All Forum Posts by: Charles Moore

would your dad and his friend be on title and own the home with you? Or would they just make a straight loan to you with you being the sole owner of the home?

REITs aren't really tax efficient, though, unless you're using a retirement account, and presumably that is not her situation.

You could look into turnkey providers. That's about as passive with brick and mortar houses as you can get. Lots of CA investors look into those in other markets like Memphis, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, and Jacksonville FL because their dollars can go a lot further to buy more than in CA. Also you get to take all the traditional tax benefits like any other rental property. She would probably be looking at $200+ per month per house if she financed a $90K + property with $20K-$30K down, which again is more tax beneficial than buying all cash.

As happened with @Larry Fried, I would hope the turnkey provider would lower the contract price to match the appraisal, otherwise it would leave a sour taste in my mouth that I possibly overpaid.

another method for folks just starting out and without much cash, is to use some of that cash to buy stuff dirt cheap from garage sales and thrift stores and resell it for more on Craigslist, eBay, and Amazon. Just straight flipping. I've found things for $5 at garage sales that I've later flipped for $100. Do this often enough. And you can be looking at a few thousand $ extra per month or more. This can help toward with building up your capital for your firstvRE deal.

@Alex Chin yes, Columbia City, that was it!

already taken action and on course! And good luck to you!

speaking of being unsure of the viability of an area, does anyone know about Rainier Valley south of downtown Seattle? I thought until recently it was a lower income, high crime area next to MLK Blvd, but after a visit there recently, I found charming main streets, cool Seattle-ish independent shops for bikes and toys and consignments, prominent banks, Starbucks, and young professional types walking with their kids.

I'm curious now!

@Cassie Sherie Yes, like other BP members I am just trying to help by imparting things that will affect your strategy, not knowing if you've already taken them into account or not, but glad that you have. Indeed, different strategies work best for different people - no question there. And no, taxes are not the determining factor of building wealth, just a major consideration that successful folks typically put careful thought and effort, and in some cases expense, into minimizing to preserve what they've earned so far. 

And when these multi-millionaires you're referring to are bringing in many times what they pay in taxes and are left still left with great ROI, then it makes sense to keep doing so and pay the tax to do so.

But we're not at the multi-millionaire lifestyle point yet. Having benefited from tax breaks from holding property myself and following related discussions and podcasts here on BP, I just keep hearing of people who wished they had known first.

Was not looking to start an argument or debate, and since  you've got these topics accounted for, I'm looking forward to hearing of your success!

@Cassie Sherie good to know you've already accounted for the seller's market and taxes here! That's great! Incidentally, while naysayers are typically those with "limited mindsets," not all those with limited mindsets are naysayers; one person's version of limited mindset can be another person's version of being focused on a niche and becoming very good at it, rather than being spread too thin all over the place and not getting nearly as much accomplished.

Hope to hear of your first success story here!

nice to see another Washingtonian join us! Both @Cailyn Aune and I have an interest in buying turnkey properties in more affordable out-of-state markets, and in her case she just did! I will most likely do so later this year when I sell my current rental at the end of the lease.