All Forum Posts by: Scott Robinson

@Daron Williams just remember that it takes two to argue. If you see an argument starting it is better if you try to listen more than talk. Relationships require good communication and it seems to me if there is extra jealousy and such going on then there are probably things going on that are causing these thoughts and feelings. Ask her what her concerns are and how can you help to mitigate these negative thoughts. She needs to recognize that you are willing to change to help make her happy and she should too if the relationship is going to work. There has to be some compromise in a relationship. Just remember, you can't have too much communication. Good luck.

@Dani Beit-Or my understanding is that it's not hard to do a quickclaim deed to steal a property. I'm surprised it's not done more often. It must be harder than I thought or more people would do it. I know there is an advertisement that I have seen for a program like lifelock, but its for home title protection. I would research that if I was concerned about it. Ultimately I think like others have said that if you have a loan on a property there is a lot more protection. Also the land trust is a good option but the cost might be an issue.

@Billy Zhao I think like all things in Real Estate the answer is...."it depends". I have Section 8 apartment complexes where all tenants are pretty much paying nothing and Section 8 cover the majority if not all of the Rent. In this case you obviously want to raise the rent every year based on whatever Section 8 will pay. My other building is not Section 8 and a couple tenants were struggling to pay under normal circumstances. Due to this and COVID, I decided not to raise rents this year. I do plan on getting rents to market next year, but the biggest expense in rentals is when a tenant leaves. If you raise the rent every year your tenants will expect it and try hard to find a way to not have to rent anymore. I used to be a renter and my apt raised my rent $100/mo every year. My income didnt go up that much every year so they effectively pushed me out of my apartment. Dont be that guy. Small raises are okay but over time they will wear in good renters.

Hope this helps!

@Peter Austin just wanted to add that when you run numbers for a property you should always include the cost for property management. The reason for this is that your time is worth money. This means that when you do your own management you arent really saving money because you are spending it in the form of time. One of the most important things a property manager does is ensure that the right people are accepted as tenants and the wrong people are not. If you make a mistake in this process it can cost you way more than you would ever spend on a property manager. This cost can come from eviction or from repair costs due to the tenant trashing your olace. With no cash flow to help out in these situations you are looking at significant risk.

@Peter Austin sell it and buy a place with the money you get back that will cash flow AND appreciate in value. If its 0 cash flow on paper then there is a good chance it will be negative at some point if not always. Just takes a hail storm to need to change the roof or a water heater floods the condo to make this a horror story.

@Dustin Perkins The numbers on paper will often look stellar for properties in bad locations. Sometimes in the same neighborhood one street will be bad because the homeless shelter is located on it while the next street over doesnt have any problems. This is where you really need to check with your property manager to see what they think. They typically know the areas best and can tell you whether or not to buy.

All my properties are in D class areas and 17 of my 21 doors are section 8. I have a good section 8 property ma ager and these properties perform really well because if that. Ive heard many horror stories about section 8 not taking care of olaces and I have to say that is most likely the exception, bot the rule. If your PM brings in good people you will be fine. Just make sure your PM is really ggod with this tyoe if property. Some PMs specialize in A class or B class and you dont want yo have a PM that thinks the same way as an A class PM. Different types of properties require different types of management.

Good luck!

@Karl McGarvey There is no question here that you should do anything but buy another rental. Cash flow from a rental is for life and grows over time. A car/house/boat payment goes away by itself over time. Buy as much rentals as you can and let the debt take care of itself. 30 years from now you will be swimming in money like Scrooge McDuck. Trust in the system.

Also it is good to note that besides my above reasons, you should also recognize that due to inflation money becomes less valuable over time. Cash flow and property value is all inflation adjusted so you never lose money over time due to inflation with rentals. This is not the case for loans. A loan is paying for something tiday with tomorrows money (which is worth less). Both of these reasons also suoport buy rentals over paying loans. The only reason to pay down loans first is if your DTI doesnt allow you to purchase until more debt is paid off.

@Keaton Smith I would not invest in states that are not landlord friendly such as CA. Also it would be hard to find anything that cash flows in CA. Also make sure you are looking at all costs. For example, taxes are much higher in Texas then other places like Alabama. I also don't think you will get returns like that without leverage. Good luck!

@Gail Greenberg

First they need to realize that the fastest way to $10k/mo is typically through Real Estate. Second they should realize that Real Estate is a not a get rich quick scheme.

You can get extremely wealthy through real estate over time, but it takes a lot of hard work to get there. If you do little work it takes longer and lots of work it takes shorter. Individuals with money but no time are typically investors and individuals with no money and lots of time are more syndicators, flippers or wholesalers.

Either way you go the more knowledge you get about what you want to do, the better off you will be.

@Sam Eknoian

This is still the case. Even once California decides it's okay to evict it can take over a year to get them out if they know what they're doing. I think you should expect an expensive long process and hope you get lucky. Personally I doubt your property will cash flow and would be very reluctant to get involved in CA housing/politics. Good luck!