All Forum Posts by: Erin Spradlin

Women are more risk-averse as investors, and while this is often blamed on a lack of financial literacy, the issue is more one of confidence, not competence: 45% of women with $1 million in investible assets were deemed financially literate in a study by the Center for Talent Innovation, versus just 39% of men. Yet only 30% of women said they were confident in their knowledge, versus 34% of men. “Men will invest through a lack of knowledge,” Krawcheck says, “but women—not so much.”

https://www.barrons.com/articles/womens-retirement-planning-what-wall-street-misses-1455343712?mod=article_inline&mod=article_inline

Men invest through a lack of knowledge and women do not... much to their own personal detriment. I've seen this to be true. If you're a female investor that wants to invest but has not yet, does this ring true for you? 

You might try this lender at North Pointe as well. He has been helpful to James and I, as we are also self-employed and that can be more challenging than one would think... 

I think the way to think about investing in Colorado is more of a long-term play than a high cash flow month over month- as that is very challenging to do at the moment.

I really like Colorado Springs and the north side of Denver for investing. Attaching three different articles that speak to your concerns about the front range and where to invest. 

3 Reasons Buying Property in Denver is Still Totally Worth It 

5 Reasons to Love Thornton, CO

10 Reasons to Invest in Colorado Springs 

@Marjorie Patton - I'd love that. Just let me know when you have everything figured out. 

Interested in joining! :) Looking forward to this. 

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Denver.

Purchase price: $120,000
Cash invested: $24,000
Sale price: $165,000

This was a 400 square foot studio in the heart of Capitol Hill. Concerns we had about this property was that while the HOA was low, the building seemed to have maintenance issues. That said, because of the location, we felt it would cash flow with zero updates as long as we furnished it and marketed it toward medium (30+ day) buyers.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We knew that there was demand for short-term and medium-term rentals based off of what we were hearing and our own experience. We thought this property was a great price and would appeal to professionals.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We found this deal with yellow letters. We reached out to strangers and asked them to sell us their place, and, shockingly, one of them took the bate.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional - with an assist from a HELOC on our primary.

How did you add value to the deal?

We furnished it and marketed it, but that's it.

What was the outcome?

This was a great property, that cash flowed between $200-$600/month. Because we did background checks and catered to higher end clients, we had no issues with tenants and it required very minimal work.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

HOAs can be rough. Despite how well this property cash flowed, we continued to have concerns about the HOA and the maintenance. Rather than sustain a large special assessment in the future, we decided to sell and use the money elsewhere.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

We were the real estate professionals on this deal. :)

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Denver.

Purchase price: $185,000
Cash invested: $9,250

We own this furnished one-bedroom condo and rent it out to professionals that need a 3 month stay or more. Rent ranges between $1700-$2000/month.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

It was a primary residence that we converted to an investment once we were ready to upgrade. We used the HELOC to acquire additional properties.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We found it through the MLS and it was a standard buy.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional loan.

What was the outcome?

We continue to own this property, it cash flows between $2-00-$500/month and have great tenants (knock on wood.)

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This deal really helped me be more comfortable with investments and understanding the power of a HELOC. Because it was our first investment it was scary, but it's also helped us acquire 4 additional properties in the past 5 years.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

We are the real estate professionals. :)

@Robin Searle

That's great news. I also read an article this morning listing Denver as the 8th best city for Tech and Colorado Springs as the 20th best city for tech (with an average tech salary fo $90K for both cities.) That's extremely promising in Colorado Springs as a salary at that level can get you into a nice place. 

@Account Closed as well. 

That said, I do think BP has a major gender issue. I have personally been critical of their lack of female content providers, podcast guests and leadership. I don't think it's been handled well to this point either. That said, this is a watershed moment for the country and we should continue to call these things out and see where we're at in a month, six months, a year. 

@Account Closed meant anything with his post. It's just a natural way of writing and a linguistic habit that shows up for a lot of people, no offense intended.

I think BP is extremely male-oriented, but it reflects the industry as a whole. I run a women's investing group in Denver and also write a lot of articles on this subject, and women primarily have not been investors. Overcoming this takes time and pro-active effort, and we're hoping to see more of it on this site and others. 

All that said, thank you for calling attention to this issue.