All Forum Posts by: Sharon Tzib

"The bottom line, at least for Mitchell however, is this: “I’d say do both—and keep working longer.”

OMG! This article is so bad in so many ways I don't even know where to begin. First of all, most people nearing retirement age do not have enough money to sustain their current lifestyle when they do retire. So his answer is, oh, just keep working longer - arghh!!

Second of all, these so called "financial planners" assume people need 85% of their working income after they retire in order to maintain their standard of living. Oh great! Just what I want to do in retirement - downgrade my quality of life so I can get by.

The fact that this article seriously believes that people's only two options for surviving post-retirement is by either contributing to their 401K or paying down their house just shows how misguided most of the information out there is, and it's why these strategies aren't working!

Instead of paying down your mortgage and being a sitting duck for the bank to pick off when you can't make your mortgage payment in retirement (after all, who do you think they'll want to foreclose on first - the person with no equity or the person with a ton of equity?), take those extra payments and invest in real estate.

Instead of contributing the max to your 401K, whose returns are historically low after all expenses are taken out, only contribute what the employer match is and use the extra money to invest in real estate.

The fact of the matter is, the rich and super rich in this country have a portofolio of over 80% in real estate. If you want to be secure in retirement, do what they do and start finding ways to earn passive income.

Thanks for sharing, Jimmy. Articles like these amaze me!

My father always said, "Consider the source."

If this info is from someone who sells mutual funds or is anti-American and thinks the end of the dollar is near, there ya go!

Real estate has been around much longer than the stock market. I'd err on the side of history :)

As a wholesaler, you rarely take title to a property, so I think this is an unnecessary expense. However, once you start flipping, absolutely get an LLC and title your houses into them for the duration of the hold. This is not only good for liability but tax strategy as well.

As always, you should be consulting a CPA in your state for the final word.

Contractors/handymen aren't employees, so it's not like he lied on an application. And I'm sure it never came up in conversation or you would have mentioned it in your intro, so it doesn't seem like he was hiding it intentionally from you.

Everyone makes mistakes in life. The fact is, he's being doing fine work for you before this. He probably has learned his lesson and just wants to move forward. Stopping his livelihood will not help him do that.

I would, however, do two things. First, let him know what you've found out and get his side of the story. At the very least, he is now on notice that you know so that he can be sure to perform even better than before if he wants to keep his job. Second, make sure he is bonded/insured. If anything should happen, you don't want it on you.

If you just can't sleep at night over this, then keep using him on the flips only and not the student projects. Let us know what happens.

Well to be truthful, an experienced landlord would have never bought the building without conducting a unit by unit inspection, at which time they would have discovered the obese tenant and existing damage. At this point, all they can do is proceed as Andrea above so competently outlined.

I'd tread very carefully here. Attempting to evict anyone due to their weight could be considered discrimination in some states.

One idea that pops into mind is perhaps if the tub area does have water damage and needs to be pulled out anyway for repairs is to perhaps install a shower with a seat instead. Easier for the obese tenant to access and use a shower than a tub, I imagine, and eliminates the strain his weight is putting on it and future risk to tenants below, as long as it's not too cost prohibitive. Having one unit with a shower only I'm sure won't be a total deal breaker for future rentability.

Good luck.

Awesome advice, Robert!

@Michael Power where are you finding Theresa's book for free?

Kevin, are you asking if you bought a multi family with a loan that had a 5 year balloon, what would your exit strategy options be? Please clarify - your question is a bit confusing.

Ok, so basically you're selling it for FMV less your commission, correct? I think most investors are going to want more of a discount than that to take it off the seller's hands quickly, as-is, for all cash so she can be on her way to her new job, imho.

It definitely cash flows, especially if someone pays all cash (and even if they don't, but then again I assume your target buyer isn't getting a loan, or the seller may as well put it on the MLS and get the highest and best bid). Your target buyer is definitely a buy and hold landlord since there's no value add, which will limit your pool.

Personally, I'd try to get her down another $10K if she really wants to sell quick.

Thanks for responding to my questions, Brian. I'm so glad to hear C Classes aren't trading for $45K per in Houston (I almost had heart failure and was gonna start looking for a new area lol!). I had been told about $20-25 avg, so $10K and up is wonderful - I'll probably stick to C+'s cause I'm w/ you on area. My bad for doing the math with an "all in" number.

Now that I know what you paid, the impounds don't sound low at all. I was using a much, much higher PP when I calculated that. Makes perfect sense now. Again, really appreciate you breaking this down - exciting stuff for you!