All Forum Posts by: Douglas Hardman

Sound advice from both of you. Appreciate the insights. I drive about 16h a week, so I was going to try and find a podcast or an audiobook too.

I recently inherited a decent sum of money. I could let it sit in an investment account and get me 12% a year, but I'm thinking longer term. Was considering taking $150K of it and buying a few rental properties. I've seen a bazillion youtube shorts and fb reels about real estate investing and it was something I looked into years ago but never pulled the trigger on.

I see BiggerPockets offers a "bootcamp" but was wondering which one to go through to get the basics before I pull the trigger. There are also 1,000 people that have similar courses but picking the right one seems daunting. Is there any advice from you all about where I should start?

As it turned out, it was the water meter. I demanded that the city replace it, and they did. Water bill went back down to $24 a month, and I was able to get a refund (credit) from the city for the 3 months it was super-high.

So...there's always hope that the city will be cool about things and help you out, if you're diligent and stay on them.

I'm going over this weekend to investigate further. I can't imagine it's in the dirt, because the meter is in the house, so that would happen before it got to us. The house is small, and only about 20' from the street, and there aren't any trees out there, so I have no idea hat it could be outside of the house. It'd have to be inside.

My fiancé and I moved out of her house in November, and we rented the house out starting the first week of December. Her normal water bill is about $30 a month. (3 bedroom, one bath, no dishwasher, 2.5 people living there.) Usage from the water company shows using 0.2-0.4MCF per month...consistently...for 2 years. The renters move in, and December's bill shows 1.4 MCF...or about $75. Then we get January's bill and it's 2.5MCF...and $115.

So the tenant reaches out to me last week and says "Any idea why our water bill is so high?" to which I respond "I was wondering the same thing!"

They've been model tenants, and I have no reason to suspect they're doing anything nefarious. She says 1-2 people showering a day, and 2-ish loads of laundry a week. Normal usage...about exactly what we were doing when we lived there with the same number of people. Since the sewer bill is based on the water bill, that's sky-high too.

So I call the water company to have them come out and look at the meter, and it was a fight just to get them to come out. They're standing by "the meter is always right" but I can't see how a family of 2 could have possibly used 19,000gal of water in a month. If they were doing laundry 24/7 for the entire month, that'd still only be 12,000gal.

I've been over and checked the pipes and the faucets...no leaks. Nothing seems to be running in the background. Everything in the house is less than 2y old.

Any ideas? Any experience fighting a water company? 

thanks @Nick Ferguson  Parma is actually our target area. We have one rental there now and are looking to add many more in the coming years. Great neighborhoods and price point. 

Thanks for the advice gang.

Like I said...I'm in "learning" mode right now. There's a guy in my office that has a 200+ units, so I'm going to pick his brain from time to time. He's already offered to introduce me to some of his contacts in the area. That'll go a long way towards validating my initial thoughts on my plan. I want people to poke holes in it so I'm not caught off-guard.

It'll take a few years to build up to where I feel comfortable. For once in my life, I'm going to take things slow and build out my portfolio over the next 10 years so hopefully I can retire early with a nice nest-egg.

Boy, do I have a lot to learn...

After my Fiance was re-located to Atlanta, we decided to rent her house out. That was enough to get us started...and eager to find more properties. But....as I said earlier...I've got a lot to learn first.

I plan on lurking for a bit, reading all I can. On paper, our goal is to buy 2 properties a year as we have cash for the DP and then build up our portfolio that way. Well, that's the plan right now anyway. I'm sure it will change drastically after I finish my initial research.

So...it's nice to meet you all. Can't wait to jump in...

-doug