Play it smart by aligning your investments with your goals, timing, and risk appetite.

Starting with house hacking is a smart move, especially in a higher-cost area.

Smart investors first focus on finding quality properties—such as those in thriving areas of Brooklyn or potential neighborhoods around Manhattan—and then reverse engineer the process by improving management, optimizing rental structures, or enhancing facilities to make it worthwhile.

You are smart to be aware of these landmines, they might be good if you are just looking for a nice place to live but not great if you want to build a portfolio.  

That 36% rent increase while keeping happy tenants shows how smart and intentional you are about building relationships, not just cash flow. 

We hope to get into real estate investing by flipping homes, but we also understand it’s smart to diversify a little and have some longer term goals like rental properties.

Probably not; I've done pretty well myself from them, and you're a smart and nice guy so I would be shocked if you *weren't* killing it!

The real issue is that they didn’t have a plan to monitor usage or set up protections to minimize costs during the eviction process.Ideally, the PM could’ve done things like:Limit access to unnecessary areas to reduce power use.Install smart thermostats to keep heat at a safe minimum.Request a utility cap in court during eviction proceedings (if allowed in your area).Bottom line: It’s less about the utility switch itself and more about proactively managing costs once the tenant overstayed.bro what? 

I went from a W2 job to building a portfolio of 500+ units over the last 5 years by starting small and scaling smart.

Partnering with an experienced motel operator is a smart idea—it can help bridge the operational knowledge gap and mitigate risks.When evaluating motels, focus on metrics like occupancy rates, average daily rate (ADR), and revenue per available room (RevPAR).