All Forum Posts by: Martin Neal

I'm so happy to have completed this deal! There were a lot of hurdles to overcome with this deal. The biggest being the leaky basement but I was able to persevere. 

Challenges: Finding a quality electrician, fixing the leaky basement.

For some reason, I cannot find a quality electrician. They all seem to be overpriced for subpar work or just incompetent. I had to fire two electricians on this project. The first one showed up unprepared to do the job and the second one couldn't show up when he was supposed to. 

The basement was my biggest headache. From the picture with the black tar on the wall, I knew this was going to be a challenge. I budgeted knowing I was going to have my work cut out for me. I let my contractor try the old hot tar and hydraulic cement trick but it clearly didn't work. Next I called PermaSeal who filled two cracks for $600 each. This slowed the water down but did not fix it. PermaSeal recommended a drain tile system which I agreed to. After realizing I could get the drain tile done quicker and cheaper than what PermaSeal offered, I switched companies. After the drain tile was installed, the problem was fixed. 

Purchase Price: $39K

Rehab Cost: $32K

ARV: $100K

As you can see from the pictures, We redid mostly everything here; Windows, doors, flooring, kitchen, bathrooms and drain tile in the basement. 

On to the next deal!

F.I.R.E (financial independence retire early) VS F.U.N.D. (Financial understanding new direction) Which are you shooting for?? Will the term catch on?? To be honest, episode 170 of BP Money was the first time I heard of FUND but quickly realized that’s exactly where I am in my life. What are your thoughts??

What are you doing for insurance after your retire early?? I want to get an idea of options and cost for insurance if I retire early.

@Scott Goulet the answer is two-fold. First, you should have your management company check with you before approving repairs if it’s not an emergency. Second, it’s not all about the cash flow. You still get the benefit of equity pay down, appreciation and tax benefits. I would definitely start with managing the manager first. Good luck.

@Rick Martin Thanks Rick! I’ve never seen it broken down that way and very informative to see versus hear.

@Axel Meierhoefer the key to turnkey is the quality of the project of the developer. Just like with anything in life, some bad apples will create a bad stigma for the whole group. Turnkey investing is a good way to go but just like any form of investing, you have to use your due diligence. Plus BP preaches active investing more than passive investing so people shy away from it for that reason too.

@Ryan Cleary advised them that when they were showed the unit, there was no automatic door opener and I’m guessing because their section 8, they can’t pay more rent for the door opener. Maybe it’s something you can add on later as a longevity incentive but the answer would politely be no.

@Breanna Collins 21 is not too young. I hope to get my son in the game at 16. Just need the maturity and mindset to make it happen.

@Eric Malone for me, an influencer must show that they’ve been in their field for at least a year making 3x the monthly rent consistently. Influencer is nothing more than a marketing job so I would treat it as such.

@Bei He this is a tricky one, I would double check and make sure they haven’t been in eviction court and who would be responsible for paying the rent. If they make 7x the income, I would check the credit report to see what’s not being paid too. It can give you a better picture of what to do.