All Forum Posts by: Michael Rogers

The Landlord's Legal Guide is a great book. I recommend it to anyone that is looking for a good $40 legal reference for common legal questions. You may want to get a copy of it.

Nationwide

In the interest of fair disclosure I think it is important to mention that your website currently offers an educational product for $395.

However, I do agree with you that education is important. No one should ever stop learning. I'm just slightly jaded on the idea of spending large amounts of money from unaccredited programs.

Primo Coach,

Although I don't always agree with you, I do agree with you on this post. Having a large reserve in your savings account is extremely important before someone quits their job.

Good point.

Well said Tim and MikeOH.

This business isn't rocket science. However, it isn't for everyone. A large percentage of people that fail in this line of work, fail because they lack the persistance and determination to stay after their properties day after boring day. They want excitement. Gurus sell excitement. Gurus also know that most people have a short attention span. Therefore, gurus liked to get paid quickly. (Before the new investor loses interest.)

If after a year of reading and meeting with successful investors (both of which are low cost), you do not feel comfortable with your real estate decision making abilities, I recommend exiting out of the real estate business. You obviously won't know everything after one year, but you should have a good idea if you "get it" or not. After 1 year, you should be getting continuing education from free or "near free" sources (articles, websites, friends, free mentors). If you are not comfortable at this point, you will probably end up losing money or making a guru rich if you continue. There is no shame in a man knowing his limitations. Real estate investing isn't for everyone and that is totally ok.

Warren Buffett regularly recommends that most investors should just purchase a low cost index fund that tracks American Business and make regular contributions over the years. (Ex. S&P 500 Index Fund) He says very few people have what it takes to beat the stock market consistently. 75% of mutual fund managers do not beat the S&P 500. This is coming from the world's most successul investor. Not bad advice. And it is free advice from a very intelligent man. For real estate investors that don't feel comfortable with their real estate knowledge, they might want to consider investing those thousands of "bootcamp dollars" in a low cost index fund.

I am asking for feedback on my website. I designed it using iWeb 3 months ago.

It basically has two functions.
1. Provide info about my properties for prospective tenants.
2. Provide free resources and articles about real estate investing for new to intermediate real estate investors.

I have been thinking about moving it to WordPress if I decide to do more blogging. However, as it stands right now the iWeb seems to be accomplishing my basic goals.

Please take a look and give me any feedback around the content, ease of navigation, format, etc.

www.chandler-property.com

Thanks,
Michael

I agree with All Cash. I usually use an excel spreadsheet to do my calculations. A good formula to use is

=pmt(rate/12,Number of Payments,Loan Amount)

This will quickly give you the monthly loan payment (principle & interest) based on any number of variables.

I just did a quick Google search and found this website that has a web based calculator.
http://www.vertex42.com/Calculators/loan-amortization-calculator.html

I hope this helps.
Michael

I have never heard this quote either. I do know a couple of librarians and they don't seem to be very wealthy. :lol:

I'm just kidding with you Primo_Coach. I am interested to hear how you are allocating your education dollars. Is it to a MBA program or another college program?

I'm always impressed with the divergence of opinion on Kiyosaki and other gurus. It seems like people either love them or they hate them. I am of the latter group. I don't think his seminars are worth the money.

I did however think his original book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, was a decent read. It was an elementary introduction to the importance of passive income. I didn't think he provided an actionable plan on how to achieve success, but at least he introduced people to the importance of passive income.

Correction:

I mispoke when I said Georgia State is in the Southern Conference. They are actually in the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association). Sorry

Hey Ashamann,

One program that I know of is Georgia State's, J. Mack Robinson School of Business. Attached is a link.

http://robinson.gsu.edu/realestate/programs/grad/mba.html

Georgia State is a legitimate college in Atlanta, Georgia. They are actually in the Southern Conference if you follow sports. I can not speak to the quality of the program, but it might be worth looking into if you want to get an MBA with a Real Estate concentration. If you hear anything good, bad, etc about it, please let know.