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All Forum Posts by: Theresa White

Theresa White has started 3 posts and replied 40 times.

Post: 90 Day Challenge - Complete!

Theresa WhitePosted
  • Xenia, OH
  • Posts 41
  • Votes 25

Great work, Josh!

Two suggested discussion points:

1) Can you comment on the interpretation that small landlords who do NOT qualify as real estate professionals do not need to file 1099s because their passive rental activities have not risen to the level of a trade or business?  That is to say, a landlord that does not utilize a property manager, but ALSO does not qualify as a real estate professional, would not have to file 1099s for paying independent contractors >$600.

2)  Long-term pros/cons of "Grouping Real Estate Activities" in order to meet the 750 hour rule, etc to be considered a Real Estate Professional.  Say neither member of a married couple who landlords is considered a real estate pro, and they built up passive losses in two separate properties because their W-2 income is too high to take advantage of them.  Now one is leaving their W-2 job, but the couple will still be phased out by the other's W-2 income alone.  If the now non-working spouse wants to qualify as a real estate pro to realize their losses, but in order to reach the number of required hours, must formally declare they are grouping all the rental activities for both buildings together.  Will previously suspended, pre-grouping-decision passive losses be realized on the next tax return?  Are there any other pitfalls down the road that should be considered?   

Thanks!

Post: Should I pay off my mortgage or buy rentals?

Theresa WhitePosted
  • Xenia, OH
  • Posts 41
  • Votes 25

Two comments on this thread combined sum up my thoughts.  One said (and I paraphrase) that most investors they had met said they wished they had started sooner.  And another said they opted to invest their monthly leftovers into rentals, and 3 years later, those rentals are paying the original mortgage they contemplated paying down.  That's just awesome. 

Fan of products or not, the Elon Musk biography from a couple years ago was excellent!  Listening via Audible at 1.25x made a miserable road trip go by in a jiffy.  Business lessons, life lessons, psychology lessons, cool tech stuff...all wrapped up.  The guy really and truly believes his work is changing the world and his goal is to afford humanity options.  (Sidenote, NatGeo also put out a docu-drama called Mars that was really interesting.  Touches on the whole "get to Mars" goal and having just listened to that biography, I think I had a lot more context to enjoy the docu-drama.)

Hubby and I are due for roof in a few years, and have already considered solar, so we will definitely look at the numbers closely. 

I'm interested in this as well--following!  I have not purchased a buy/hold in that area yet but would like to.

I'm also interested in examples!  My situation will involve introducing myself and making some notifications: expect new month-to-month leases within 30 days with no rent change (all are long time tenants on undocumented month-to-month leases), tenants will be responsible for utilities starting in 60 days, and defining how rent should be paid since currently each tenant does what they want, including walking over to current owner's house to give him cash. 

Post: moving to area soon

Theresa WhitePosted
  • Xenia, OH
  • Posts 41
  • Votes 25

Good morning!  I am moving to the Shreveport area very soon.  I am trying to decide whether or not to purchase an investment property to "house-hack" but obviously do not know the market.  My usual approach is to find 3/1 or 3/2 single family houses in a good school district, but my budget will be rather low for this move since my family is staying in OH and we'll be running two households.  I'd like to stay below $150K and I am not looking for any place that needs significant rehab. So I'm also willing to look for a place where young professionals want to rent (less school district focus, and more walk-ability, character, location for work, etc).

If anyone has any recommendations for locations, please chime in!  I will be visiting for 7-8 days early next month. 

Best wishes,

Theresa

I liked reading your post!  Welcome, and congratulations on having already taken great educational steps towards your goal of financial freedom! 

Do you guys have capital?  Who's bank-rolling tuition/room/board?  (Loans, parents, scholarships, self, etc)  My gut says take first semester to learn your market and develop a local plan to execute come second semester. 

And...please...don't screw up freshman year with those common time-management/social life pitfalls!  Keep everything in balance and moderation, if you can.  Even if you ultimately don't think college is right for you and decide to leave, you'll want to leave in good standing to keep doors open in the future.  (I dropped out by deliberate choice in good standing to gain work/life experience because I felt I was spinning my wheels in college initially...and dropped right back in to the same school on my employer's dime a couple years later because I left in good standing.  And they paid for a masters a few years after that.  And they're paying for my PhD now, 16 years after I initially dropped out!  Crazy.)

While I agree that a book can't magically create motivation, books (like conversations with people and new experiences) can help you discover what makes you tick, provide new lenses through which to view your world, and open you up to new ideas.  Using a book to help find what makes you tick is perfectly fine, and using a book to learn new ways to focus/stay focused is definitely fine.  Use that library card...if one (or a dozen!) doesn't resonate with you, return it and grab something else with no money sunk into it.  Explore and enjoy the journey.     

For what it is worth, every year, I think about what I want my life to be like in one year, five years, and 15 years.  Maybe use that that in conjunction with working through what @James Mc Ree suggested.  I am not primarily motivated by money either--I would not work at a soul-sucking job solely because it paid a good wage.  But I have realized that the things I want to do in five years and 15 years, the opportunities I want to provide my kids, and the level of involvement and impact that I want to have in the community can all be more easily achieved and better implemented with good income and a comfortable slush fund.  The money is the enabler to make the things that do motivate me (traveling, working with children, etc) a reality. 

Do you know much about your system's design/age?  Septics can last a LOOOOONG time.  Costs will be location specific.  I own two properties that have septic systems.  We plan worst case for a pump-out every 2 years, and since our tank is made of concrete and we know when it was installed, we save for replacement each month based on a 50 year lifespan.  We doubt we'll need it though.  Our leach field is already well beyond the expected lifespan, and no issues!  If that ever needs work, we'll take it out of our emergency fund rather than having a separate chunk of money for it. 

If you end up owning a rental with a septic, I recommend educating your tenants on how to keep the system healthy and functioning.