All Forum Posts by: Scott Eisenmann

@Eric Telese

It's a 10 year-old, concrete-block stucco house in Cape Coral, Florida, and it's in very good condition. The single, elderly lady wanted to sell it because she bought a condo on the beach and she didn't need or want two homes.

I retired 10 years ago due to an on-the-job injury, but spent most of the past decade dealing with medical issues, so life just stopped moving forward during that time. Fortunately, things have improved a little and I need to get active and productive again. I still use a power wheelchair to get around, but I won't let that embarrass me or stop me any longer. I need to make up for lost time and use whatever time I have left on this planet to the best of my abilities, whatever that may be, and I need to be a good example for my children and have something to leave them after I die.  We all need to know what our "why" is. Those are some of mine. 

Maybe your father just needs some down time for a while, or maybe he's busy doing things that he's always wanted to do, like a hobby or volunteer work. Since he's getting a good pension, I'm sure he worked his rear end off for decades and he may be tired and ready to relax a little. He's earned it, I'm sure. But I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually says that he's had enough downtime and he'll want to get busy and start making money again. If and when that happens, maybe real estate will appeal to him.

@Nathan Gesner

I agree. I'm still kicking myself for waiting so long, but life happens and all I can do now is make the best use of my time going forward. Taking that first step was the hardest.

Thanks @Frank Geiger

My plan is to target market to potential motivated sellers with the goal of finding SFHs and small MFHs that I can use as rentals. I was planning to find out what the sellers really needed, and then structure an offer to help them meet their goals. Ideally, I'll buy with seller financing, but that's not very common, so I may also offer to buy subject to or with a lease option. If they absolutely need all cash quickly, I'll make that offer, but it will probably be at a much lower price than what I can offer if they can accept one of the other options. 

If I can buy with all cash at a great price, I may try to wholesale it, or fix it up a little and then retail it fsbo or put it on the MLS (paying a small fee to the listing agent and 3% to the buyers agent) to make a relatively quick profit and recover my cash for the next investment. I don't need the listing agent to do anything other than put it on the MLS. I'll use my own paperwork, do all of the negotiating, inspections, repairs, etc on my own, so maybe there is an inexpensive service available to get on the MLS without a listing agent at all.

Anyway, my plan is to not use any one strategy, because that one strategy might not meet the needs of the seller. 

Of course, this plan is based on what I have heard from others and not on experience. When it comes time actually put the plan into action, I may start to narrow down my focus. Who knows, maybe I'll need to expand the options. Right now, I'm flexible and will go with the flow until I find what works best in my area. 

@Bill Hampton

I'll check them out. Thanks! 

@Peter Schuyler

Good question.  I have a pension and very good credit (800+), so conventional financing may be my only option. I'm still learning, so I really don't know what I don't know yet. 

@Sam Shueh

Great points. Yes, I have also been concerned that prices are at or near a peak and that I should hold my cash until after prices go back down, and then buy when real estate is on sale again. But then, I also believe that we never know exactly when prices are going to drop, so I could be sitting on my hands for another decade while I watch opportunities pass me by as prices keep going up. Frankly, I think the former is more likely than the latter, but I really don't know, so I've been planning with the idea that there is no better time than the present. 

I realize that's inexperience speaking, and that's why I'm here, to learn from experienced investors. Thank you for sharing your experience. 

By the way, my market is fairly hot right now, with an average of 50 DOM and prices steadily climbing. Three houses in my neighborhood were recently listed, and all three were under contract within a couple of weeks. 

But I also know that California is often an early warning signal for the rest of the country. If the market is slowing down there, my market will probably slow down soon too. 

Hey everyone. I'm new around here, but I've been reading about real estate investing since the 1980's, when I bought a book by Wade Cook called "How to Build a Real Estate Money Machine" and a home-study course by Carleton Sheets. 

I was too busy working to support my family and paying bills most of my life, and didn't pursue my own REI business like I planned to 30+ years ago.

Well, I'm retired now and I finally bought my first rental property earlier this year. But it's not your typical rental, because it's about 600 miles away from my home. I bought it the traditional way, with bank financing, so my elderly parents could have a nice place to live for as long as they're here. They're paying all of the expenses, so the cash flow is break even for me (could be worse), but I'm hoping for some long-term wealth accumulation as it builds equity over the years, and eventually some positive cash flow. When they pass on, I'll just hire a property manager to keep it rented. PITI is only about $1100/month and it should rent for around $2000/month when I put it on the market.

I am also planning on buying a new home and moving soon, and then renting out my current home. Incredibly enough, it's financed at 2.875% interest (wow, I still can't believe it), and I should be able to get another great rate on my next primary residence, but probably not that great. Hmm, I wonder if this is a good strategy for buying houses with bank financing...get a good interest rate on a primary residence and just keep moving every couple of years and turning homes into rentals. 

Anyway, since this will be a local rental for me, I may manage it myself until I get more properties or get tired of dealing with tenants.

I am always on the look out for good deals in my area (NW metro Atlanta), and my goal is to have about $10,000/month in positive cashflow, so I may need 20 or 30 more properties to get there. But I want to learn how to buy them without bank financing if it's still possible. I'm also thinking about wholesaling and flipping houses if/when I find a good enough deal.

At least I finally got started, and it feels great to have taken that first step, even if it wasn't all that creative like most of the gurus teach.

Looking forward to learning from all of you.

I realize that this is an older thread, but it made me curious to find out how common it is for landlords to get injured or killed by tenants. Apparently, it happens quite often. 

In 2018 a tenant shot a landlord in the back of the head while they were discussing a $30 rent increase.

Also in 2018 a tenant attacks his landlord with a knife. This time it was caught on video. The cops had to shoot him.

In 2017 a tenant shoots his landlord over a rent dispute.

But it's not always the tenants attacking landlords. I also found many articles about landlords shooting or stabbing tenants.

The valuable lesson learned on BP today is to use the legal system and don't try to collect rent in person. I'm going to die someday, but it won't be over a $30 rent dispute, I can promise you that.