All Forum Posts by: Tyler McGill

Hello everyone,

I, like so many before me, and like many of you, am on the track to build personal wealth and at a minimum achieve financial independence.  I discovered BP around 6 years ago when I happened to sit in on a presentation Scott Trench gave at my school about how to go about building wealth after we graduated.

Fast forward about 4 years,  I bought the audiobook of Set for Life, which is one of my favorite books to recommend to anyone who is serious about FI.  In the book, Scott talks about four pillars of wealth building: save, earn, invest, and create.  I wanted to create a thread where people can discuss and exchange their ideas on the "create" part.

When I think of creating in this context, I think of something that provides royalties, like making music or writing books vise a business that would fall into the earn or invest pillars. 

If you've managed to "create" something that earns you passive income, what did you do?

BP community,

I have a house in my neighborhood that has been condemned for months now and is starting to have some significant problems. I am also interested in possibly buying it as a BRRRR. I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually living there, and my neighbors tell me the original owner passed away and his son-in-law inherited it.

Bottom line is that the HOA and the city have "fined" the owner multiple times, and apparently sent multiple letters to the property listed as the owners. However, after all of that correspondence, they have never heard anything back.

Is there some part of the legal system that can help me track down who might have inherited this property?  If not, how would you proceed with tracking down the title holder?

Thanks!

-Tyler

@Russell Brazil here they are as per the last tax assessment in 2020:

Land: $116,800

Improvements: $116,900

Total: $233,700

It appears that this was assessed on all units in the building, regardless of bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.

Hello everyone!

I bought my first rental property recently; it's a condo in Annapolis, MD. I'm getting ready for tax season and I've started looking into things like depreciation. When I look at the county assessors website, the land is listed to be worth almost exactly as much as the improvements.

This is pretty confusing to me, as it is a second floor unit, and I don't think I actually own any of the land. Does this mean that I can only depreciate 50% of the purchase value?  If so, that seems pretty crummy.  Is this assessment open to debate with the county assessors office?

Thanks!

Thank you to everyone for replying!

I think I might have caused some confusion in my initial post. I apologize about that and want to clear things up.  I will be assigned to USNA (Annapolis, MD) on temporary orders most likely until November.  My fiancee already has a place we intend to keep as our primary residence (in Hampton Roads).  I do intend to invest in the Hampton Roads area in the future though. 

I want to find a place up here (in Annapolis) to buy and hold.  However, with only about 6 months to live in the area, I can take the easy way and just split rent somewhere for six months until I move to Hampton Roads, or I can try to find a place that can cashflow and hopefully build equity.

I also don't want to limit myself to just the VA loan, especially considering their strict guidelines with houses that need renovations. Needless to say, the VA loan is simpler if it applies. I've done a significant amount of research on the BRRRR method and would be willing to do that if the numbers work.

If anyone knows agents and/or property managers in Annapolis that are used to dealing with investors, I would love to reach out to them to learn more about potential ways to go about this.

Thanks again for reaching out everyone!

Hello everyone,

I'm currently finishing up my last semester at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD and then getting married in early June.  Once I graduate, there's a high chance I will be in the area until sometime in November.

I wanted to reach out to the community for some advice.  Here is a little background on my situation.  

I don't think financing would be a huge problem. I should qualify for the VA loan due to prior military service, and I believe that if my fiancee cosigns, the lender wouldn't be as concerned about lack of income history on my end (which will start after I graduate).

I will be transferring to the Hampton Roads area, where my fiancee already has a house.  I am also fine with a live in rehab and I can handle low key renovations myself (flooring, painting, etc).  I can also rent out extra rooms to friends until I leave.  I would hire a PM for when I move.

My ultimate question is this:  should I look into buying a house or just split rent with some friends for 6 months? Obviously renting is easier, but I want to start on my path to financial freedom early.

Thank you in advance!

-Tyler

Hello everyone,

My girlfriend and I are looking at houses in the Greenbrier East neighborhood of Chesapeake, Virginia.  We found one that we like, and we have checked rentometer and craigslist, but we are also wanting to hear from some local landlords and/or property managers about rental prices. 

This is a 1,480 sqft house, with 3 bedrooms and 2- 1/2 bath house with hardwood floors, a new(ish) kitchen, and good appliances.  

Thank you for your inputs!

@Bob Hines, 

Thanks for the feedback!  I'm literally about as green as they get.  You are correct, that's the one I was looking at.  I definitely wouldn't take on anything this big as my first project (if ever) but I just get caught up in entertaining the thought of doing it.  It truly is sad to see all of the beautiful houses of STL deteriorating, but as you mentioned, unless it's a hopping neighborhood, right now it's not always worth it to fix.

Also, thanks to everyone else for their feed back as well!  I appreciate the straight-forwardness of all the comments so far. 

The zip code is 63111.  You would deffinitley need to lock things up at night, but I think break-ins would be a lot less common than in the north city.

I was born and raised in the suburbs of St. Louis.  It is an amazing city, with great food, sports, and culture.  Unfortunately, urban blight has set in on many areas within the city.

I don't live in St. Louis anymore (I am currently a student at the Naval Academy in Annapolis), but I do plan on moving back eventually.  When I think about moving back, I often look at the run down houses, particularly ones outside of the hood, and think about much it would cost to fix them up.

Today, I came across one on Realtor.com that was in a decent area.  A run down, brick house duplex with 2312 square feet, listed at $29,000.  The outside looks fine (based off of the pictures).  It has the usual broken windows, boarded up doors, etc.  However, the photography was very well done.  It has 46 pictures documenting things in the home that would need to be fixed.  Particularly, new floors.  I don't mean just hardwood or tile.  I mean joists.  The interior walls are plaster.  

Long story short, this house would need a total gut.  I'm assuming that electrical would need to be done, but there doesn't seem to be excessive water damage.

Since I'm currently a student at USNA, real-estate investing is almost impossible until I graduate, so I'm just trying to learn.  If anyone has experience in gutting houses, would you take a deal like this?  Also, when gutting a house, where do you start?  The floors? the roof? Exterior or interior things?

Thanks in advance for reading about the dreams of a guy that just wants to fix up a house someday.