All Forum Posts by: Sheena Drake

I just visited with my CPA who is very good at REI and does such himself. He explained that above the $150,000 threshold the loss becomes a "suspended loss". By not claiming these losses then I don't have to account for how many hours I work at REI. In other words I don't have to prove that I can have a high income job and work alot of hours and still have the time to run my rental business. These suspended losses will accumulate and then when I would like to sell some real estate that has equity, I will be able to use these suspended losses against the equity and essentially pay that much less in capital gains. Wonderful news, as I don't need the money back in taxes now but sure will enjoy later in retirement when I contemplate selling for profit.

Greg, I do SFH at the moment, due to limited inventory on multifamily (at least those that make financial sense). If we place the renters because we know them (small town living) then we manage the property. The inherited renters we have maintained with property manager that was already in place. No out of state or even out of town investments at this time. My husband cannot find reliable help and his passion is in the rehab as he is a construction engineer. So driving too far right now is not worth the time lost on the road.

Hi, Greg. I am a physician also and by no means close to an expert on RE investing. Now just approaching 1 year and soaking up as much education as possible. We have obtained 8 rentals in one year. Even though you may be considered a high net worth individual it does not mean that you have a large amount of cash sitting around for investments. My net worth is tied to investments in 401K, 457, self directed IRA, my home and land. Emergency cash fund is sufficient but otherwise I choose for my money to make me money and not just sit in the bank for bragging rights

I am most interested in properties for cash flow. Not as vacation money but to fund the next rental purchase. Where I live is slow to grow in home values. So we buy class C, rehab to class B and still manage to have CoC returns between 11-25%. I will never be a slum lord. The home has to be habitable to my standards when we finish the rehab. As a physician I would never want people wondering how I would tie my name to a trashy living quarters.

Now granted my husband is a know-how-to-fix almost anything type and you may not have that available to you.  Consider PM company so you can focus on the purchases and directing rehab. I will say I love to get involved in the planning of rehab and running all the numbers, but your time will be limited so spread the wealth on things that require too much time.

My goal is lots of doors in 10-15 yrs, when I retire.  I will then likely use the cashflow for living and only taking out minimum required distributions from retirement funds  while allowing our rentals  slow equity growth in this town.  But that's ok because I will likely include them in the estate to be passed onto my children and hopefully be able to by pass the estate tax  at that time in the future.  

DO NOT delay starting this process.  Wish I would have jumped on it when I graduated residency at age 32.  I would have been contemplating retirement sooner.  I'm addicted to this RE investing now.  So go for it.

Our first rental one year ago was inherited renter so we knew up front the immediate gain.  Now a new dilemma, for which I continue trying to educate myself daily here on BP.  If we could get a rent of $600 per month without rehab costs and no downtime, would it be worth it for calculated cash flow $135 per month?  versus downtime of 3 months to rehab (cost being $34000 for purchase and $15000 rehab) and losing $1800 or more in rent, but could then charge $900 for rent?

If my brain is firing on all cylinders I would recoup the $1800 lost in 6 months by the increased rent.  But we have 3 other rentals that we are getting rent ready, so it may be delay of more like 6 months.

And last, my fear of immediate renter, no rehab, cheaper rent is that when I do want to remodel it (maybe in 2022) it  may be occupied.

I am in St Joseph, MO which is approximately 45 minutes north of KC.  I do have a local attorney that we use.  I'm sure you can read reviews on John Spencer.  If you do contact him, please let him know my name as a reference......maybe he will cut me a break next time! lol

I did not have  cash means to speak of until age 32.  In debt due to medical school, which we promptly paid off with a real paycheck coming in.  Had a horrible experience with our first rental 10 years ago so sold and stayed content.  Now back in the game and in 1 year will have 8 properties for rent.

We are a very conservative couple who wanted to build our dream home, and did.  But.......at age 20 I would advise first and foremost to invest $6000 in a Roth every single year and make that your first priority.  Max out your 401K if offered at work.  Read and invest in stocks individually- I pay for the education and advice from Motley Fool and have been very pleased with their advice and then invest on my own through Charles schwab

Do not build that dreamhouse or buy that dream car until you are financially set up for life.  I have no regrets BUT if I would have waited until age 45-50 to build it, and instead would have taken my extra income to invest in rentals starting 20 years ago.........I would be employed for fun and not because I needed it.

I would build my finances with a certain goal for age 45.........then reassess wants and desires.  And don't go to college just to "go to college".  A bachelors degree from some expensive university most likely will not increase your salary as opposed to same degree at state school.  Educate yourself because it's your passion.  

If you find a good PR, please let me know.  We live and invest in St Joseph, MO.  Even though KC is only 45 minutes south, we (my husband and I) do not have the time to allocate to 2 hours driving for problems that arise. I would tell you that Smithville,MO is a growing suburb of KC.  Looking for rentals just yesterday was not fruitful however.  Seems everyone wants to live in Smithville.  Apartments around KU Medical Center would likely be attractive due to the student population for PT,OT, nursing and medical school,  These students have 2-4 yr programs so they tend to remain tenants for awhile.

Let me know if you find a good team.

If you find a good PR, please let me know.  We live and invest in St Joseph, MO.  Even though KC is only 45 minutes south, we (my husband and I) do not have the time to allocate to 2 hours driving for problems that arise. I would tell you that Smithville,MO is a growing suburb of KC.  Looking for rentals just yesterday was not fruitful however.  Seems everyone wants to live in Smithville.  Apartments around KU Medical Center would likely be attractive due to the student population for PT,OT, nursing and medical school,  These students have 2-4 yr programs so they tend to remain tenants for awhile.

Let me know if you find a good team.

Speaking of easy to look at income and expense spreadsheet.....Brandon Turner's book mentions BP landlord website. Wonderful selection of forms for free.  But the Income and Expense sheet I cannot find.  Can someone help me?

I have obviously saturated my brain today........running the rental calc shows decreasing annualized returns each year, up to year 30.  Why would that be?  What am i not understanding?