All Forum Posts by: John Peter

I just moved 460k into an account with 4.75 % interest. It will provide over $2k a month of income, risk free until I decide what to do with the cash. For the past year, I had been looking to invest in multi families somewhere around Tampa area. After factoring in the insurance nonsense, skyrocketing taxes and double digit increases in utilities and I'd be lucky to cash flow a couple of hundred a door. That's IF nothing needs maintenance or repair. So, my question to you more seasoned investors is.. when you can park your cash in a CD or high yield savings at 5.5%, why bother taking the risk, especially in Florida? Any ideas that I'm not considering?

Glad I waited to do anything after moving here over a year ago. So, in FL there's an "insurance crisis" in some areas leaving homeowners and landlords with double and triple their premiums from the previous year if they can even get insurance. Being from NY, I don't even know if reinvesting after the sale and move to my new stomping grounds (Tampa) is even possible with these circumstances. What do you guys think?

What metric do you prefer when first analyzing a property? 1%, cap rate, cash on cash, etc. What do you think is the most useful? I'm looking at 2 fam in Tampa as my first investment in my new area.. probably will hold for 5-10 years. Not one of them comes close to the 1% rule unless the price comes down 50k+.. but some of the other metrics make a bit more sense when you tweak them only a little. 

Also, what's your go to number for cash flow per door? Some say $200 I'd their number, others won't even bother unless it's over $500.

Sold in NY, moved to Tampa, have 400k+ to invest. It's sitting in a money market account waiting for an opportunity. I've spoken to investors, mortgage and real estate brokers, etc. Almost all of them say to wait. Prices are coming down and the market is still inflated in Tampa area. What's the general sentiment here?

Also.. I had my heart set on condo/townhouse type properties as long term rentals. The majority of people have said to forget that and focus on single and multi units. When I think of owning another SF or MF property in addition to my own home, all I can think about is the amount of work I do in my house and the insane home owner's insurance rates here. In other words, the taxes on a condo are 1/2 or less than a house, no landscaping, no ridiculous insurance rates. They do have maintenance fees, but for the minimal fees, seems like a lot less aggravation. Thoughts?

This is why I came here for advice. My accountant in NY said the exact opposite. "At your age, you have 8k a month coming in. and 500k in investments. Do you really want to be a landlord again especially trying to find a deal in an inflated market? You have more than enough to draw from if you need it.. pay off your house, free up some monthly cash to give yourself a cushion, invest the rest of the proceeds from the NY sale and go get a part time job if you're looking to keep busy." I remember him saying.. "if you're lucky, you're gonna make a few hundred bucks on each property after expenses.. you'll need 3 or 4 properties just to covert the same amount of your mortgage, and that's if nothing goes wrong with any of them. But, you can guarantee freeing up $1600 a month if you pay off your house and still have over 100k to invest somewhere.. JOHN, PAY OFF YOUR HOUSE!"

Consulted with an accountant in FLA when I moved. After a half hour of going over 3 years of taxes, she said the same thing almost word for word. I swear.. I was so close I actually asked for a payoff from my mortgage company. 

Feedback appreciated. I am almost 50. 3 kids all under 8 years old. I'm the sole income in the household. Retired from civil service with pension of 8k monthly. About 500k invested in a 457 from work. Just sold in NY and moved to FLA. Proceeds from NY leave me with 530k sitting in the bank. Here's where I need guidance.

I could pay off the new house and be mortgage free with almost 125k left to invest. My mortgage is in the mid 4% range and is about 1600 a month. I also just paid off my car. Now, I'm slowly finding out that living in or near a big city in FLA is almost as expensive as NY. 8k pension isn't going to stretch too far as time passes. So, at my age, with 3 school aged children, would you pay off the mortgage and invest the rest in a portfolio, real estate, or IRA (125k).. or leave +/-50k in the bank and invest the rest? (480k) Thanks for any advice. Btw.. I was a landlord in NY for 12 years before I had kids. I'd do it again, but I'm not 30 years old anymore.