All Forum Posts by: Jerry W.

@John D., I am curious if you have any data or examples of insurance costs going down under ACA?  I work for a county.  Every county in my state has seen massive costs increases every year under ACA.  Some counties are very small, some are very large.  Of over 100 companies who I have dealt with on some employment issues has seen a large increase in insurance.  there are special costs per every employee now that never existed before.  Our counties insurance cost has increased a lot each year and we have cut benefits trying to keep the cost down.

I am curious how you can make insurance pay for kids under the parents plan up to 26 instead of until 21 and it is cheaper?  How can you add at no cost another 5 years of coverage and it be cheaper?  How can you make an insurance company take someone with a pre-existing condition like Lupus, leukemia, diabetes and not have their costs go up?  There is no magic, the insurance payouts have increased dramatically so costs must rise.  Nobody who was buying insurance before can be paying less.  The huge gift of ACA was those who could NOT afford insurance now can.  Folks getting $8 per hour working at a gas station who only has 3 employees can afford to buy insurance cheaply.  Adding a large number of people who make very little at a very low cost again drives up insurance for everyone else.  Only a very few folks got insurance costs lowered, the winners were those who could not afford insurance.

@Eli Kalen, you are pretty vague on what you are asking for.  I have done all three of the things you list.  I have used my credit to buy property, been the money man, and been the deal finder.  On one I lost money, on the other two I made money. If you ask a direct question I would be glad to answer.  I didnt feel good about putting my credit on the line in the deal because it seemed like a lot of money, but it was the only way to do the deal.  Where I was the money man I lost money.  Everything looked good on paper but I lost money.  Where I found the deal I enjoyed finding the deal.  There was no money just a slice of the pie.  We left the equity in the company we formed and it was fun watching it get bigger.

@Amie D., I don't know how your property manager deal works, do they do the work in house or get bids?  Either way I would suggest getting some bids on the place, at least 3.  I would also look around for other property managers.  You don't necessarily need to change, but maybe find out how other companies handle this kind of problem.  You need to make it clear you expect them to apply the deposit to the damage.

@Tom Gimer, you are not qualified by experience or training to make the statements you are making.  You probably believe them.  You obviously have some knowledge about the law, but you think you know more than you do.  I am not saying this as a slam against you, but to make you think before giving advice that you heard  from someone else.  That does not make it accurate.  In the case of the father he is acting as an agent for his son.  The statement of an agent can be used as an admission of a party opponent.  If you go to a car lot and buy a used car, the owner does not have to make the false statement to you to induce you to buy a car, an agent of his can do that and it can be used against the owner.  This is getting a bit technical, but law and investing can have some pretty technical points.  By all means keep learning about the law and investing, just be careful that your advice does not outrun your actual knowledge on a subject, or at least make it clear you are to a certain point guessing on your answer, it is not absolute fact.

@Tom Gimer, I am replying to your statement "

I'm no trial attorney but I don't think that out-of-court statement gets admitted."

I am a trial attorney, it gets admitted.  It is relevant since the poster has piece of mind issues, and the threat was I know judges, prosecutors and can get criminal charges brought.  That statement is harassment and highly unethical.  No prosecutor who knows this cop would bring a charge and face an ethics grievance, so don't worry about being charged with a crime.  (there is no crime BTW)  The statement may well be criminal , but I doubt a prosecutor would bring a case on that alone.  Even if the other side filed suit which I really doubt will ever happen, showing that the party is malicious does help.  It doesn't win your case no, but who in their right mind would make a statement that would predispose the judge into considering them unethical?  Only a fool.

@Nina B., that text is absolutely improper.  No prosecutor or judge worth his salt would take any action after seeing an text like that, and it crosses many lines that should not have been crossed.  If I sent a text like that I could be grieved (reported as an ethics violation to the state Bar attorney), and I would deserve it.  That text in conjunction with others could constitute harassment and even extortion or blackmail.  It also tells me that this person is not an ethical person.  As to admissibility, it is absolutely admissible in court as a statement of a party opponent.  If you cannot use an out of court statement then how could they claim an oral contract was created without using your out of court statements?

Best of luck.  You got this hands down.

I bought my first home in either late 1970s or early 1980s.  I sold it a few years later, and i assume I made money, I deposited a large check in the bank but am not sure hehe.  The house I have owned the longest I have probably owned for maybe 20 to 25 years.  I have had the same tenant in it for over 10 years on one run.  She finally bought her own home with no stairs in it for her mom.

I would have loved to have kept every house, but like kissing pretty girls, as much as I would have loved to have kept every one it was not really possible.  My early houses all helped me learn and make progress and when they sold they enabled me to learn more and do more by acquiring more and better properties that fit my goals.

@Account Closed, since your question is a little vague my answer will be a bit vague also.  My cash flow after over 20 years of investing is actually zero.  I have at least 30 doors of residential and have no money to take home from investments at the end of the month or year.  No matter how much I make I manage to make I always end up putting a new roof or two on a property, or installing a new sewer line, or my favorite, buying a new property.  The books show I make money, and I have taken money out to pay on income taxes, but not much.  I often spend much more than I make on monthly statements as I buy materials or pay workers for fixing up the newest acquired property.  The cool thing is that it has grown from one little house to many houses and a duplex, a fourplex, and even a small apartment complex.  I know this isn't the answer you were looking for, but it is very accurate.  On the other hand I hope to retire someday with at least $10K per month of rental income after expenses.

@Nina B., since everyone and his brother has tossed in his comments, I will too.   Here are my thoughts.  First, I have rented to cops and had both good and bad outcomes.  Cops are actually people with a higher stress job than normal that requires a stronger more firm personality or they don't survive in the job.  Being people, there are both good and bad, often with mixtures of each in varying quantities.  Most cops in my experience are good, but a bit on the pushy side.  I would treat them the way a cop treats others.  Mr. Smith I appreciate the concern for your son, but I will follow the advice of my lawyer, I am sure you in your line of work you can appreciate that.  I am sure you can appreciate my position as you have folks telling you that they pay your salary and want your badge number, and will have your job.  Hopefully that will stop it, but if it does not there are other things you can do.  These should be a last resort, because when you go for the throat the other side can also escalate.  If they do not cease and desist most states have a law called stalking.  It is a pattern of conduct intended to harass another person that in fact does harass another person.  You might want to say something to the effect of I know you may not mean to, but I am feeling fearful for my safety based upon your actions and tone of your words.  Please stop contacting me and direct all future contact to my attorney  and here is his name and address.  If I receive contact after this I will have to believe you are intentionally stalking me and take appropriate legal action.  Keep in mind that now that your attorney has said no more contact he may have to make this contact for you.

Next as to your legal obligation, and has a contract been formed?  Every state may have different laws, but most have a statute of frauds that require contracts of over $10,000 or for more than 1 year must be in writing Some require contracts for the sale of land or for leases be in writing but that varies a lot.  Now it is possible for a person to bypass the requirement that the agreement be in writing by detrimental reliance.  That is where in reliance on your oral agreement they expended funds or took an action that substantially changed their financial position to their detriment.  An example would be you agree to rent for $500 per month for 1 year and they move 3 states, and show up and you rescind the contract and they must stay in a motel for 2 months (at $2K per month) until they rent another place.  The burden of proving the existence of the oral contract is on THEM.  They must also prove the detrimental reliance and that it was reasonable to do so.  It is unlikely they would win.

Finally I am concerned about your reaction to all of this.  You are clearly a nice person who is very upset about the accusations and tone of the other parties.  While it is hard to do so please do not willingly give them the power to ruin your day, week or even investing career.  You cannot control how others may act, but you can control how you react to them.  It takes time, but get up and think what you have to be grateful for;  Being healthy, having a spouse you love and enjoy being with, having children who you love, grandchildren, enough to eat, money to pay your mortgage with, etc.  If necessary walk through a cancer ward and give thanks someone or a child you love is not laying there.  There are many horrible things in life to cause you worry and grief, this is not one of them.  Consciously decide you will not let it bother you as it is not really important in the long run.  Life holds much wonder and beauty that we should stop and enjoy.  There is often grief and sadness we each must bear, but this incident is a tiny drop in a vast ocean that you should not give the time of day.

I truly hope this helps you in some way, feel free to contact me if you want to talk more.  I have easily dealt with over a 100 cops, and as many lawyers.  Most are good, a fair number are irritating, and a very tiny amount are truly crooked.  I actually caused the last crooked cop I met to lose his certification, and he is now a hairdresser.  He was not evil, just misguided.  He did lie in court in a case I prosecuted.  He did not lie to convict an innocent person, he just lied to puff himself up and feel important.  As I could never trust his word again, and his boss would not remove him as he was a friend of the mayor, it became necessary to do a criminal investigation and remove him from office.  He had a wife and children, it was not fun for anyone involved.

I wish you the best of luck.  you will do fine, and you will overcome this, I promise.

@Prenn Tran, I have no experience in this area at all so it is more of a a guess. The main basis of how you will use the property should probably be your controlling decision factor. If you will only rent each bedroom separately then just put in an interior stairwell. If you plan in the future to make it a duplex then don't put the staircase in, just add a bathroom and kitchen downstairs. if you plan to exit by selling it as a SFR definitely put in the interior stairway. Invest the way you plan to use it.