All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Some police departments allow civilians to hire their off-duty officers (they vet the proposed deal carefully). These off-duty police are paid to sit in their police cars in uniform. The bad element (drug dealers, whatever) move on.

I've also heard of people who put up web cams. The bad element figures out they are being watched and also move on.

Let's say you kept the tenant and was able to raise the rent to market. Now pretend something comes up in the future and you have to evict the tenant. Would you be able to do so?

As with any asset, what's it worth to you? That's your highest offer price (your "dollar bill").

Then you have to decide if you want to try to buy this dollar bill for less than a dollar. The seller always has the right to refuse.

I like to follow the Crime & Safety posts on Nextdoor to track neighborhood trends. But racial profiling has been an issue in many places:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/us/website-nextdoor-hears-racial-profiling-complaints.html

People in some neighborhoods are suspicious of anything. After California banned using a cellphone while driving in 2009, for example, people would park on a side street to make their calls. The Crime & Safety posts (which did not involve racial profiling) would flag these activities as someone casing the neighborhood.

Some incidents were real. People would post porch cam video showing a (white) middle-age woman pushing a baby stroller down someone's walkway in the middle of the day and stealing the mail out of their mailboxes.

The house I sold in San Jose three years ago was for all cash as-is. The buyer wanted a 10-day escrow, which became 12 days because of a weekend.

I provided the building inspection report (which was a condition the buyer had to agree to accept). There were paperwork signings at the escrow company office, a walkthrough by the buyer's agent a few days before closing, and wiring of the buyer's money to the escrow company on the day of the closing. Since the sale was as-is, no termite tenting was done.

My realtor worked with the escrow officer to provide me with the deadlines I had to meet. I had to remove my belongings and vacate the property by my deadline as my part of the deal (I had to be gone by the close of escrow). I was advised not to communicate with the buyer or the buyer's agent. All communication had to go through my agent.

Once the deed was recorded with the county, I no longer had responsibility for the property. The escrow company wired my money from the sale into my bank account (the details of which I had set up in advance with the escrow officer). I then called my insurance company to have the homeowner and earthquake policies cancelled. The buyer's agent picked up the keys to the house from my agent.

Sometimes the dirt can be worth more than the sticks and bricks.

I sold my falling-apart house on the West coast three years ago for well above my comps-based asking price. The buyer turned the place into a McMansion and sold it two years later for twice what I was paid.

In general, there are no bad assets. There are only bad prices.

If city hall keeps getting complaints from your property address, your property is likely to get added to its problem properties list (I can't say for sure this will happen, but that's how it often happens). I've been told over the years to get matters resolved whenever possible without getting government involved.

Have you been able to independently verify what the disputes are about? For example, perhaps it's time to visit your property and inspect everything to make sure everything is in good working order. It's no fun being caught up in the middle, but it's your name on the title of the property and your responsibility.

It depends on your career goals.

I was told that if all I wanted to do is learn about real estate, then prepare for the exam, but don't take it. Being licensed means taking on a legal duty that limits one's ability to take certain actions other investors can take.

I know people who became licensed stock brokers but never got a job in the industry. They're still not allowed to speak their minds about companies and markets because of SEC rules that limit what they can legally say.

When I was younger, I bought into the line that the one who dies with the most toys wins. Then I got religion. When I sold my home on the West coast and moved to where I'm living today, I used the rule that if it didn't fit in the trunk of my car, I didn't take it with me.

I have enough wealth to be able to pay my bills comfortably. But I enjoy adding to my net worth (wealth building is my profitable hobby). If I ever need the money for an unexpected event (health), I have it. If I don't need the money, my heirs will enjoy dis-saving for me.

Impact investing is a hot category right now in the investing world ("do well by doing good").

With low-minimum crowdfunding sites, I can toe-dip to get a feel for whether I want to add more money down the road. My strategic reason for doing so is to diversify my portfolio beyond global publicly-traded businesses.

For example, I have a small amount of money invested on CNote, which pays a 2.5% return from lending money to CDFIs (https://www.cdfifund.gov/), and Calvert Impact Capital, which pays me a 1% return on my investment.

I use a donor-advised fund to make anonymous donations to local 501(c)(3) charities because I live in the area and want to "invest" in the quality-of-life of my community. With a DAF, my financial return comes from the deduction for charitable donations on my tax return.