All Forum Posts by: Matt Miller

So I have 2 new televisions in my vacation rental- a 43" that cost $250, and a 55" that cost $350.  It's an entire house for rent.

Should I buy a physical lock to lock the TVs down to prevent theft?  

Something like this for example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003...

Or am I going way overboard here?... any suggestions?

thanks guys

For my vacation rental, I'm not sure where I should put my modem / router to protect it from guests.  I don't want someone to steal it (cost me $200), or press the buttons on it.  

I was thinking of locking it inside a cabinet, but that would probably interfere with the wifi signal.  

Another idea I had was to put it into a "rack cabinet enclosure" (Amazon) and then somehow bolt that down onto a shelf or cabinet.

But then the router/modem would be visible... I'd prefer to put the router someplace that completely hides it, yet doesn't interfere with the wifi signal.

Same problem with my Ring security system.  It connects to the router through the ethernet port-- I want that to be visually hidden as well.

Any ideas here ???

thanks for advice Scott, the options you're presenting make sense.  

By the way, I'm just looking for other angles that I may have missed due to my newbie inexperience- I've been presented several points from others that I had never thought of, that I had missed completely.  I wouldn't call that the same as asking other people to make the decision for me.  If there's experts with more experience around, it doesn't hurt to ask how they'd handle a situation.

Brian, I didn't realize a HELOC would be easier to get if I lived in the home. Thanks for the advice. And I've managed a STR before, so I'm a bit familiar with it!

@Whitney Hutten I understand that after 3 years I'll lose my tax-exempt status on my home when I rent it, but what do you mean by "reposition" it after 3 years. Do you mean to defer paying taxes by completing a 1031 exchange into another investment property ? Or... ?

Also you say:

Also, I'll name it outright, even if you rent for $1900, your equity in property #1 underperforming (.55% RTV). You have options... if you have lived in the property for 2 years, honestly, I'd think about capturing the high asset prices right now and reposition that equity into better performing properties. 

My home will have positive cash flow if I rent it.  However, if I do a cash-out refinance on my home, I will no longer have positive cash flow with my new, higher mortgage payments.  So is it still a good idea to pull the equity out of my house, and reposition it into a new property, like a duplex.  I guess it all depends on the numbers right... if the duplex has enough positive cash flow to cover the higher mortgage on my home, then it should all work out fine, right.
 

@Whitney Hutten I understand that after 3 years I'll lose my tax-exempt status on my home when I rent it, but what do you mean by "reposition" it after 3 years.  Do you mean to defer paying taxes by completing a 1031 exchange into another investment property ?  Or... ?

thanks Tanner, I didn't think of those "if this... then do this..." details and scenarios.  Great advice.

Thanks Jon.  Yeah, I would probably do that then.  Take the $70k I have to make a down payment on the second property.  I'd qualify for a conventional loan on property #2 because it will be my primary residence, while property #1 becomes a rental/investment property.  I could do a cash-out refinance on property #1 if I need more cash for repairs, or for the downpayment on a third property.

okay thanks for the suggestions.  My goal is to build up a portfolio of real estate properties.  For starters, live in a property for 2 years (and fix it up a bit with sweat equity), then move into a new property for 2 years, and continue repeating that process.