All Forum Posts by: Joel G.

 That quote is so true...and made me smile!

Thank you for your welcome message and I look forward to meeting you.

You are a great resource for folks Sue! 

Have you possibly started a blog yet about this subject...your experience and knowledge on this very subject would be one that I personally would follow. 

Stable, gentle renters are a commodity that should be valued at all cost in this game...and your insight on the subject  has already got me thinking about our property in Las Vegas as UNLV has recently received approval to move out north of the city...right around the corner from our house!! (Whether they actually move their or not is another subject...but the skinny is that the builders are already gearing up to build 5000-7000 additional homes in the area...but that's just rumor ;)

I have sent a collegue request to you and would love to hear more about your experiences...seriously Sue you should start a blog about this subject!

 Lol...we are both most definitely in the middle of it all here in Silicon Valley. Would love to hear more about your flipping business. And I'm always interested in learning as much as I can about anything that concerns houses/construct/reno/etc.  and willing to swing a hammer to prove it! 

As far as us flipping in this area, I just don't think we have the game for that...at least in this area...right now...but we are hopeful to do similar things in smaller markets or at least more affordable markets at some point in the future.

Thanks again for your welcome and the laugh!

 You couldn't be more right, Raul!

Thanks for your welcome and please feel free to contact me if I can ever do anything for you as well!

Thanks for your warm welcome! 

I worked in Marysville in their Emergency Department when we first moved to Northern California...what a wild time...crazy ER. Our kids were in high school at the time and we would go to Chico at different times for tournaments/games....loved driving through the orchards on the way up...georgeous part of the world!

I would love to explore renting to grad students...seems the right group of students that are  still dependent enough on mom/dad that they may be right for premium rents, but on a professional track that might help keep their feet on the ground when it comes to get together and whatnot. GREAT IDEA and I will definitely keep it in mind as we move forward!

The referral idea is also a super idea as well. If they were good tenants they likely would refer similar! And a waiting list of good tenants...you should write a book!

Thanks again for your good luck wishes and keep enjoying that retirement.

Thank you so much for you kind welcome!

Wow...such a nice invitation...I won't be able to make it this evening but would certainly make every attempt to get to future meet ups! We live in Sunnyvale, so the San jose mtg might work better, but the SF mtg would be a great opportunity to meet as well. 

I look forward to meeting you in person in the near future! 

@JamesWise 

Gotcha. When my mother retired 3 years ago, she no longer wanted to live in the desert...lol. 

She was in Yuma Arizona at the time...So, I guess,  Las Vegas seemed a much cooler environment...lol. Anyway we wanted to buy property there anyway and she could not afford to live there without some help.

So we purchased a SFR in a nice neighborhood B+/A- and felt we did well on it. She has been living there until recently when she became ill and had to move in with us. We only "rent" it to her for the expenses involved and she does not want it to go onto the rental market yet...still "her house". So meanwhile the place sits empty, but the bills are paid. No cash flow but no loss either.

We've done some minor improvements on it while she has lived there and are considering fixing it up as a vacation rental...but don't know how advisable that is in a place like Vegas.

The home has had great appreciation in the recent past and our only regret is that I didn't try harder to get at least 2 more like it....they were everywhere at the time we bought it.

Hi Mindy!

Welcome!

I am also new here...but living in the Dallas area years ago was so much fun and as large as the area is projected to become in the not so distant future (2020) I would expect that you will find a vast field of opportunity available to you in the future.

There are many here who will be happy to lend a guiding hand when you need it...I have found that to be true already!

Soooooooo....here you go.....Good Luck!

@Samuel DeMass

Hi. Thank you for your taking so much time to post such wonderful advice.  Many years ago my wife and I were in Albuquerque and it was such a wonderful time. The views of the city from Sandia Peak were amazing and made the background for arguably the best picture of me and my better half...ever....lol. 

That being said...we recently discovered the podcasts and listened to one of them together on a plane back from Pheonix, but will certainly take your advice and start checking out more of them to listen to while in traffic...great idea for that lovely time everyday.

Being that my wife is more conservative with her investment philosophy...it was very helpful  that you mentioned that our situation is better than she realizes....I have felt that way for sometime, but convincing her has been somewhat difficult. (For anyone reading this,  please don't misunderstand my meaning of that...we know there are many who are starting out with much less...and we greatly applaud you for having the courage to move forward with your aspirations...Tammy and I come from very meager backgrounds and it has taken us many years together ((25 yr anniversary this year)) to get to this point...so moving out of that protective nature (finances that is) is actually fairly difficult for us...her especially ...should've been there 3 years ago with that first property...lol) anyway she was glad to here that from someone other than me...so thank you.

I will have to look into the types of investing you mentioned...of course I have read about them and have a general idea...but the inside baseball of those types of investing are Greek  to me at this point. 

Our original thoughts on REI were much more hands on...ie rehab and hold, possibly some flipping (with my experience in renovation), but we will certainly take your advice and look into other avenues.

Diversification is also very important to us as well and I appreciate your reminder of how important that fact is.

As far as syndication goes...(mind blowing up)...it is an area that I know very, very, very little about...unless you are referring to a REIT...which I am more familiar with but hope to be more hands on....but given that I don't really know what the term means...I am probably wrong...lol.

As far as geographic location goes...we are very open to almost anywhere in the country and happens to be the topic of a different question that I was planning to post soon.

Level of involvement is also an interesting subject....we are hoping that we will eventually be able to leave our jobs in the Bay Area and move back to Texas (our original home and lots of family still there) but are willing to stay here for awhile...use our jobs and credit...for financing as needed...and then move into full time REI...with the eventual goal of "system-izing" everything and having passive income that will sustain us....but again who doesn't want that right?

This reply went longer than I intended, but I find myself thinking about this stuff constantly these days...maybe there is some amount of therapy in writing it down...maybe this is the start my business plan...lol

I certainly appreciate your post and the thought provoking ideas you have given me.

If there is ever anything I can do for you please let me know, and I will give my best efforts!

Cheers!

Hi James, 

Thanks for your reply. We are excited to be part of BP...even caught my wife reading the website last night...so hot....lol.

Right now we are exploring our options. Vegas has had so much appreciation recently that I wonder how good of a deal we would be able to get at this point. 

When we originally got that property 3 years ago, I really wanted to buy more than one, but I talked myself out of it....obviously the second me should have listened to the first me. Live and learn...but what a missed opportunity.

Do you (or your company) represent or primarily own property there? Or are you trying to expand to that area?