All Forum Posts by: Linnea Minnema

It sounds like you would be a good candidate for investing in turnkey properties! You have capital, but not time, and wouldn't mind paying more than rock-bottom prices so that you can get off the ground.  Research turnkey providers and I think you'll be happy with that process.  

 I would argue that graduate school and undergrad are fundamentally different.  But you are correct, each program is able to set their own rules.  My experience at a state school in the southeast was that nobody got in state tuition, regardless of how good your reasons, if they could demonstrate your original intent was to come to attend school.

In my experience, they always go back to "intent".  If she intended to move for the purpose of school, in state tuition is typically denied.  If the move was for another purpose (like a job in the field she eventually wants to study), she lived there for a year to establish residency, and THEN started school, you could make a good argument for in-state tuition.

Actually, I have one property and have it under management. I cash flow about $200 per month on that property. It all depends on if you are looking at REI as a job or investment opportunity.

These are two separate questions.  First, related to cash flow.  When you are scouting deals, make sure you include 10% for prop management into your calculations.  If it doesn't cash flow because of the property management fees, it probably isn't a great deal and you should keep looking.  

Prop management is worth it to me because I don't have time to deal with tenants nor do I live in the same city.  My oversimplified way of looking at this - if you actively manage your rentals, that's a job.  If you hand off your properties to a management company, that's an investment.  It just depends on what you want.

I'm on the older end of the millennial generation at 32 and graduated college with a Political Science degree.  I basically graduated into the recession with the type of degree that makes Baby Boomer parents roll their eyes and say things like "what did you think you were going to do with that?"  A lot of folks think of millennials as Brooklyn hipsters living in an apartment their dad pays for and being unmotivated to work.  While those people exist, of course, it doesn't apply as broadly as a lot of people want to believe.  My husband and I paid off five-figures of student loan debt in 2 years, while he was a graduate student.  Once that was gone, I paid for my MS out of pocket, and waited to have a child until that expense was done.  We have now owned 2 primary residences, have one rental property and are in the market for a second.  We continue to work full time in our chosen career fields (higher education) and plan to slowly grow our supplemental income through rental properties.  We're both millennials. 

I say all this to remind everyone that we millennials put a great deal of thought and effort into our actions.  Security matters greatly to us.  Sometimes our concerns show as frivolous to those on the outside, but please hold back on the judgement of an entire generation.  

Also, do a search on the BP forums for TurnKey providers. Keep an open mind, as there is a somewhat negative opinion of this type of system. Works for some, not so much for others. If you are looking to make REI your job, then TurnKey is probably not for you, but if you are looking to supplement your income in a mostly passive way, it can work.

@Henry Montgomery III

http://turnkey-reviews.com/ is a great website that is run by a BP member, Brie Schmidt, that gets into detail about turnkey providers.  Essentially, they are companies that buy distressed properties, rehab them, and sell to investors.  They usually have eithe in-house prop management or relationships with prop managers, so it can be a really seamless system.  Due diligence is KEY here, as there are many horror stories on BP where the turnkey property didn't cash flow and proved to be a bad investment.  Always do your homework, even when there is a system to follow.

Buy and hold using a turnkey provider.  We wanted to start investing, but didn't have a lot of extra time.  Turnkey provides us with a really great product, cash flow, and is able to be incorporated into a busy schedule.  I don't anticipate buying turnkey forever, but this is where we are right now and it works for us!

@Kumar Paj and everyone else following this thread...I ended up selling the condo rather than renting it! The cash flow would have been minimal and I can get a better ROI on the money by investing it in Indy or Birmingham, AL (and not leaving myself a potential long-distance headache in Valpo). I will say that if we hadn't been able to sell it, my choice would have been Adam and RPM. They were the most responsive, called back and kept appointments that we set, and had competitive rates for the area. They manage other properties around mind and those all look well kept and full. Good luck everyone!