All Forum Posts by: Jerry W.

@Tina S., for what it is worth I also vote for vinyl plank.  I would not tear out the hardwood floor, I would just put the planking over it.  The good planking is expensive, and while I have installed some, it has not been in long enough for me to say how long it lasts, but so far the stuff I used has worked great.

Hey @Colin Stalley, way to keep on top of things.  I am no help having never run a motel either, but would like to see how it shakes out.

@Damon D., it is easy to say only do million dollar deals when you are a millionaire but the reality is that you can only do the deals you can afford.  It would be very unwise to invest other peoples money when you don't have the experience and reserves to do it safely.  The advice of each investor you read about is usually tailored to those in their position.  The mindset of someone with $500 in the bank and someone who has $5,000,000 in the bank is very different.

One thing I would add, if they do an estate you need to make a claim and have it notarized in WY in order to get paid for any time they use the apartment and have not paid.  After the estate is opened the amount they owe you is an expense not a debt.  It makes a difference in priority of payments.  If it takes them 60 days to get their stuff out they owe you the 60 days rent.

@Solomon Smith I agree with @Devan Mcclish, don't buy in Wyoming.  We are still living in tepees and dugouts.  Travel is also pretty slow due to the stagecoach roads getting muddy when the glaciers melt.

You can form your own LLC in WY for $100 and it takes about 10 minutes. I would suggest reading up a bit on what you need and how to run them. There are normally fees every year for doing the registered agent thing.

Welcome @Tina S., be sure to look through the Education section above.  it is loaded with great information.  Be sure to set some key word alerts also, like Wyoming.  Good luck to you.

Hey @Frankie Woods, good to see you again.  Keep in mind I have income coming in every month.  It is not like I don't have income I can devote to paying a huge expense.  I could easily take a $20K hit and pay the credit card off in less than a year.  I have seen some pretty hard times throughout my career.  If you pay your credit card every month I have never seen them reduce your credit.  It is possible the bank could reduce my line of credit, but unlikely.  The only likely scenario would be if I lost my income.  That is always possible, but even if that happens I have retirement account money as well.  It is not intended for real estate investing, but I could get to it.  I try to keep at least one or 2 properties paid off, that is what I have he line of credit on.  The bank 5 year ARMs are not balloon loans, the interest rate adjusts every 5 years.  That is different than balloons.  Here is my logic.  If the money sits my savings account, say $25K like Nathan does, then I only earn .25% interest on it.  If I put $20K of that money down on my property to make it pay off sooner and reduce my interest expense.  I save $1,200 per year if I have a 6% loan that I pay an extra $20K on each year I leave that money in there.  I could refinance the money out if I really needed it, or I could just use the credit card for short term as well.  I can save $6K over a 5 year period if I just pay down on a loan instead of having it in savings.  That is a lot of money to save.  The biggest hit at one times was a auto accident where a ball broke off my hitch and severely damaged a trailer I had borrowed, and dumped about $5K of shingles on the interstate.  I paid about $8K out of my line of credit to just buy my friend a new trailer to replace the one I wrecked, and a little over $3K for towing from the wreck site, and towing it home, and don't forget $5K of shingles.  I eventually sold off a problem property that year to help offset all the expenses and restore full cash flow.  I also had enough left over to buy a nicer rental than the one I sold.  Everything but the $8K for the trailer I simply put on the credit card and I paid that off in about 4 months.  I never even tapped into the $5K I keep for emergencies.  

What part of Wyoming are you doing this mine in?  Who are your major players?  What is your source of funds to pay back investors in one year?  Last but not least where are the projected numbers and basis that makes this a safe deal?

There are areas of Rock Springs that have bad mine subsidence.  In other words the houses are sinking into the ground due to old coal mines in the area.  That is mostly the downtown area.  Ask some old time folks to get a scoop on the part of town you are looking at.