All Forum Posts by: Kevin C.

If you don't have enough cash in reserve (after purchase) to cover at least a few months of vacancies and a fair amount of unexpected repairs then you should not be buying at this time.

Without reasonable cash reserves you'll be a vacancy or repair from foreclosure.

Build up your reserves, then buy.

Very high 700's.
Have no debt except for 3 home loans.

Been in that range for years - even for the couple years I played the 0% credit card game (had over 100K of 0% no fee money from credit cards earning around 5% in various savings accounts).

That game is dead now, was fun while it lasted though.

Sounds like a plan to me Mike.

Wish I had your knowledge and connections!

If you built new, as you've described, what is your projected all in cost?

What are the rents in the areas you're considering building in?

Would you be managing the units yourself?

I think some people confuse laminate and engineered woods as being one and the same. Laminate floors are not wood floors, they are composite flooring with a picture of wood on top. Engineered wood floors are 100% wood, the base being made from cheap wood with a final layer of fine wood on top.

Better engineered woods can be refinished multiple times, laminates cannot be sanded/refinished.

Below are some links that describe the differences between solid, engineered and laminate flooring.

http://www.theflooringlady.com/engineered_vs_solid_hardwood_flooring_000877.html

http://woodboys.com/engineered_vs_solid.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/engineered-wood-flooring-vs-laminate.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Laminated-vs-Engineered-Floor---Which-Is-the-Real-Thing?&id=630901

I put Pergo in a personal residence about 12 years ago - house has since been sold.

We did not like the product, was way too shiny and 'clicky' when walked on. The flooring did not really look or feel like wood once installed.

We had engineered wood installed in our last personal residence, that product was fantastic.

I would do engineered wood again, but not Pergo or laminates.

You'll need to sell multi-millions to make a decent living.

Assume you net out 2% of all your sales, with one million in sales, that gets you 20K - not much of a living there.

I do not have a college degree, but currently hold a job that would typically require one (IT director).

Past jobs I've had typically required a degree as well. I didn't have the degree, but got the job, and ended up making more than my peers.

In my opinion, college will open a door, but it will not keep you in the room. Morals and common sense along with a healthy does of intelligence are, in my opinion, needed for success.

I've hired and fired a number of individuals with a laundry list of degrees who were obviously very smart, but they couldn't stand on their own in their respective fields.

Due to lack of a better term, I see them as educated idiots. Yes, they are very smart, they certainly test well, but that's about it.

A college degree will open the door to more opportunities, but it does not guarantee you success.

Only YOU can guarantee your success, and you can succeed with or without college.

I only have 2 rental units, so my response probably doesn't carry much weight, but I'm in the 'keep more in reserve than you could ever possibly need".

My reserve is in my personal accounts, my rental accounts have very little excess since I've not been at it that long.

Regardless of where the funds are, if I don't have enough liquid assets to carry me for a year at the very minimum (business and personal) then I'm not fun to be around.

I err on the overly cautious side.

I have a FT job and invest in RE on the side.

I used to contribute to a 401K but stopped the contributions a couple years ago. With my current employer, I contributed into a 401K for over 10 years, as it stands I have less in that account than I put in, so it has not been a very good investment. Employer has no match, so there is really no incentive to participate.

I have accounts with a couple on-line brokerage firms that allows me to 'dabble' in individual stocks. In over 10+ years my gains there are just a tad under 10% annually. These are taxable accounts, but I've been able to offset the gains with deductions somewhat related to my RE investments, so I'm OK with that.

I left what I had in my 401K account, and with my 'dabble' brokerage accounts I do keep a certain exposure to the market. Nothing excessive, but I do want that exposure so if/when the markets take off I won't miss that ride.

At this time I'm hoarding cash - the goal is to either pay off all my holding at once (personal residence and investment properties). Along the way, if a no-brainer deal comes along I'll jump on that, but barring any really exciting deals, 0 debt is my goal, then more RE.

Your annual cash flow would be 1200/2 * 12 = $7,200 a year.

$7,200 a year would be a 22.6% annual return on your $31.9K investment.