All Forum Posts by: Eric L.

Originally posted by Jon Holdman:

it could be as complex as a system that's attached to a hot water heating system that monitors which valve is open when, and then you use that to split the bill. RUBS - Residential Utility Billback System is the name for those systems.

I've read almost every post on this forum for the last year and I've never heard of such a thing. Thanks for the information, Jon. I always knew that there had to be a better way to this. I thought about coming up with a solution myself several times.

Very cool for urban environment. I don't see spending $8k+ on one when I can get a moped for $2k and it doesn't protect me from the rain.

They are going to need to make it a little bigger, though. If Americans don't need to walk anywhere we are going to get even fatter.

Does anyone use bank account transfers for receiving payments?

Would you be interested in a program that did this if costs less than $10 per payment?

I've been thinking about creating a website for this for a long time, but I'm not sure the demand is there.

Make sure it is not in a war zone. In this market there are a lot of opportunities like that. I missed out on a triplex in a good neighborhood this week that brought in $1300/month and the asking price as $25k. You're not always missing something. There are a lot of investors out there, but there a lot more deals than investors right now.

I'll go out on a limb and say that we already found it.

Why: All the "experts" on TV are trying to convince everyone we have not found the bottom.

Housing starts are up.

REO's in my neighborhood are getting picked up within days instead of months. Housing values maybe only dropped 5% here in the middle income neighborhoods.

I think that most of the bad earnings news are already reported as the companies that lost their shirt with bad investments have already reports bad earnings once or twice.

You can say what you want about the dollar, but all the more reason for money on the sidelines to own assets instead of waiting around longer.

I am a computer programmer. Although I love solving puzzles all day and it pays great, I realized that I have 40 years left in a cubicle before I can have my freedom.

Currently saving every penny I can to put towards rentals and working on my MBA at the same time.

Originally posted by MikeOH:

If I could start again, here is what I'd do differently.

3. If I were just getting out of college, I would live frugally; work my butt off; and buy houses with CASH! It is amazing how fast the money builds up when you have paid-off rentals. So, my advice to college age people is to work hard; pay cash; and put every penny of the cash flow into the bank (along with your income from work) until you have enough money to buy another one. Repeat that process for a few years and you'll be a multi-millionaire with HUGE cash flow. Then, you can be semi-retired and enjoy the vast majority of your life!

Very interesting thread. I don't understand why everyone recommends paying off houses here. I've noticed that people on this forum generally recommend buying as many properties as possible to get the advantage of leverage.

I'm struggling with this question myself right now. I still consider myself in the "just starting out" stage. I have living frugally down to a science. I have three properties currently. On one hand I have calculated a 12% ROI for paying off my rental properties. It would take a year or two, but I wouldn't need to put so much time into rehabbing properties and I would be dealing with less tenants and issues. On the other hand, I may be missing the buying opportunity of a lifetime with prices so low and future inflation almost guaranteed to skyrocket.

Is there something that I am overlooking that makes paying off properties a better option for younger investors?

I was actually just looking into this last week. One of my renters received a preapproved credit card offer to the rental house. I have opted not to received preapproved credit offers, so the mail was illegal.

I am leery of things like LifeLock as they only monitor your credit and alert you once something happens. From what I know most agencies only report to your credit monthly. This is far too long for me.

Something that the three credit bureaus don't advertise is their credit freeze program. They don't advertise this because they make good money selling your info to card companies. They are required by most states to offer this and they decided to offer it to every state. Basically you send one of the big three a utility bill and copy of your driver's license. They in turn lock your credit and give you a pin number that is needed to access your credit. This way no one can inquire about your credit or open credit in your name without the pin. There is generally a fee each time someone looks at your credit with the pin. In my state it is $15 to lock the credit and $10 for each inquiry. Well worth it for the peace of mind if you ask me.

Hi everyone,

I bought my first rental property four months ago and I am in the process of turning my current house into a rental as well. I have been looking at lakefront property here for a couple years. I came across what could be my dream house today on the nicest lake around for a little under 2/3 of market value. The problem is that the purchase would strech my finances to the point that I wouldn't see myself being able to buy any rental property for the next three years and I would likely miss the buying market that we have. I am 24, single, and I make about twice the average income for my area. I know that I could pick up three or four rental properties now and have a great headstart on financial security, but a part of me really wants to just enjoy the lake. I know there is no clearcut answer, but I am looking for opinions about what you would do in this situation.