All Forum Posts by: Justin Fox

The dollar is deteriorating rapidly and the only thing to do with it is buy as much potentially valuable stuff as possible while still being able to pay the bills.  What would you have them or any person/business do, keep their capital in garbage savings/money market accounts because buying things you really don't "need" is "bad"?  Nope, they're going to spend everything but the reserves on anything but the dollar.  That's the incentive, for everyone not just large companies.  We love the feeling that a flooded, leveraged, debt-based currency gives us, but not the outcome.

@Jay Hinrichs, thanks for the info!  What's the average heated/cooled SQFT of the homes you build?

Depends on your preferred style.  All shades of grey and white are all the rage right now.  We've used 50% Reposed Grey on the walls and Snowbound on the trim.  Flat pure white on the ceilings, eggshell on the walls and a semi-gloss latex or satin (if you can) oil on the trim/doors/cabinets for durability and easy clean up.  If you can't find Oil-Base paint, then Oil-Modified Latex paint is supposed to be comparable (but doubt it).  Black, Iron Ore, Iron Mountain, Graphite and etc are trendy right now for accent/feature walls and Evergreen Fog is pretty popular for cabinet lowers.  This would allow your tenants to put their favorite colors in the house via furniture, throws, pillows, nick-knacks and other decorations.

Word to the wise, make sure the existing paint on your trim/doors IS NOT Oil-Base if you plan to paint with Latex.  If it IS, you will need to sand and prime them before. 

It's usually the same issues everywhere.  How cheap can you get land and how cheap is it to develop in that locality?  If you can find a good deal on land and can cash build, then you're golden.  If you have to buy land over-market and pay interest for 10 - 12 months, not so much.  Someone can tell you all day that they can build at $x/sqft but are they including the land purchase, the dirt and dozer work, builder's risk, upfront and long-term carrying costs and etc?  Who knows.  OSB and dimensional lumber are on the rise again.  Everything else doubled and tripled in price while everyone was rubber-necking lumber earlier this year too.

@Jay Hinrichs, I'd love to see some sort of redacted, categorized cost report, just to see what you're paying for labor for bulk projects.  I can't come close to building a house for $80/sqft (in 2015 maybe), and that's in a country bedroom town in SE Texas, with no garages, no carport and minimal porches.

Personally, I would vote for using that money to make more money (buying another property). But you could also 50/50, pay down some of your HELOC to lower the liability a little and then use some to put down on another property. It all really depends on how much debt/leverage you're willing to have at one time.

Innago.com.  It's free for landlord use.  They charge a maximum of $2.00 for ACH (bank draft) rent payments and a 1.75% (I think) of the payment amount for CC use.  It's great!

"Professional" painters can't caulk correctly, do you really want a tenant doing it?

Personally, if my landlord had the extra money to get me a gift, I would perceive that as them overcharging on rent.  Why not keep the gift and instead make my rent a few dollars cheaper per month?  

Invest 5,550 - 6,000 in a ROTH per year at all cost starting on your first pay-day at age 16.  

You'll be paying 15% SE tax off the top of your flip earnings as a self-employed sole-proprietor/single member LLC, then federal (50% of SE liability deducted) and state withholdings at your tax rate. If you earn a big chunk, you're supposed to pay quarterly to the IRS as well or you may incur a penalty. Definitely consult a CPA, they're worth the pennies they cost in comparison.