All Forum Posts by: Mary White

Dave Ramsey has a lot of great ideas including avoiding consumer debt, but he applies more to those who are risk-adverse. It's best to learn as many approaches as possible and find the combination that works best for you. I've chosen to max out retirement and college savings, but not to pay off my house while we continue to grow our investments and business. Dave's early steps about staying consumer debt free and keeping an emergency fund are two areas that real estate investors should take seriously. Avoiding leverage on investments, however is a major financial mistake. 

Let's assume for second that your claims are correct. That still gives me zero reasons to liquidate my assets. My properties cash flow heavily and are minimally leveraged. Now is the time to assess the health of each individual asset and consider selling any low hanging fruit, but I do that several times a year anyways. What the market and unemployment conditions are telling me is to stockpile cash feverishly in case opportunities arise. I am not however naïve enough to believe that good properties will be on fire sale. It's more of the same, those poorly managed properties come up for sale with value add opportunities. Unlike 2008, there are thousands of people waiting to purchase. It won't be what you want it to be. 

I manage my own properties and I find it very annoying when people assume that "mom and pop" landlords are surprised by repair costs sneaking in, poorly manage, and are basically sub-par. What I see happening is that many owner/managers get older and their ability to affectively manage diminishes. I take great pride in the management of my properties and work very hard to go against the very sub-par property management companies in my area. You wouldn't believe the condition of properties they manage that I get to purchase. My point is that crappy people exist in the world, period. Being a property manager doesn't make you better qualified or superior in some way. Being a smart, hard-working, empathetic person makes you a good manager period. 

Good for you on the life choice to stay home with your kiddos. I have $6000 a month in rental cash flow and am home with my kids. You need to focus on cash flow not doors in my opinion. I'm at 12 currently and am looking to reach $10,000/month at 20-25 doors. My suggestion is to buy either in a place you would like visiting with the kids 2-3 times per year or in your own area. I self manage and my kids come with me to properties. It's an excellent teaching opportunity and I just like being around them. 

I think the most vocal folks out there are those who are waiting for opportunities. Those of us who have well planned portfolios aren't looking to dump any properties. I don't feel the need to go around posting about market crashing or talking with others about excitement over deals, because I am always steadily looking for deals and assessing any re-balancing opportunities. I refinanced every single one of my properties last year/beginning of this year and am just stockpiling as much cash as possible in case additional opportunities arise. Why on earth would anyone dump a property that cash flows during a crisis? My bet is that most investors are just living their lives and waiting for those who are overleveraged to sell. I think there are more buyer than sellers at this point. Time will tell...

Why on earth would you withdraw from an account with such a healthy balance?  The stock market will recover and the compounding interest on that $100,000 will pay off significantly for you. You'd be selling investments low to buy in high in real estate. Please rethink this. It simply doesn't make any logical sense. Also, investment accounts can help you qualify as loans as a percentage can be used to show reserves for bankers. Best of luck! I hope this helps in some way. 

What I meant was that while you're employed you can qualify for a loan. You could literally quit the day after a loan closes. I hope you get lots of great advice and take your time making a choice. This is a fantastic opportunity for you. 

There's nothing wrong with starting in real estate to see how you like it. I'd look for a 2-4 unit place and use your W-2 income to leverage and only use a small portion of your inheritance. You can hire a manager or do it yourself to figure it out. I'm a big believer of "you'll never know until you try." I'd also put a bit in the stock market (Roth IRA) and just let it marinate. Can you roll over the inheritance into your own IRA a bit at a time to save on taxes? Talk to an accountant ASAP and ask for help. It shouldn't cost very much and you can learn from somebody who isn't in a position to gain from your inheritance. There's also nothing wrong with walking away from a job and using a bit of the money to help invest in yourself and figure out your life. Just be intentional about your actions and please don't blow it on a new vehicle.

We're looking for $10 Million in Net Worth and $2 million in the Stock Market. Our goal is to improve the communities we invest in and spend the second half of our lives traveling and doing philanthropy. 

My loan was suppose to close a week ago, but my lender is dragging their feet. They said they need to recalculate my financial position. They keep saying that they're just backlogged because of the volume of refinances, but everything seems off.