All Forum Posts by: Michael Haynes

Hello Nicole Lockwood in Tampa? Do you know what "Arbitrage" is? You Rent a House that you can Rent to someone else for more per month for Cash Flow. That involves informing the Owner and getting permission etc. STR it? You can Rent a Big House to live in and just rent Rooms if you can stand to live with other people. House Hacking is a beginng. And to fix up your Credit? You can get a JOB and pay your Bills on time. Go study with Dave Ramsey and do his "7 Baby Steps."

Hello Mr. and Mrs. Amit Doshi in Tampa. So, you are Homesteading your new Home and looking to find the right Rental. You haven't said if you would move into your Rental when you Sell your Home and continue a "Tax-free Money Machine" as just a part of your Investment Portfolio? Or as a Dentist and CPA are you like all the Doctors I knew 40 years ago in Miami that needed a place to "Park their Cash and make 20%" with Passive Investing in 100 Unit Apartment blocks? For me it is "Go Big or Stay Small" and Diversify. I can make $500 and hour on my laptop each morning trading one ES Futures contract after going through three Economic Collapses and selling the remaining properties for apreciable profits. When I started my study on Investing in Everything, while I was working on Oil Tankers 35 years ago, I made my first $100,000 in ten years with Mutual Funds to buy my Rental Portfolio in South Tampa. At that time, my Broker said that property values had not changed for TEN Years. I bought, Financed by the Owner, Duplexes and a couple houses in S. Tampa at the Bottom of the Market that were "mis-advertized." They only showed a picture of the House, when it was Four Residential Lots on a Corner next to Dale Mabry Hwy. and the AFBase. Or only pictured the house on one Lot when there was a Duplex on the other Lot next door. Or Only pictured the big house in Front and not the one in the Alley in the Back.  You are looking to Buy at the Top. That requires finding Special Situations that have numbers that really work to make them worth your while. With the profit I made from ten years holding the four Residential Lots with a House, I paid $175,000 Cash for my Townhome in Valrico. That was right before Covid and in one year later it was worth $320,000. I took a whole year, every day on Zillow, Searching for my Target Houses and Townhomes until I found the perfect one. Right now, everyone is trying to get Blood from a Stone. Not, good. 

Hello Brandon Cochran in Tampa. So, you bought a New Townhome? A Used Townhome? It looks Turn Key? You paid Retail? You paid $370,000? Down payment, and All Closing Costs, plus Commission etc. were $40,000? 20% Down payment is $74,000? 30 Year Fixed Mortgage rate is 7.45%. FHA and VA are 6.71%. Did you do any fixups? Your Monthly Mortgage payment is around $2000? That includes everything? You say you get $1100 a month Rent and you are fine with that as help for the Mortgage payment? You look like you have a good JOB. So, you can cover all your costs until you Sell as your Plan B...right? Then, read the IRS Publication 523 on Sale of a Residence. You can live in your Residence for 2 out of 5 years and when you Sell it is Tax-free up to $250,000. The Florida Homesteading rule says you should have registered to Homestead for the $50,000 discount in your Property Tax by the end of January! That way the Property Tax can not increase more than 2% a year while you live in that house. You need a Home and don't need a Rental. Take care of it and don't expect to make any Money in the next 5 years. You bought at the Top of the Market.

Hello Amit Doshi in Tampa. It looks like you did learn how to see the Real Estate Cycle in the right way, by saying that you missed your "Once in a Lifetime Opportunity" three years ago. I would say that 99% of the members on BP do not see what you see. My example is that I had Rentals in S. Tampa for 30 years. After selling my four Commercial lots near the AFBase i took a year, every day going over the 3/2's and Townhomes For Sale on Zillow to find the perfect one for my retirement. I paid All Cash, $175,000 for a 3/3, 1564 ft. Townhome with garage and pool in a 20 unit Community in Valrico with the lowest HOA fee. It was built in 2016 and looked like new. I received $3,500 Credit from the Seller who was not in the US to finish buying new appliances. This was at the start of Covid shutdowns when everyone was looking for 3/2's with a pool, so the kids could have some fun without school. In one year my Townhome was worth $320,000. It came down at the end of Covid to $290,000 and is back up to $320,000. That is the kind of a Special Situation that you are looking for. The second thing I can tell you is that Renting Single Family Homes does not make you Money. You need to learn how to do your own Searched on Zillow every day and start with Land Values to be able to do your own Comparisons. You need to learn Google Maps and Street View so that you can home in and see the different properties without driving out to look at each one. You need to read IRS Publication 523 for The Sale of a Residence. You need a Home! You don't need a Rental. The easiest and safest way to make Money with Real Estate is to buy your Home. You then, have to Homestead it in Florida for the Property Tax reduction. The IRS rule says that if you live in your Home for 2 out of 5 years, you can Sell it Tax-free for up to $250,000. As you live in your Home you can find a fixer-upper to Rent until you Sell your Home and just move into your Rental and do it again. Keep your JOB. Do more online studies. Get more Degrees or Licenses and experience. Look for that Motivated Seller to make a really good Deal with all your Liquid Cash. I know bunch of the BP guys would say that they could buy three or four properties with that kind of Cash. Don't put your Horse in front of your Cart.

Hello Caleb Sonneman starting out as another one of the Million, RE Agents we have in Florida. You decided on the hurricane devestated, Ft. Myers to work? Did you ever hear, "The reason I rob Banks is because that is where the Money is?" Did you talk with a Banker to try to get Pre-qualified for a Loan? This is Florida. Do you know how to meet a friend with good Credit and the Down Payment? If you are a loner, you can look at all the Youtube videos on "How to Make Money with Mobile Homes." There is one nice place on a Highway near Plant City that Finances to Buy, Land and the Box. My old friend, Richard, started out 40 years ago buying Single and Doublewide Homes, on individual Lots with Septic and Well. He had 90 of them 20 years ago, all over Hillsborough County, plus a couple small Parks. Buy a Lot. Buy a used Box. Have it moved. Set up the Septic and Well to live in or Rent. He quickly got to Jumbo Loans and then All Cash and Self-Insured for years. Who cares about the Box? They go down in value more than anything. It's the Lot that has the value and if the Big Bad Wolf comes along and blows it down, who cares! Richard has always Self-managed 24 hours a day with a couple handymen. He wanders around all day and night with ten and twenty thousand, smoking Marijuana keeping up with the rents and repairs. I started out 40 years ago with Duplexes and Houses, Financed by the Owner. Good luck with finding that now. 

Hello Dylan Greytak in Tampa. You look like a nice, suit and tie guy with an education and a JOB. You have to learn that, "your Profit is when you Buy a Property." You did not give the address of the Duplex. You did say you want to House Hack, so, you are willing to live in one apartment and rent out the other. "Never buy a house you would not live in." Did anybody ever tell you that you need a Home to live in and that your Home is not an Investment? You need to read IRS Publication 523, Sale of a Residence. You can live in your Home for 2 out of 5 years and Sell, Tax-free up to $250,000. Think...in 2 years you can Sell, Tax-free. Do you think that in that Time your property will Appreciate anything at all? What about going to the 5 year limit? If not, then what? Your stuck with what we in Florida call "A Gator." Real Estate Investing depends on the Business and Real Estate Cycle and if you don't know where you are in those graphs, then, you are not knowing when to "Buy Low and Sell High." I hope you did not buy on the East side of I275 running North in Tampa. 

Hello Jack Levy in Tampa. Besides targeting a CPA who is familiar with all kinds of business investing and Crypto you could look for an Accountant/CPA in Tampa who worked with the IRS, called an "Enrolled Agent." That is a person who has earned the privilege of representing taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service. If you Google Search, "Enrolled Agents in Tampa, Florida" you get The 10 Best etc. That made me remember one of my first, "Get Rich Quick" seminars from 40 years ago with Wade Cook or some other "Cookie Cutter" Investment Plan guy. He said, "You never want to start Investing based on the Tax Advantages to a Business." As a small Investor and Trader, of lots of different Markets, I consider this total B.S. Example; Florida has no State Tax, so, any gains from a Sale of Crypto is only taxed at the Federal level. Maybe, that is why all the Billionaires are moving to Florida. Also, if you don't own your Home, you lose out on the Sale of a Residence rule and not Homesteading the Residence you lose the $50,000 discount off your Property Taxes. Plus your Property Tax cannot increase by more than 2% a year as opposed to all the other property taxes which are doubling like the Home Owner's Insurance and Flood in Florida. With Businesses there must be a hundred ways to be Tax-free, Tax-deferred and Minimum Taxed. 

Hello Jeff Hines from N.C. First question from your post is, "What the heck did you do with your Time during the one whole year you were caretaking your relative?" Are you computer literate? You said you work, but, do you have a Profession? Did you go to School and get a Degree that gave you a JOB? Does that JOB make you Money? I saw last week that you can get trained on the JOB to repair Elevators and start at $150,000 a year. You can spend $5,000 and get your CDL to start driving trucks at a Dollar a Mile or $20 an Hour. In Tampa I meet Tow Truck drivers that make $3,000 a Week...what did you do? Unless you know What, When and How to Do with a Team, buying Single Family Homes is not a way to make Money. Watch Grant Cardone's youtube videos on, "The Biggest Mistake You'll Ever Make." Right now, you can Invest your $150,000 in T-bills until you have enough to make a move. I buy one or two month T-bills so that I have Cash on hand if and when I want it. This month I bought at $5.23%. For you that's $7,500 a year, without taking any Risk. Then, you need to study the IRS Publication 523 regarding the Sale of a Residence. That rule says that if you live in your Home for 2 out of 5 years, you can sell it for up to $250,000 Tax-free. That is the Safest and Easiest thing to do for your Investment Portfolio. In the meantime you find another Fixer-upper to Rent until you have Profit in you Home to Sell Tax-free and move into your Rental and do it again. You should always look for Tax-Deferred and Tax-free methods to Invest. We want to Work Smarter, Not Harder. 

Hello Leroy Abrahams in Tampa. You know how to do your own Google Search? Try "stayhikaru reviews." Says they are "fly by night," never returned my Deposit, Closed in Austin, looking for more "Suckers in Tampa, Florida." 

Hello Patrick Ayers. You don't say where you live? You don't say if you are an Agent? You have studied all the Fundamental Plans for Real Estate Investing and you want to "Abulance Chase" Subrogrations? Come on. Be real. Go to a local RE Meetup and talk with the guys. Do you own your Home? The Safest and Easiest way to start in Real Estate is to Buy your Home. All the First Time Home Buyers down payment and financing advantages are there. Read the IRS Publication 523 regarding Sale of Your Residence. You can Sell your Residence if you live in it 2 out of 5 years for up to $250,000 Tax-free. During the time you live in your Homesteaded home for the extra Property Tax reduction in Florida, you find another fixer-upper to Rent. When the RE Market and Business Cycle are back up at the next longterm Highs you can sell you Home and move into your Rental and do it again. That is the Tax-free Real Estate Machine that the Government gives you. The Governments anywhere in the World always show you where they want you to Invest. You always have Tax-free or Tax-deferred things you can do. The Short Term Investing is something you do if you know what your doing. I traded the Nasdaq NQ Future for an hour just now and I am UP $1,310 US on my laptop, with just one 20 Tick chart. My Buy and Hold Portfolio always was my Rental Houses and Duplexes for 35 years. The rest of my properties are waiting for me to fix up and Sell in Brazil as my last project. Bom Sorte.