All Forum Posts by: Kevin C.

LOL - When picking stocks from the past, you can do much better than the examples given.

In real life I owned MSFT, and lost 50%. AAPL is far from a sure bet as well - entry and exit points determine your gains and/or losses.

With my 401k, held everything through the downturn, and have recovered all the 'paper losses' and then some. I have individual stocks and have had superior gains with some, huge losses with others. Overall, I've been able to average 10%+ gains over the past 10+ years in my individual stock holdings, so I'll keep playing that game.

I like RE because it appears to be a relatively stable investment. That's not true for all RE though, just ask some of the investors that bought 3 or 4 years ago in Vegas, Miami, Phoenix etc.

RE has it's ups and downs, but as long as you didn't buy at a peak and you're not over-leveraged, you should be able to weather the ups and downs fine. I'm speaking from a buy and hold perspective.

I try not to put all my eggs in one basket, regardless of how secure the basket appears to be.

Slow and Steady here - with a foot in both RE and Equities but focusing more on RE going forward.

And to answer the question, No I do not wish I had invested what I have in RE in the market instead.

I look at it in terms of number of free and clear units I'll need to generate the additional cash flow I'd like to have. Each unit being one single family home.

Using the 50% rule I'd have 50% of gross rent as cash flow (actually closer to 60% since I don't use a PM).

The rentals I currently own rent in the $1400 a month range, and any future units I picked up would most likely be in the $1200 to $1800 a month range.

4 or 5 of those, along with other investments will go a long way towards the income I'm looking to see in retirement.

I expect to retire with 0 debt, so my income needs in retirement will be much less than what I earn today.

I'd rather have 5 free and clear properties than 20 or 25 with considerable mortgages on them.

There are plenty of ways to hit your financial goals, leverage does not have to be a long term part of the puzzle.

Of course, current disposable income plays a huge part in one's investment strategy.

I hear this a lot - but personally have not found this proverbial passive 10% return device. If you know where one can get 10%, passively, risk free, you certainly have my attention!

Not even looking and a deal just drops in your lap. Congratulations on turning it over so quick!

Excellent Blog Danny - I'll be watching for updates. Thanks!

I second what Ryan said, and don't believe anyone that tells you Rent - PITI = cash flow!

I know there are areas where you can get 2%, 3% or more - personally, I'll be happy landing one that breaks into 50% rule territory ;>).

2% rule would be pretty tough to accomplish with 140K homes, 50% rule would be the better target.

P&I on 140K @ 5.5% fixed for 30 years comes out to 794.90.

Assuming $1,260 rent.
$1,260 / 2 = $630.
Take $630 for expenses, that leaves $630.
P&I is $794.90, so you're short $164.90 of breaking even!

50% rule says subtract 50% of the rent for expenses, what is left goes towards P&I and profit. Assuming 100% financing, you'd need to get almost $1,800 a month in order to clear on average $100 per month with this one.

With a lot of cash down you can make it cash flow, but that doesn't change the 'deal'.

2% rule would say you need to get $2,800 a month in rent - that's going to be tough.

2% rule is for lower end properties, 50% rule would be a better target for properties in this price range.

Ya think!

If you have the cash, by all means educate yourself to the max, but if you've got to borrow for college - might want to think twice about it.

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/forget-harvard-and-a-4-year-degree-you-can-make-more-as-a-plumber-in-the-long-run-says-prof.-kotlikoff-536046.html?tickers=^DJI,^GSPC,^SPY,COCO,APOL,ESI,DV&sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode=

I was once a young guy right out of high school - well a high school with a technical program - and I did fine, as did most of my friends.

My son has a number of friends that have been out of college a few years now and the best some of them have found are pretty close to MLM sales jobs.

Straight out of college, with a shiny degree - you'll fall to the bottom if I'm looking for help. What I want is someone with proven experience, the degree is not nearly as important. In my industry, there are plenty of very successful self-taught individuals.

Yes, there are fields where you'll absolutely need a degree to succeed - but schools today are graduating a whole lot of students with pretty much worthless degrees and 6 figures of student debt. Any way you cut it, that my friend, is not a good start.

A degree is not a guaranteed ticket to success - but the debt many students rack up these days will certainly be a ball and chain around their neck for years and years.