All Forum Posts by: Mark Kao

For my real estate investments I've focused on cash flow over potential appreciation and for equities I've focused on tax efficient and low cost models. My goal is to have one compliment the other. I hope to be in a position when one side it weak to take advantage and so on. 

I just turned 37, I calculate I have a current net of around 2 million or so. Most of it is in real estate with 4 properties (including my primary). There doesn't seem to be any attractive place to either invest or park cash into. Currently I'm generating about 32k net in passive income from my rentals and around another 12k in my equities investments which I reinvest. My current thought is to horde cash until the next calamity, any thoughts or ideas?

I'm curious as what some investors here were doing before, during and after the housing bubble/crisis and what are your plans for the next credit cycle

For me, I had my primary residence and one rental and was too poor to invest in anything else at the time. I currently have 4 rentals and my primary and kind of seeing where the wind blows

I think I'm fairly risk adverse, if I look at just equity I've added about 300k in "net worth" in about 13 months. I like the flexibility of free cash for either more property or stocks

I've mostly been looking at return on cash out of pocket and when possible tax deductions. I figure I'm returning 11%(?) or so on my immediate cash 

I did a cash out refi last yr to buy a property, 417k at 3.75 for 30 yrs on my primary to pay for a rental in full. It nets about 1k a month after expenses. My last rental (this month in Az) I put down 85k on a 300k purchase at 4.25 (appraised for 330) my monthly expenses are at 1300, and rented out the place for 2200. And one more unit that nets about 1k after expenses paid in full with a worth of around 270. How would you get a net of 5%? Multi fam? Which is probably the direction I'll be headed 

My last deal was actually my first out of state deal (in Az). I'm also sitting on a bit of cash as well, I've thought about hard money lending but it's something I've never done before and makes me a bit nervous. Plus with the income tax hit for doing a JV with a flipper is it worth it? Or can you do some type of tax exchange?

Keep building cash flowing properties. I also have a solid stock portfolio that has done well the last 10 yrs. I figure with a good mix of RE and stocks would be my path

I recently completed the purchase of my 3rd sfh rental. As of now I have a total of 4 properties including my primary. I figure I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-1.2M in equity overall (300k equity in my primary and the rest in my rentals). If I do a cash out it'll obviously decrease the monthly cash flow which is really good at the moment. I've thought of a heloc but with the current market in Seattle as hot as it is, there hasn't been many attractive deals. I've always been pretty debt adverse, and like the idea of decreasing my mortgages even further, and waiting for a better time to jump in again.  Any thoughts?

Currently I have my primary residence valued at about 670k with 390k mtg and two completely paid off rentals. Earlier this month I found my next rental home. I have an income around 120k with no other debts. I've gotten nothing but hassle and hoops to jump through on a 300k deal with 25% down. Does this sound reasonable from a large bank?