All Forum Posts by: Jerry W.

@Nicholas Movo, Welcome to BP.  I invest in the Thermopolis/Worland area.  I would be glad to chat sometime if you think you are interested in this area.  Wyoming has a bad boom/bust cycle you need to be aware of.  When things are looking absolutely fabulous and prices are going wild is the worst time to invest.  I would also be a bit leery of the Gillette area right now.  There are a ton of cheap houses and cheaper large multifamily.  Historically it has been boom bust, but I am not sure it will ever fully recover from the last bust.  It will improve, but I fear that the coal industry is dying off.  Just my 2 cents.

@Levi Meyer, welcome to BP bud.  It can be hard to invest in Wyoming and especially where you are apparently.  There is always a way however.  For example Cody is considered to be an expensive market.  However Powell is only a 30 minute drive away.  prices are much more reasonable there and I know several people who cash flow.  I have a lot of rentals now in Wyoming and most cashflow.  one method that helps is buying a distressed property that needs work.  I just got a verbal agreement on a property today that has a large concentration of dog feces in the basement n a few rooms, it has some foundation problems, but it will stand for 100 years, and it had some burning melting issues from a fire next door.  The guys tenant has not paid rent in 3 months and the place is a pig sty.  The gas was off for awhile too.  I bought it for about $20K.  For some sweat equity and about $5K in materials I will be able to rent it out for about $550 I would guess.It will need a new roof in the future, but it has a few years.  They are not real common, but they exist.  The house next to it burned so the damage is very obvious, but superficial.  Time patience, and perseverance.  Good luck bud.

I really liked Extreme Ownership, The Subtle art of not Giving a F*ck was actually good despite its title.  Of course the Miracle morning and the One Thing were great.

@Paul Wolfson, normally the down payment required to buy a residence you live in is much lower than for a rental.  You also normally get a lower interest rate and longer amortization for a rental you live in as compared to a commercial rental property loan.  It is like a supercharger on your cash on cash metric.

The easiest home to buy is the one you will live in.  There are massive tax advantages when you sale, why pay rent when you can buy?  I have always tried to buy my own home, then rentals, and would do so again.  It can vary from person to person though.  If you can buy and rent a home and make money, then why not pay rent to yourself>  Who would be a better tenant?  I get not buying a $200K house that would only rent for $1K, but be smart when you buy.  If you want to move then, rent it and move and buy another.  Sure you have maintenance costs and taxes when you own, you have that with rentals too.  The only thing you don't get is depreciation, but you do get the homestead exemption on profits.  If you want wealth for freedom, your first freedom is being able to do what you want under the roof you live in.  You can choose what paint color, what to improve, what to change, etc.

@Shiloh Lundahl, I think a lot of folks do just that, but don't see the arbitrary $1 million figure.  I worked oil rigs a lot during the summer while going to college, pulling double shifts every chance I got, and working as a water hauler on off shifts.  My wife understood, but then the crash came, then kids came, etc.  I would have done the 5 year thing when I was younger, but I wouldn't do it now.  I might have a million net worth, I honestly don't know.  For me the term rich will not have much meaning until I can lock the door permanently on my regular day job and not change my income.  I plan to change my lifestyle to do things like take more than 2 vacations in 15 years.  I am slowly moving that way now.  I bought my first new vehicle this year, a very nice work truck, but still a work truck.  I have driven my old truck for 27 years.  I won't get a vacation this year either, due to a hailstorm I have 16 houses to roof this summer.  Maybe next year.

@Jamison Gallegos, I have the same issues as @Nathan Gesner. The tourist season is short, but heavily booked, the winter is long, rents are slow, and utilities are high. My first year I got started late I didn't make enough to pay utilities, the second year I made money but averaged about $200 a month less than if I had done a long term rental, this year was much much better as I added another unit I fixed up. I think it will be better than last year by quite a bit. It is a LOT more work with vacation rentals. I think the market is going to get much stronger however, the question will be how many jump into the STR market and drive down prices.

I am horrible at systems.  The best one I probably have is to get up before 6 a.m. every morning and use that time to think about my goals, how I will reach them, and plan out my day before others get up.

@Mike S., I wish I could vote more than once for your post it is very good, and extremely accurate from my experience, and I have filed lawsuits to pierce the veil before.  Nothing is foolproof, especially if you have a lot of fools, but a little common sense and following the rules makes LLCs pretty good.

Well at heart is the only place I am young, I start collecting my first retirement check next year from the volunteer fireman's pension fund.  

Getting started was hard because I didn't know what I was doing, but I studied hard and me and another guy each put in $600 and bought our first true investment property.  Every purchase after that got a little easier, and as we built up equity the banks started liking us more and more.

I see younger folks moving where the jobs are.  Not many folks can just inherit the job their parents had.  Places like Denver metro or the front range, the midwest or Florida and especially Texas.

I currently use facebook to rent my houses out by using the local buy sale groups.  i get much better coverage than the newspaper.  I used to use Craigslist, but it got so over run with scammers I finally quit it.

I own a fair number of SFRs and a 4 plex, and even a very small apartment complex, but I would like to do more commercial real estate like  warehouses and shop buildings.  those properties are hardened and take a LOT less management than a residence with bad wiring or leaky plumbing, etc.