followed this path:

1) Schooling at UCSB. Having a college degree helped me reach my professional career goals landing me the job I have now.

2) Investing in Stocks after taking some basic investment courses, diversified portfolio with dividends reinvested. Some of my stocks have doubled or tripled. I learned to not put all my eggs in one basket. I buy what I like or know, products I trust or use for example (Amazon, Starbucks, Apple). If the stock tanks, I don't hesitate to ride it all the way down. I know when to jump. I consider it my back up nest egg as Social Security likely won't be around when I retire.

3) Leadership Training - professional job growth. Learned to lead a team of talented designers at a real estate software company. Watched and learned about real estate property management. Having worked for a large company of 6,000+ employees has taught me quite a bit about the business professionalism and the value of health insurance, 401k and all the benefits offered.

4) Advised my in-laws to purchase real estate investment properties and assisted with the financials so they could retire with passive income. Once they were successful, I took the plunge and bought my first income property. The real estate investments have provided good returns in all cases. I always bought low & made sure the properties had good bones. Through sweat equity, I've held most of the properties for at least a few years. Some I have cashed in for various reasons. But I have learned that as a small-time investor, it's best for me buy & hold (rent) for a year before selling to avoid long-term capitol gains. There's so much to learn in the RE industry and it's always changing/evolving. 

Here's a good listing. This is approx 3 hours Southwest of Rochester in Iowa. This property will easily pay for itself. Rents for $750 per month. For sale for $49,900.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-listings/great-cash-flowing-turn-key-sfr

We had our electrician add the panels and coordinated with our local utility company to inspect and separate out the billing per unit.

No, I’m still using my Excel spreadsheets. I only have 6 rentals so I’m not sure about embracing other software yet.

Hi Ben, 

I only used them to setup the initial page that I posted above. I didn't connect in my banking accounts. It seems like FREE or $50 a month is a good deal; however, this could change since they were recently acquired by JLL. The company hasn't been around long enough and I can't seem to find much for reviews. They do seem to have good tech support. I've received several emails detailing how to take the next steps and link in bank accounts.

Let me know if you end up using them and it works out for you. I haven't yet made the leap away from my Excel spreadsheets. They've been working fine for my 4 properties.

This has happened to us before and we told the agent that if she wants to be our agent she'll make the low offer or walk. We've had to close on many deals ourselves with our lawyer as agents always want a big cut and a small price tag does not equate to a decent commission.

Has anyone tried using Stessa? It seems like they offer quite a bit for free but since they were just acquired I'm wondering if costs will increase. I plugged in my basic info and it generated a nice dashboard. I would love to hear feedback/thoughts from others. Thanks!