Long time lurker, huge fan of the podcasts, thought I would make an effort to actually join the community.My name is Matt, and as the title of this thread would indicate I am an accidental real estate investor in Denver, Colorado.Wait, accidental?

Another indication of permanency.the other owners manager gave me a map showing the spaces.

He should provide you with a detailed statement and your 1099 from him at the end of the year should indicate this.

I can default under a sale contract as the seller all day long with a $5 EMD and the judge will laugh you out of court.Now, if I'm given $500 as consideration you'll have a much better chance at enforcing the terms of the contract.While there are slick talker out there, some may talk a homeowner into a $5 deposit, it's a good indication to a judge that they guy who did that probably is a slick talker as well.Being under contract or in contract simply means there is a contract that now governs the activities and responsibilities of the parties to the contract. 3.

1) Small Animals, skunks have been persistent this year.2) Plumbing blockage due to tenant, I clearly indicate that's not in my scope of work.

Now, OTOH, the "50% rule" has been demonstrated to be a good predictor over the long haul, so it would apply to this property as an indicator of roughly how high expenses (not including principal and interest payments) should total; when the expenses being given are way off, then you really have to question them (as we have been doing in the assorted posts in this thread).You are at better than 1.25%, so it is worth doing some calculations with better numbers.

The two of them looked at the damage, pointed out the repairs that had been taken at the time and indicated the materials (rough sawn lumber, lath and plaster, square nails) used in the repair indicated the fire happened long ago (i.e. before the 1930s) and the building has been standing just fine since.We did replace one header and a couple of studs - this was mostly for my benefit - and closed things back up again.You may not need to replace all the charred structure.

By "hobby", I mean that I haven't made money yet doing it, but no means indicates the way that way that I'm treating this business.

You indicate you have a 5.5% note for 30years.

Ryan Hutchison:As Mike indicated, more is better ;) In hindsight, if I were starting again, I would probably look only at quadraplexes or more.Not only does a vacancy in a multi not translate into a complete loss of revenue, but your maintenance/CAPX per dollar income is lower {i.e. there is only one roof}