All Forum Posts by: Charles Perkins

I've been actively involved in real estate most of my investing life.  I have passive investments but prefer managing my own risk and the control I have as an active investor.  I have thought of other avenues over the years but have chosen not to change this status for various reasons.

I have my own RE investment company self managing real estate.  I track my hours and auto mileage in Excel for every property and keep track of administrative hours as well.  I've made the election for tax purposes under proc 2011-34 to group all rental properties as a single group.

It sounds like you would need to track hours spent researching, analyzing, meeting and otherwise communicating with those managing your properties as well as working on new deals.  It might be a good in your situation to maintain paperwork for each deal analyzed, hours spent, expenses incurred, and mileage. My spreadsheet is not likely to benefit you in your situation.

@Jay Hinrichs makes a good recommendation and has made it work for him.

You will want to maintain a depreciation schedule for all your assets.  Some software allow you to carry this schedule from year to year and in some cases you can import the schedule.  

Personally I handle depreciation outside of the tax program using an Excel spreadsheet.

It sounds likely that you haven't recorded assets nor taken 1st year depreciation.  You'll want to talk to a good tax specialist to determine this and make sure you are properly reporting income and expenses.

I'm sure new users fall into several groups.  Some have never invested but casually are thinking about it, these individuals may have misconceptions about RE investing. Others maybe curious have some level of experience and share from there limited experience.  I'm sure there a host of other reasons why people join.

With that said I believe some are timid, busy or just not serious in general.  I've always believed in lifetime learning, working through problems and sticking to something. A willingness to hear, share experiences, and engage is valuable to all.

I've been through many difficult times and situations and I know that I'm not the person I was as a young man.  

It's the same with relationships.  Strong lasting relationships have weathered many ups and downs.  There has to be a willingness though to plow forward because without that one can be plowed under.  Troubles can make or break.

How often I have heard people say, that when pushed into a corner with no way out the tough finds a way.  I've certainly seen it often enough.  These are those that even in the midst of the depression found a way to start and grow a business.

A point of clarification.

Landlords that self manage there own rental properties may be active RE investors, but generate rental income are not subject to SE tax even for REPs.  For tax purposes they would produce non-passive income.

My long term vision was always about retirement.  I never saw RE as a passive activity, knowing that my criteria necessitated active involvement.  I didn't seek doors, but rather long term appreciation and cash flow to sustain and subsidize income.  I've achieved the goals I desired.

I agree with @Joe Villeneuve

 While averages can be a rough guide they can hide what happens in communities which can widely fluctuate from the average.  As long as an investor is aware of this it can't hurt.

I'm quite happy to have the 1 million in equity.  Of course the equity of my choice.  I see the question as being invested or on the sidelines.