All Forum Posts by: Sasha Fukuda

My question is, did you actually learn anything from your boom and bust experience trading risky stocks? I had a similar experience. I turned $50k into $300k in the crypto bubble of 2017, only to have my profits evaporate in the crash of 2018. What that taught me is that i didn't know what i'm doing... so i started reading books on investing, personal finance, etc. As a result, i've had a pretty specific investing philosophy that has guided me ever since. It doesn't sound like you really have that yet, because that would inform what kind of plan you came up with. 

Also, from personal experience, i think there's merit in just trying things out. You're not going to learn much about what type of work you enjoy and what type of life you're looking for if you're just sitting on the sidelines, never trying anything. You've taken courses and tests for business, being a real estate agent, being in the national guard. In my opinion, you should have just passed the real estate test and tried out being an agent. Maybe you would have loved it, in which case it would have been a good thing you tried it. Maybe you would have hated it, in which case you would have still learned something. Doing is part of the process of learning what you want. 

I worked in the film industry briefly, driving around and setting up lighting on film crews. I had someone tell them that every time they would leave home to work on a movie for months, their young daughter would ask them if it's the last time. I had other people telling me that it's difficult to have a relationship if you work in that industry. I learned that it's not for me, and that it's very important to me that jobs i have in the future are conducive to having relationships and a family. Working in film was my dream job. The only way to put it to the test was to actually try it. By actually trying it, i learned more about myself and what i want deep down. Some lessons can only be learned by doing. 

So, that's my advice. Read more on investing, personal finance, and life philosophy and get your hands dirty by trying things. 

One other thing to mention is that Keene's a small town. To my knowledge, there's not a bunch of big property management companies to choose from. If you want to select from a bunch of different options, you're going to have to ask around. 

Most people in the Keene area use Ann Connor at Unicron Property Management. The office is in Marlborough, NH. I've never had a property manager. I self manage. However, i know her personally and i do think she's smart, trustworthy, and competent... and she is very experienced. 

Before the housing crisis, i'd go to the HUD website and they'd have homes listed in NH. Now they don't. My guess is that means there's no inventory in NH. I think that makes sense. When housing prices skyrocket and the owners gain all that additional equity, why would anyone go into foreclosure? If you have plenty of equity in your house, you can simply sell it.

When i buy a property, i open a checking account for that property and a savings account for each unit. Those savings accounts are where i place the security deposits. In my leases, it states the rent, the amount of the security deposit, and the bank it will be held at. It then states "... receipt of which is hereby acknowledged by landlord". As far as i know, that's all i need, but that's really a lawyer question. I have a credit card for each property and link that credit card to the checking account that goes with it. I link both the credit card and the checking account to my rental property app, Stessa. It's free if you have under a certain number of properties, and it makes it very easy to keep records since every business expense for the property and every rental payment is automatically recorded. That's how i do it. 

I'm not sure there's a right answer to this without more information about what you're looking for. Personally, I'm partial to little cities/ big towns like Keene, NH over places that are super rural or so big you can get lost in them. Manchester and Nashua would probably be too big for my tastes. 

My point in saying that they can't look behind walls, or move stuff, or look inside things like stoves is that even the best inspectors are very limited in the problems that they can catch. I've employed  several inspectors. 

There was that time a large tree was growing right up alongside the house i had under contract. I had an inspection, and then later found out from a tenant that the tree roots had pierced the foundation and water flooded into the house every spring. I ended up pulling out of the deal. The inspector hadn't mentioned that the large tree that was practically touching the house might be a problem. I've had several such experiences where some feature of the property should have set off warning bells, leading to a more competent inspector either catching a problem outright or warning me to look into it further. Instead, my knowledge about houses has grown (starting from scratch) mostly from learning things the hard way.

I think there are several problems with inspectors. The first is that they sort of have perverse incentives. Banks and realtors aren't going to recommend them if they often find problems that cause buyers to back out of deals. The second is that the guy who starts the inspection business might be knowledgable about houses, but he'll employ people who are good enough to go thru the motions, but maybe not much else. The third problem is that a lot of them don't view communicating with and educating the homebuyer during the inspection as being part of the job (there's a reason i'm spending the day following you around as you go about your inspection). Buying a house is the biggest purchase of most people's life and most inspectors don't take it seriously enough in my opinion. My advice if you're a buyer who doesn't know much about houses is to look for an inspector who has a background in the trades, works alone (difficult for large buildings), and who has a reputation for communicating well during inspections. It's even better if you have a relative in the trades who can look it over as well, since they have a bigger incentive to make sure you're not screwed. I learned far more from looking at houses with my uncles then i ever did from looking at them with home inspectors. 

I think everyone who says to get the inspection is probably right. That said, i have a low opinion of inspectors. If your house has a problem, they'll probably miss it. That's my jaded opinion. They can't move anything, or look behind closed walls, or open furnaces. They often don't have a background in construction. Many don't actually explain anything to the homeowner while they're doing the inspection. Search for an inspector that actually has a background in construction and has a reputation for communicating, not some random person who was hired by a bigger company.  

I guess the first question is, how much would you actually qualify for? You have the down payment, but to qualify for a loan with a tipping job, i'd guess you'd need to have had it for one or two years and be reporting your tips (which almost no one does). Personally, if i found myself back at 22 years old with little money, I think what i would do is go into the skilled trades (electrician, plumber). They pay well and there's a shortage in New Hampshire. After a few years in a trade and after a few pay raises, you'd have the W2 income to easily qualify for a loan. Then you could get a house hack. Basically, i'd focus on increasing W2 income first. That's the slow and steady way of doing it, but i'd be ok with doing it slow and steady if i was 22. If there's one thing you have on your side it's time. 

And yes, i know my advice is completely against the grain. Personally though, i think the power of time is underrated. Too many people out there are looking to get rich quick. 

So you have several small multifamily properties on residential mortgages, and they're owned in your own name? And you plan on adding other properties in the future that are bought with commercial loans, and you're asking whether you'll have to buy those properties in an LLC?

Judging from my experience, i don't think the commercial properties would need to be in an LLC. I was in a similar situation as you. I own several small multi family properties in my own name. I became interested in a 5 unit a few years ago that didn't qualify for a residential loan, so i bought that with a commercial loan. I put it in an LLC, but only because i wanted to. The bank didn't seem to care.

So my best guess is that it's going to be up to you. However, i'm curious why you prefer not to use LLCs when you have the opportunity?