
9 November 2011 | 20 replies
This doesn’t have to be some sort of agonizing either/or decision.

12 November 2011 | 18 replies
While you have a bidding war to lose, you also could potentially lose a good bit of upside if the market drops between now and Spring.If gambling and trying to time the market is something you want to try, I recommend you hold off until next winter after the election, hope that there is a major change in which parties are elected, and then take advantage of the influx of new politicians and their staffs to DC (who will be looking for places to live).Of course, I believe that's a bad decision as well.

12 November 2011 | 17 replies
Then, when they call you out on it, pass the buck and admonish them for not taking responsibility for their investment decision.

8 November 2011 | 4 replies
I like my privacy, I like my space, etc... you'll have to decide what you're willing to sacrifice in your day to day living for the next few years and trade that against maximizing your return long term.

21 November 2011 | 18 replies
The decision regarding S-election should be based on your investing strategy.

9 November 2011 | 8 replies
I continue to listen to all of above whenever possible, and they heavily influence my investment decisions.

11 November 2011 | 38 replies
Oversimplifying your purchasing decision using ratios and other numeric data can lead to some poor purchase choices IMHO.

12 November 2011 | 21 replies
Again it could be a reasonable cost depending on what all they had to do.There are multiple issues here.1.Most of the items mentioned for repair should have shown up on an inspection of the property PRIOR to purchasing.In my mind if you didn't get a inspection from a 3RD party inspector not affiliated with the company selling you the property then these repairs are on you for not doing due diligence.2.The other component is that this property manager has their own crew.I don't like that one but and would never agree to it.Sometimes managers also get referral fees for giving business to skilled trades even if they don't have their own crew.The problem becomes then instead of getting the best rate they have to pad it a little to give back to the property manager for the referral.So either way I am sure the property manager is reaping a benefit monetarily from it.This way they make more than the lousy 50 to 60 bucks a month managing a property.This is why I am not a fan of "one off houses" in an area far away from where I live.This is why I like owning apartment buildings.I can find a full time highly trained manager easily and they use systems and programs to control cost and everything is documented.Since they only focus on management and are not a broker/agent doing transactions and then handling "rentals on the side" my properties get the focus they need to be ran properly.It just sounds like you purchased wrong and then on top of that have a property manager padding fees with the repairs.REO agents used to do this with banks.They wouldn't make much commission on selling the little dumpy houses so would have their company do the trashout,re-key,repairs and charge full market for it.Eventually the banks caught on and choosed their own company to perform tasks and only let the broker list the property for sale.Sometimes that works and other times it doesn't as the broker or manager is now dealing with outside parties they can't control saying work was completed properly and it wasn't.If you haven't had an inspection of the property I would do it now to see what all else might come up in the future so you can expect it and plan for it.

21 November 2011 | 12 replies
One thing weighing on my decision are taxes.If a single-member LLC owns a property, rehabs it, and sells it, are the profits deemed "business income" or "capital gains"?

19 April 2016 | 22 replies
If nothing else, you get to meet the decision makers for a particular complex while there.