Secret Passage Real Estate

[Caleb Schmitz]

Hello all,

I am new to investing and will be purchasing my first property later this year and hopefully develop a portfolio from there. Now, I am searching advice on some of my investment ideas. I am a design engineer in Wisconsin, and thought I could incorporate this into the portfolio marketing.

I have 3D designs of a few secret bookcases and want to develop a portfolio of properties (rental or other) that have some form of secret bookcase or passage. Since I designed it myself, it only costs around 300 for materials to put it together, so not a significant investment. I think that this may draw attention and traffic to my website or advertisements during vacancies. This would hopefully payoff quickly because my vacancy time would decrease. These secret bookcases or passages may range from simply having an in-wall mini bar or secret closet all the way to a panic room.

My main reason for doing this is that it will drive interest to my properties and advertisements as portfolio increases. I suspect that this will give me more applications so I can select the best tenants. Another minor benefit is that if I were to sell it in the future, it would be a way to attract buyers.

What do you think about this venture and concerns on this type of investment? All comments would be great!

[Marcus Auerbach]

@Caleb Schmitz interestingly an contrary to the popular believe, investing in rental properties is actually quite boring. When I started out I had a lot of creative ideas and in hindsight I am laughing a little bit about myself. The truth is you want your rentals (even in higher price points) as plain and simple as possible. Anything you ad can and will break and cause your phone to ring. Most rental properties are dirty, dingy and run down, regardless of price point. If you can offer nice, clean, fresh and modern you will always be fully rented.

On another note: I totally get it. I think the idea is super cool and I will definitley have a hidden passage to a panic room in my house when I finish the basement. Interesting what you find on the internet about panic rooms and how to construct an sandwich wall that can stop handgun bullets. Cool stuff - just not for a rental.