All Forum Posts by: Sheila F.

Hi Brian. My name is Sheila and I’m a real estate investor in Statesville North Carolina. Would love to catch up and compare notes!

Hi Jason! I just read your post, I’m a little bit behind due to tax season!! I was exactly where you’re at one point. I believe the answer is very simple, you have to personally define what financial freedom means to you. My definition was to replace my corporate income and walk away from my corporate job with the same net income that I was living on. That was a pretty tall order for single mom, but I did achieve it, and although I don’t consider myself financially free yet, I am financially independent, and not under the thumb of any corporation. If that is close to your goal, be sure to factor in benefits that we often forget about. 401(k) contributions, if you choose to invest in the volatile stock market, and also healthcare is a huge one. Best of luck to you and understand New Jersey is a far cry from Texas! 🙌

Hello Shiloh. I just read your post and I had to reply. I too have heard and understand both sides of that argument. I truly believe that nothing replaces a good rapport with anybody. Granted, I am on the small side of investing, I have 17 single-family homes. However, I know every tenant and make it my business to know much about their lives. I truly Believe that because of this rapport it has been almost 6 years since I’ve had a vacancy. If a tenant or family wants a larger or smaller house, they call me first before they look anywhere else. I treat them with dignity and respect and through the application process explain to them that that’s what I expect in return. In the last 10 years I have only evicted one person. That’s not to say I haven’t had turnover, but it is negotiated and we peacefully go our separate ways. I believe this model has saved me tens of thousands of dollars in repairs from disgruntled tenants, and also has saved me so much money in turn over costs. Generally by the time somebody is moving out of their property, I have somebody slated to move in within 48 hours. That’s also part of the report, allowing me to show the property as soon as they put in their notice. This is just personal experience, but I hope it helps. Happy investing!!!

Hi Kim, I am currently president of the Iredell County Landlords Association. I want to let you know about something that happened with a landlord that may be helpful to you. First and foremost let me say, cover it in the lease! Here's what happened. A tenant that moved into a property the lease stated no pets allowed, tenant obtained a bogus Internet registration for their "service animal". The animal continuously wandered away from the property and chased a neighborhood kid. The landlord sent letters that there were no pets allowed on the property and that the tenant would have to move. Of course the tenant fought it. Once in court, the magistrate was actually willing and ready to rule in the tenants favor. Fortunately this was a sharp landlord that did their homework. Gaining information about legitimate service animals, the landlord argued that a service animal is trying to protect, not to chase and attack, and that service animals do not leave the person that they are to protect. The landlord did win this case, in this case, but as we all know tenants are getting pseudo educated by the Internet. My advice, cover the scenario in a lease. Create parameters of what process needs to be followed if the need for a service animal develops. If it's a legitimate need, they should have no problem whatsoever, and service animals are generally very mild mannered and well behaved. It's a slippery slope, but the lease is always king. Cover it before it becomes a problem. I hope this helps.

Hey James, I'm right up the road from you and would be happy to help in anyway possible. May even be able to work on a project some day!! 🙌👍

Keep up the Due Diligence!!!  You can and will figure it out!!!! 

I currently decided to check out some Real Estate Investing Programs.  Such "NAMES" as Christine and Terek from "Flip or Flop". Josh Cantwells, $40K Fli[p Program, and Lee Arnold Program and a couple other smaller names.  Yes, I've been busy but wanted to check on my skill level and do my DUE DILIGENCE.  I found all to be pushy, EXPENSIVE, and each program seemed to be an "Infomercial" for the next level.  This is my opinion, DON"T go to the "FREE" lunches.  It most likely will cost you thousands.  Some even subtly shame people that aren't "taking Action".  I believe in coaching, but the programs seemed more marketing than coaching.  They may be for you, check e

'em out but remember what Tony Robbins says:  Often times when a person with some money meets a person with experience, they can QUICKLY change places!!!  Hope this helps!!!!!

Read posts, listen to podcasts, study many, many programs not just one type. Do your due diligence and learn. Get your real estate education in, and set your goals! At your age, the skies the limit. Imagine doing so many things right at such a young age! I'm so excited for your future! Beware of the free lunch real estate programs. In fact allow me to refrain that, avoid the free lunch real estate programs. As Tony Robbins says, when you put A person with experience in the room with a person with money they quickly change places. The person with experience gets the other guys money and the guy that had the money gets the experience to not do that again. 😉🙌

I feel your pain Scott! LOL. In a nutshell, it's all about your goals. For a long time I didn't understand why people did that. After many years of doing this I learned something. It's basically leveraging. Taking out the money that they put into it. I personally don't use that approach, because I would much rather have 14 solid properties than 28 that are leveraged. It all comes down to your long-term goals. What are your goals. Some people like to take money out, do what they call leverage a property, and then use that money to purchase another property. Each property creating some cash flow is the equivalent of using the same money over and over. Keep listening, and keep reading. But keep in the forefront of your mind, what are your goals? That's the big question, and then use the grocery store affect. As you listen to podcasts and read articles it's like going down the isle of a grocery store, take what you need and leave the rest for someone else! LOL that's an old zig ziglar analogy!! You're on the right track, keep doing what you're doing! 🙌

Sounds like a phenomenal deal. My biggest concern, keep it professional and don't lose the long-term friendship! It can be a great win-win deal for everyone involved! More power to you!! 🙌