All Forum Posts by: JD Martin

I do, but I also have other streams of income - I have a pension from my job I retired from, I do some consulting work, and I teach a couple of classes a year at university. But if I lost all of that sideline income I could easily live off my rental income, which started surpassing my W2 income about 3 or 4 years before I retired. That said, I don't have extravagant tastes for the most part, already own pretty much anything I've ever wanted to own, and have medical care costs already figured out which is the thing that can bankrupt a lot of people as they age. 

BUT, it took a bunch of years of working both a "regular" job and investing in my rental properties to get to that point. The first 10 years I reinvested everything the rental properties made into more properties and/or rehabs of existing properties. The idea that someone with no money and no properties is going to quit their W2 in a couple of years and sip Appletinis on the beach from rental income makes me laugh myself to sleep. This is a long term play, not a get rich quick scheme. 

Quote from @Wesley W.:

Hey all,

Anyone have experience with tenants keeping birds (parakeets and conures) that are not always caged?  I collect an initial pet fee ($250/pet) as well as a monthly fee ($25/pet) for the usual mammals.  Not sure how to feel about these prospects.  Please share your experience.  NY does not permit any additional security deposit beyond one month's rent.  Thanks!

My experience with people with birds is that the ones who really love birds always let them fly around the house or hang out outside of their cages. Other than the potential for bird crap in odd places, like the backside of ceiling fan blades, we've never had any damages from birds. I don't think you would go wrong with your current setup.

Quote from @Juan David Maldonado:

Hey, 

I own five acres of land valued at close to $30k according to the county tax office. My question is can I borrow money against the acreage to fund a flip for example then when the flip sells put the money back into acreage loan?? 

 I would be surprised if you got much of a loan against something like that. $6k per acre is pretty low demand these days and speaks to either no market or something not very unique like out in Texas or Montana where 5 acres is like a city plot back east. You can probably do better on a signature loan, where they can come after anything you have to be made whole if you default. In either case you're not going to be funding much of a flip that way unless you already own the flip and just need a few extra rehab dollars. 

I've walked a house where dinner was still on the table and the refrigerator still had all the groceries in it. The food on the table had disintegrated into nothing and so had most of the refrigerator contents, which looked like compost except for a few things that never rotted just got dehydrated. Pretty freaky.

Quote from @David Litt:

Last winter, I drove past a house I hadn’t seen in years. The yard was overgrown, blinds half-closed, and the driveway — once filled with cars — was empty.

I used to know the people who lived there. Not well, but enough to know they hosted big backyard cookouts, kept the grass trimmed like a golf course, and always had holiday lights up before Thanksgiving.

It wasn’t until I saw the “Notice of Sale” taped to the front door that the change clicked.

Here’s the thing: on paper, foreclosure is numbers — missed payments, interest rates, arrears. But when you see it in real life, it’s also an emotional event. For most families, losing a home isn’t just losing a roof. It’s losing their place in a community, the smell of familiar walls, the street they know by heart.

The part people don’t talk about? Often, the signs were there months or even years before the paperwork caught up.

• The second car disappears from the driveway.

• Repairs get delayed.

• Guests stop coming over.

By the time official notices arrive, most homeowners have already been living in quiet crisis for a while.

From an investor perspective, this is where the conversation gets tricky. Yes, distressed properties can be opportunities — but they’re also chapters of someone else’s story. And the way we approach them says a lot about our ethics and our understanding of the human side of real estate.

I’m curious: have you ever stepped into a deal that made you rethink the line between opportunity and empathy?

 Nope. I'm a cold hearted bastard just half a step away from being a chatbot 🤣.

Ok, that's only partially true. Yes, I've done deals where it was sad on the surface, but the alternative was someone else doing the deal and making it worse. I provide nice housing to people at a little under market rates and keep their rents relatively stable. I could work a little harder and colder and maximize every dollar and opportunity, but I don't want to. Other guys I know would have done so with the properties I own. So I've done my civic duty.

At the end of the day, everyone is responsible for themselves. Maybe there wouldn't have been a foreclosure if the extra car was never there in the first place. Foreclosure is often just the culmination of a slow negative drain that probably could have been headed off with a part time shift at McDonald's. You have to choose your path and take ownership of it, wherever it leads.

Quote from @Marc Shin:

I'm looking at properties in Florida for STR's. The area I'm looking, most of the homes have septic tanks. Should I stay away from houses with Septic tanks? Is it a big risk to buy a home with a septic tank?

-Marc

 I wouldn't say it's a big risk - I have a few homes on septic - but it's a bigger risk than being hooked up to municipal sewer. Americans, and foreigners from some wealthy places, think you can and should flush anything you don't want down the toilet. Nothing should go in a toilet except toilet paper and human waste. "Flushable" wipes don't break down and are a huge source of aggravation for sewer system workers. Grease from deep frying goes into a jar or bottle but most people just pour it down the sink drain, where it congeals in the pipes. Feminine products. Little kid toys. Etc. When you are hooked to sewer, those issues become the aggravation of the sewer system once they clear your pipes. When you have a septic system, they are your aggravation. Grease is especially nefarious because it floats on the top of the tank and can clear the baffle and make its way into the field lines, which will shorten their life considerably.

Best advice if you get a septic system: put up public service announcements in your house and advertisements, and plan on pumping your tank frequently to reduce chances of ruining the field lines.

Quote from @Joe Shepherd:

I bought a home with a shared driveway - property line runs down the middle, and it splits to each garage at the end. No formal easement, just a gentleman’s agreement with the neighbor.

I purchased in cash and now I’m refinancing. The lender wants an easement or written agreement. Appraisal came in higher than the loan amount.

Anyone dealt with this in the past? 

-Do some lenders skip this requirement? Any recommendations? 

-Tips for a simple agreement?

TIA! 

 Extend the asphalt on your side and it's all over. Or gravel or whatever it is. As long as you have enough driveway on your side to get to the split where it veers off to the garage, you will have 100% driveway access on your side of the line.

I have a house like this. The driveway was "shared" in the sense that it was all conjoined at the property line, and it was a constant source of aggravation. I expanded my side and dropped a fence all the way down the property line. Problem solved.

Quote from @Shawn McCormick:

Hey @Javier Meza Welcome to Orlando. I live in Clermont, happy to meet up sometime. I am on the board of CFRI The local chapter of the National REIA, you should come to some of the meetings.

Tons of opportunities to network and meet other local investors, trades, wholesalers etc. We have about over a dozen meetings a month all over Central Florida. Our General meeting is coming up on the 12th and we have our Lake County meeting in Clermont the following week. 

I can get a free pass for your first meeting, PM me and I can get it to you. 

Best of luck!

I didn't realize you live in Clermont. My house is in Clermont, well technically 4 Corners but I have a Clermont address. I'm across the street from the new Windsor resort close to Cagans Crossing. 

Filing one in my state (TN) is simple, them the contractor has to file a suit to enforce the collection. Often it never comes to that because the lien ends up making it difficult to sell without getting it cleared, so the owner either pays the debt or files to have the lien nullified. A contractor can go to jail for filing a false lien here so it's not done lightly. 

Quote from @Christina B.:

@Collin Hays I don't disagree that it should be irrelevant. But in practice, it doesn't seem to work that way (and that reflects how the platforms set it up). JD Martin (?) had a thread here on how VRBO hasn't been posting host responses to reviews for a while. I've read and experienced retaliatory reviews where reaching out to guests regarding noise, smoking, damage, etc. now becomes a question of providing evidence/documentation along with timing (and calculating if it's worth taking some sort of hit to try to alert others).

In some cases (VRBO), no comments to read means I can't tell what 3 stars indicate (although often, there are zero reviews). Has anyone here seen a 1 or 2 star VRBO guest?

On AirBnb, the private notes to other hosts is valuable. But I don't think those go through- unless the guest posts a review. So I can be honest about guests and my feedback won't make it through the system if my guest doesn't leave a review. I can also be honest as a guest and if my host doesn't leave a review, it won't make it through the system either. Am I misunderstanding something?

 Yup, it was me (you have a good memory!). The entire review system sucks. I have a number of easy suggestions to improve the entire thing, none of which will ever be implemented because VRBO et al don't give 2 craps about hosts at all. They are only there to rake money as the middle man, and they need people booking to do that. They are parasites, and we (owners) are the (albeit willing) hosts. 

1. It should be *mandatory* that no review can be left below a certain level - I say 5, but 4 could be OK - without any alleged "issues" being transmitted through the platform's message system, with pictures if it includes alleged damages or filth. Every host will tell you of guests that said nothing about anything their entire stay, even if you text them to ask how everything is going, then rattle off a litany of complaints when they leave that either could have possibly been addressed while they were there or are simply made up in an attempt to extort the host.

2. Reviews should be an entire 2-way street, with all guests having their own ratings with visible comments that can be left by the hosts, again with pictures if it includes damages or filth. The way it is now on VRBO and Booking, you can't see anything at all about the guests (don't remember on AirBnb). 

3. Any guest with an average rating below a certain level should be automatically blocked from instant booking and require a clearance from a host before allowing the booking. This would allow hosts the flexibility to allow great guests the convenience (maybe even a discount) to book instantly while getting to decide if you really want the dirtbag with 5 one-star ratings as a guest to book your property. The way it is now you either have to allow instant booking for everyone, or pre-approve for everyone. I don't want to make life difficult for great guests and I don't want to be stuck with bums. 

4. Tit-for-tat negative reviews should require some kind of arbitration with the host platform. 

Of course none of these will ever happen so we will have to wait until a better platform supplants these bums.