All Forum Posts by: Sam Erickson

I put every purchase I make on my credit card in to my accounting software, just as I would a check. The only difference being the account charged it the credit card account instead of the bank account.

When I get my credit card statement I  reconcile the account just as you would your bank statement. After doing that my system(quick books) prompts me to make a credit card payment. This transaction is simply writing a check from the bank account with he payee being blank and the account selected being the credit card account.

I know guys who are multi millionaires with no debt. I also know guys who are multi millionaires and are heavily leveraged.  This difference, the guys with no debt are 60+ years old and the guys with debt are as young as late 30s. 

Different strategies, if your risk adverse no debt is a good option but don't expect to have the net worth right away, it takes time to build.

Side note: I know of the Ramsey program and have known people who have completed it and where diligent in their self control, wiping out all their debt within a couple years. I think the Ramsey program does a great job telling people what they need to do to get out of debt. Where it lacks is in educating people about debt and how to use it. Take my example above they were out of debt within a couple years, first thing that couple did after getting out of debt was buy a new car with a loan.

Our first flip was a live in.  It was myself, my wife, and our 1 year old at that time.  I would advise against it if you can afford to flip with out living in it.  That being said sometimes as it was in our case it was our only option if we wanted to flip, financially we had to live in it.

In my experience everything just becomes harder when you live in it.  You have to clean up really good every time you do something.  You would be surprised to the effect living in a construction zone can have on your mood.  My wife also got very tired of doing dishes in the bathtub.

Would advise against it, that being said sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

@Joe Bertolino your right that does sound like full time job. Perhaps what I should have said is self managed by my company. It will be a full time job for someone, hopefully not myself though.

@Jon Deavers you have some good points. However being an agent myself I often take into consideration repeat business. I would happily lower my commission by .5% and often do if I means I become the agent of choice for and investor who is selling multiple properties a year.

I don't believe by lowing my rate it tells an investor that I'm doing lower quality work or I don't value my time. I believe it shows them that I recognize their value to me and I want to work with them.

When a plumbing warehouse lowers the cost of a toilet for a plumber that's going to by 100 a year, has the quality of that toilet become less?

@Jeff Semrow welcome to the site!

 Milwaukee area rehabbers I have a client that is looking for a rehabbed house in the Wauwatosa or downtown area.

The wife is an interior designer and is open to a house not finished if it means she can pick out finishes to her taste. You might be able to have your house sold before your even done.

They are looking for 3+ bedrooms, 1.5+bath. Size is not really a concern. The top of the budget is $375,000.

They are open to finished places as well so if you have a place your looking to list soon that meets the criteria let me know before you sign the listing contract. I may be able to save you half the commission otherwise paid if we can put a deal together .

So I have some land along a busy road and I'm toying with idea of developing a mini warehouse / storage facility.

Anyone have any tips or advice when it comes to building from the ground up? Space isn't an issue and probably have more land the I can afford to build on.

I guess my question is, is there a sweet spot for number of units? Should all units be the same size or should they be different? If they are different what's the best ratio? Etc.

I'm going to self manage as well so any suggestions on services offered with monthly rent would be welcomed as well.

Thanks

@Adam Kozuch have you given any thought to the western suburbs like West Allis?

Numbers aren't quite what they were a few years ago when you could get a 3/3 for 100k ready to rent but the numbers still seem to be pretty solid.

If you have any rehab experience and aren't afraid of ones that need a little work west Allis can be very profitable.

property ware.com is a good alternative.  It's differently geared toward the management company though not necessarily the owner who self manages.

They will build a site for you. They also have templates that you can plug and go.  They also give an option to have a separate site for each individual property. Might be over kill for SF but a good option for a apartment complex.

The famous  complaint with any online management company is the lack of accounting  functions (have heard app folios is pretty good though). Property ware made a nice work around and you can have it sync with your quick books file.