All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Jason Krawitz

I agree with the posts recommending a W-2 job as a way to keep food on the table and the wolves away from the door, along with making it easier to qualify for a real estate loan when you need one. Of course, if you feel strongly about real estate and know you will succeed, then don't waste your efforts on a W-2 job.

Is there a way you can leverage your previous Corporate America experience with something related to real estate? In the career counseling world, leveraging your experience when you change careers is known as creating a functional resume rather than using a chronological resume.

For example, the inspector hired by my realtor to inspect my as-is fixer-upper house had been a builder prior to the 2008 meltdown. His skill was he could look at such a home and figure out whether it was better to restore it or tear it down and start over (with my house, he concluded it was 50-50 either way). His analysis helped my realtor determine her marketing strategy.

In my case, my "core knowledge" was the electronics industry. I had worked as an engineer, then marketed computer chips to engineers, and finally became a technical writer documenting how engineers and consumers use these products. With my change from line to staff, my stress level was reduced and I had more energy after hours to study investing (stocks). As the Internet became commonplace, I was able to work mostly from home (telecommuting) rather than traveling on site, which meant my hours became flexible. The client didn't care whether I did my work in the morning, afternoon, or evening as long as I met my deadline. Not having to commute every day created a couple more hours of free time (and less stress) to focus on developing my investing know-how.

I've learned the hard way over the years when a person selling something (a loan officer at a bank, a financial consultant at a stock brokerage, a landlord or property manager with a unit to rent) doesn't respond to a phone call or email, that silence speaks volumes. Sales people are on their best behavior before a deal is signed. My job as a prospective client is to get a positive feeling I will continue to get good service after a deal is signed ("That was just the Sales Demo.").

My recommendation is take him seriously and respond to him with what sales people call qualifying questions. Find out more about what he is looking for and what his timeline is. If his needs are something your rental unit can't meet, let him know so he can look elsewhere (which he will do anyway if you don't respond at all). Your rental application should capture most of this qualifying information, which means if you require a 1-year lease and he only wants to rent for 6 months, he will screen himself out. That type of rental information should also be in your online marketing description.

Is your application a PDF file you can attach to an email? Would it make sense to post your application online as a PDF file he can download and fill out? Now with DocuSign and other "smart documents," the whole contract can be done online, including electronic signatures. Many of the crowdfund deals I've done have been this way. But since you don't rent before meeting the applicant in person, which is a good approach to take, you probably wouldn't use this smart document technology.

In my case, my realtor on the West coast advised me to rent for a couple of years before buying a home in Florida. She could tell I was eager to find another house to buy and suggested I go slow to learn the neighborhoods first. She was right. I've been renting my current place for four years already and will likely stay here a couple more years before buying a home. My point is a major change of life (moving from one coast to the other, moving from overseas back to the United States) can leave people with their heads spinning wondering what their alternatives are at their new location. It takes time to adjust to new circumstances.

In today's world, there's a lot of information online, at least for larger apartment complexes. I was able to prescreen my alternatives down to a short list before getting on the phone. Because there were vacant units where I ended up living, I was shown a unit "roughly equivalent" to the one I rented. My unit was still in rehab on the day I applied, but was finished when I moved in a few days later. The terms of the lease ended up passing the common sense test and I had no problem accepting them once I learned what they were.

Every Federal Reserve Note in my wallet has the following words: This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private

But private businesses can develop their own policies regarding cash unless state law mandates otherwise. For example, the barter economy is based on the exchange of goods and services for goods and services. In the aftermath of Financial Crisis of 2008, people were expecting Financial Armageddon and we would return to our ancient ways of not using fiat currency ("not worth a continental"). Any landlords out there accepting gold coins? Cryptocurrency? Pigs and chickens? Bottles of whiskey?

Since cash businesses don't leave a paper trail, they tend to get audited more. If the crooks ever find out you have a large amount of cash in your possession, you might get held up. Brokerage firms do not deal in cash (only checks) for this reason and because of the anti-money laundering laws put into place in the 1980s.  My landlord does not accept cash under any circumstances and posts a sign in the rental office saying so.

Many stores and banks accepting cash run all bills through machines to determine if any of them are counterfeit (and call the police if they find any). My credit union was collecting food and money to donate to a food pantry and ran my $20 bill through such a machine (the money was OK) before they gave me a big smile and thanked me for my donation.

For more insights about the challenges of dealing with cash, study the cannabis industry. Since weed is illegal at the Federal level, banks (which are connected to the Federal Reserve in some fashion) won't deal with companies in the weed business. Participants are forced to deal in cash and can't even accept credit or debit cards.

All of the above. Sometimes a highly motivated developer can spearhead the effort, but it helps when local government wants the development to happen: Why Walt Disney chose Florida over New Orleans

You'll know when local government is behind a redevelopment from their council meetings. They announce their intention of urban renewal and then support it by creating redevelopment districts. Stuff happens when enough people want it to happen.

There are no bad properties; only bad prices. I'm not sure what a LUST costs to repair:  Leaking Underground Storage Tanks Corrective Action Resources

In case anyone was wondering, peacocks really can't fly. Businesses have to be wary of public perception ("perception is reality") and sometimes have to wait until events go to extremes before public opinion swings in the direction of common sense.

Backyard chickens are allowed by city ordinance in some areas. I've heard the sounds of chickens in my daily walks around San Jose and Pensacola. Some people keep chickens as house pets. If the zombie apocalypse ever happens, those with indoor chickens will get to enjoy eggs for breakfast when the supermarkets run out of food.

I agree with the other posts that the issue here is not about the animals, but about a human lying about the animals. Judges and juries might like pets, but they usually don't like liars.

In some cases, people make rational decisions based on irrational assumptions.

Back in 1999, for example, the dot-com bubble was in full swing and people were making big money day trading dot-com stocks. The San Jose Mercury News reported some of these newly minted multi-millionaires were not paying their property taxes and all of their estimated income taxes. This decision by the day traders was rational in the sense they could use this tax money to make more money in the long run to more than cover the extra interest and penalties they would incur from delaying their tax payments.

(California is one of those states where property taxes can go unpaid for years before the property owner faces the day of reckoning. There are also legal ways many people could pay their income tax bill for 1999 on April 15, 2000 if they've already withheld enough estimated taxes throughout 1999.)

The irrational assumption, of course, was the trees would continue to grow to the sky. Between January 1, 2000 and April 15, 2000, the dot-com bubble started to deflate and the quick millions in their trading accounts suddenly turned into big losses. These tax delayers didn't have the money they needed on April 15 to pay the taxes they owed for their 1999 trading profits and ended up on the wrong side of fate.

@Johann Jells

Spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel or Apache OpenOffice [free]) are quite easy to set up, at least the basic functions are. You can learn how to take advantage of advanced functionality as you need it, similar to adding another wing to the motel as the need arises.

In business school, I learned the fundamental equation of cashflow management: BEGIN + PUT - TAKE = END

• BEGIN is your starting balance in your checking account every month.
• PUT is the amount of money you add to your checking account every month through deposits.
• TAKE is the amount of money you remove from you checking account every month through withdrawals.
• END is the ending balance in you checking account every month (and the BEGIN balance for next month).

To follow your expenses without having to count every penny you spend (popular in the day when cash was used rather than plastic), simply apply some high school algebra: TAKE = BEGIN + PUT - END

We know our BEGIN and END numbers from our monthly statements and for wage earners, only have a couple of PUT numbers every month when our paychecks are deposited. The TAKE number is easily calculated. You might allocate some of the pennies to the wrong expense category this way, but at least you will be vaguely right rather than precisely wrong. The big advantage of this approach is you don't have to remember where you spent every penny. Also, most of our major expenses are made with checks or credit cards (or today with the ACH billpay feature), so they're easier to identify which expense category they belong in.

The other advantage is comparisons, such as this year versus last year. You can also project your household budget (or any budget) out into the future once you set up the first couple of months. The COPY-PASTE functions of user interfaces make spreadsheet creation straight forward. It's also easier than using the paper and calculator approach. With spreadsheets, I can change one number (unexpected emergency expense) and have the impact felt throughout my life instantly. I ended up creating the "contingency expense" item where I budgeted $100 a month or so just in case. Whatever I don't use, I send to a savings or investment account as "free money" to use later if a major expense does need to be covered.