All Forum Posts by: Eric Bowlin

under the advice of my attorneys and just about everyone I know...I do all my business in the name of an LLC. It's a little difficult to explain to my tenants that "no, I'M not the owner, but I own/manage the company that owns this property." I just tell them I own it but on rent day they have to write checks to the LLC that owns it.

I tell everyone that I'm the owner. The people in the neighborhood usually are happy to know that a good owner just purchased that run-down property. I also let everyone know I will buy any house on the street! I've had neighbors call me the second a sign hits the front yard when something comes up for sale.

problem is you are now in the hair business. You need to attract talent because people tend to associate the name of the place with good or bad haircuts. You will get more rent but you must manage it like a business.

Client I worked with tried to sell her salon space to me. I passed when getting all the details of the setup

@Karen Margrave I can definitely see your point. Even locally, cape cod might have a 35psf snow load requirement while western MA can have a 55psf snow load. You are overbuilding the cape cod house if you go with the western-mass specs. The Cape will require higher wind-sheer resistances and are often built with cedar instead of vinyl or aluminium because it handles the salt better. A house cannot be designed for all variables and I'm only talking a hundred miles distance!

A friend of mine did have some luck when she found online plans from a LOCAL engineer who worked almost exclusively in our county. There are still a lot of variables as you mentioned. Now that I think of it she also had to hire an engineer to do a site visit and actually apply those plans to the land so maybe there was a better way to do it in the end.

Anyhow... Done rambling.

@Elizabeth Colegrove I like your style. Definitely the top pay-grades that still rent and don't purchase. A lot of young O's also end up in apartment buildings/communities around some bases. Just food for thought.

I'm an O3 in the MA Army National Guard. I've been around a bit even though I always end up back in Mass... I've seen a lot of your posts and this one really puts all the others into perspective. I really understand your investing style now and I can relate to it much more now than before.

If the civil code is so specific in California that he must cover this expense..Why not do the work and put a mechanics lien on his property? If you have performed work for him "the responsible party" I'd imagine you could be justified with a lien. Might not get paid out for many years but it might pay out if he has any equity. I'd consult an attorney about that first though.

I'll add another thought. In my area...

Homeowner pays 1000-1200 to replace a water. I pay 600

150-250 to replace a faucet..I pay 50

150-300 for a light/fan... 65 bucks for me.

I get reduce rate because I may spend tens of thousands per year with the same contractors. They fill their 'white space' on their schedule with my work. It's win-win.

The roofer would rather take  a whole season of roofs at 5k each down the street at the new development before they take your one roof at 7k. Just saying.

You won't have this benefit and will pay full 'homeowner' price for everything. Any savings you MIGHT get will be offset with higher costs on subs. Your GC will have accounts at the lumber yards and suppliers and get significantly discounted materials as well.  On top of it you will carry ALL the liability (this is not a small consideration).

The other comment is right, If you are lucky you might save 8% when it's all said and done. 8% savings...I'd rather just go work overtime at a job.

Buy the park, not the trailer. I own one and it's my best investment.

@Chase Dunlavey  There is so much information I really don't know how to respond. Maybe I can just answer with a story:

So I've done a lot of different things.. Rentals, Singles, Flips, Construction Company, Handy-man rental company, Trash Removal company, you name it..I've tried to or planned to make money with it. I've even owned a scarf kiosk at the mall with my wife. Some I've actually done, some I have planned to do but backed out (Dumpster/trash removal company for example).

People make a lot of money in so many ways... But each time I do something different, I notice I'm not so good at is as my bread and butter. I've done flips and make so-so money..single families don't make much for me...construction company was fun but not my cup of tea..I'm good at my one thing: I acquire multi-family rentals that have one or two major issues that I can fix easily with my skill-set. Other people are terrified of that particular issue (usually hostile tenants or structural issues) but those are what I'm best at.

My point is that every time I put my focus somewhere else, I spent a lot of time and effort and didn't get as far as I could have if I just focused on what I know. I say A handyman can make a living but a MASTER carpenter can make a fortune. I've noticed this over the last year and I will not make these detours again.

My advice..Find ONE thing and become very good at it. If it's breeding, then breed. If it's real estate, then do real estate. If you don't know how to invest; get a mutual fund.

Thanks @Jeff Greenberg for the info.

I have done a lot of reading online about this topic and I'm really never any closer to an answer. Things are even more confusing since they legalized crowd-funding. It's legal to fund through a crowd online but I cannot have a passive partner. You can lend to me at any interest rate but as soon as I offer any percent of the profit it gets regulated.

For decades everything has been set up to create large 'barriers to entry' which keeps small players out and keeps big players doing well. But that's the topic of another discussion. Guess this is why I've never taken the leap to have an equity partner. 

I'm going to start searching through the forums for some info on this topic, but if you have any particular threads you can recommend it would be much appreciated.

sooo..  What I'm hearing you say is: 

Invest all your money and buy 20+ properties in a culdesac neighborhood. Toss in a giant 8 foot fence - 6ft chainlink with 2 ft of Concertina-Wire (find a military surplus store to get this)..Plant tall bushes to give the facade of a beautiful neighborhood, and get a variance to put a gate across the road. 

Hire a local thug who can help you buy off the local gangs so the drug wars can be waged outside your community, but not inside.

Cheapest gated community ever! I'm In!