All Forum Posts by: Zach Zepp

From my experience the AC and NG have the same amount of Blue Falcons and poor leadership. A few months of training predeployment brings NG members back up to speed in skills and their civilian careers in many cases benefit the unit on deployment. (PM me if you want details & studies on that)

I agree we should keep this RE focused. If the NG allows a Millennial to graduate college debt free in just a year or two longer than it would take to graduate with student debt, then I believe it is worthwhile.

Another good route is pushing students to apply for scholarships. For example, you spend 10 hours writing 3 different essays that can be used as templates to apply to 10 different scholarships. Then you might spend another hour making minor changes before applying for those 10 scholarships. 20 hours total, with 10 scholarship applications. 2 hours per scholarship. If you were to receive 1 $500 scholarship out of that 10, you would essentially be making $500/20 hours = $25 per hour. Many scholarships are even more than that.

$25 per hour...Not bad for a college student/high school student.

Why not get the best of both worlds? I recommend National Guard over Active Army. You get the benefits of military service and a civilian career. NG will pay for a portion to all your school as well.

I thought I should actually introduce myself. I've been perusing the site for a few months now and I decided I might as well make myself known.

Currently in college going for a double major in Accounting and Finance with a minor in Real Estate (woot!). I'm working as an intern in one of the big oil companies in the area.

Short term goal is to keep reading and asking questions over the next year while saving money. I'll be leaving for 4 months of military training (National Guard member, 3 years) at the end of the summer and I hope to purchase my first property as soon as I return. My plan is to live in the initial property til I graduate and rent out the other rooms (ideally live for free). Everything I save during school would go toward fixing up the original property/ saving for the next investment. While the first property will be my primary residence for a few years, the end goal for it is a rental.

Mid term goal is to get to ~10 SFH/plexes self managed (for the experience).

Long term goal is to begin investing in apartments and storage facilities.

Investor mentality: Buy and Hold

Thought you might enjoy this joke I found. Credit Greatcleanjokes.com.

“Sir you have got to help!” said the tearful man at the door. “There is a family that I know very well that is in desperate need of money. The Father has been out of a job for over a year, they have five kids at home with barely a bit of food to eat. The worst part is, that they are about to kicked out of the house and they will be left on the streets without a roof over their heads!” The man concluded with one last heart wrenching sob.

“Well,” said the man at the door, “that really is a sad story. Why don’t you come inside and we’ll talk about it a little more.”

“So how much money is needed exactly?” asked the man when they were both seated.

“Oh it’s really terrible”, said the man starting up again, “why just for the rent $3000 is needed by tomorrow otherwise they’ll be kicked out onto the streets.”

“How do you know so much about this situation?” asked the man as he reached for his check book.

“Well,” said the man breaking down once more “they are my tenants.”

Think about your return on investment. Say you pay 20k into a project (downpayment, rehab, fees, etc) the first year.

Then you are able to rent out the property for 750 a month with expenses (mortgage, maintenance, insurance, vacancy, etc) at 600 a month.

150 a month over a year is 1800 cash return (not including tax benefits.)

This 1800 cash return is a return on investment of 9% (1800/20k). Again, this return doesn't take tax benefits, mortgage paydown, or appreciation into account.

Compare that 9% return to the stock market that averages 7-9% over the long haul.

Then start to add in the tax benefits, mortgage paydown, rent increases, and appreciation into account.

Your mortgage payment will be locked in for 30 years (on a 30 year note). Your other expenses such as repairs will increase with inflation, but that mortgage won't. As time goes on, the cash flow will increase as rent increases. Each consecutive year your return on your initial investment will increase.

Are you paying more over the 30 year mortgage? Yes.

Are you making more over the 30 year mortgage? Yes.

Does the difference in what you pay and what you make add up to a bigger margin than what you would make in another investment? Most people on BP would say yes.

By investing in rental properties you are taking the risk and letting the tenants pay a premium (rent) for keeping their risk level low.

In short, I might pay double the amount in interest alone... but over the course of the mortage, I'm making way more than the interest payment. Pay more to make more.