All Forum Posts by: Gordon Starr

I borrowed on my 401k to get a down payment for my first real estate investment - multi house hack purchase. That worked out great! Later, I cashed out entirely upon leaving my 9-5 and sunk it all into REI. Wow, what a great move that turned out to be! Now, I am my own boss. These are bold moves and can't easily be turned back, though. Spend some time planning first!

Its unexpected market dislocations - 2007 it was the unexpected size of derivatives markets that so few people understood. If you did you saw it was SO risky - a house of cards bound to fail. Enter the government to make sure that doesn't happen again.. I like real estate because it is buffered against a widely predicted precipitous drop in the dollar market dislocation. Not buffered against robots taking 30 % of the jobs. Or the legislature and top bankers getting murdered. How will we fair if  the donald takes it all for himself? I just love the cash flow, its the stuff that backs the AAA bonds. lol.

If you need to fight off a dog, they are most vulnerable in the eyes, nose, and testicles. 

I'd back off on this until when/if you can deal with the rightful owner who holds clear title. If the tax man is knocking, it would be safer to let them foreclose then buy at auction. You may still get a quitclaim, but the foreclosure should clear the title of anything except a federal tax lien if they do it right.

@ Courtney Jones I'd move into the grandest part and live there while I hack out a couple smaller one person apartments! Try and create a kinda protected, intimate setting for possible family or close friend or really studious students or hospital interns. An awful lot of people like to find such an apt. PM me if you are interested and I can tell you about doubling the equity last time I did this!

@jay hindrichs

For me personally i would not mortgage the family home to buy investment property.. unless you have substantial cash savings to rescue you in the event of a poor experience turn key or not. 

I agree with Jay and would even go further. Having a highly leveraged position in an asset that doesn't cash flow for anything is a lot riskier than many people know. Have you thought about selling your home and renting for awhile. With cash to invest its easy to get cash flow. Rate increases and mass exodus are major risks of owning CA high price sector right now.

Around grandview, long ago, was the very best part of Dayton. Then, the big money folks left for Oakwood. The area became blighted. Now it is bouncing back despite the cities retarded roadblocks that were designed to keep out hookers and drug dealers. How did they think that would work? Many of the houses are huge. Too big for a rental unless you house hack somehow. It is designated one of the city "tipping point" neighborhoods. This means lots of demo and city services helping bring the area around. I personally love the area. Especially Bellmonte park and Squirrel road. You may get a real bargain on a mansion.

This was the picture turnkey in 2009 going for 51 k in low cost, high demo part of dayton, OH. Huge cash flow projected.

Here is the picture I took earlier this month after buying the place at auction for 7k. Thats a total loss for previous owner's.

At those purchase prices, you are probably seeking out of state buy and hold. The biggest risk is that at some point your property manager will become unwilling, or unable to deal with all the issues surrounding your properly in a way that makes you money. How are you going to right that ship so to speak from Orange, California? Second biggest problem is conflict of interest in regards purchase price, turnover, and repairs. The more these cost you, the more money your one stop shop makes.

Its the bay area itself that's probably why your nerves are jangled. The driving is stressful, the pace is stressful, the place isn't even remotely worth the price whether you buy or rent. Poor thing, I feel sorry for you. Come to Ohio, or Indiana, or Arkansas just about anywhere would be better on your nerves.