All Forum Posts by: Michael Haynes

Hello Vera B. If you are an Investor, are you a knowledgeable Investor with experience enough to evaluate the property that you are researching. Based on the numbers...how can any Townhome ever pay for itself? I just bought a really, nice, 3/3 Townhome with one car garage and pool, just outside the Tampa City limits for $175, 000 Cash. I sold my four Commercial lots in S. Tampa that I had for 20 years for $370,000 and took most of the rest of my Cash and paid off my loan on my 3/1 home in Tampa that I just fixed up to Sell. I will clear about $200,000 on that one, Tax-free as Sale of my Residence. I would never buy a Townhome anywhere to Rent because they don't make at least 1% of the Sale Value. Townhomes also don't go up in value around here. You can look on Zillow etc. at their Sale Price History since they were built. If your looking for a Passive Investment you should consider something that is managed for you like a Sindication etc. Why stick your neck out to buy something that you want to Rent at a loss when no one can pay the rent if they don't have a JOB and the CDC says there is Rent Forgiveness. What do you think will happen in January when all the late renters have to pay with late fees and interest and maybe legal costs? We are just waiting to see if it is going to be a Big or Small Crash with opportuities. 

Hello Ryan, you are listed as a Pro? That means you do have a JOB? Live in Clearwater = expensive...and you want to Wholesale/Flip? I am Selling the last of the few Rentals I had over thirty years in S. Tampa and moving outside of the City limits to have a safer and quieter life. You have a bigger Goal than most of the Get Rich Quick with R.E. like "5 or 10 Years to a Million with Rental Properties." You want 20. Do you have 20 years to be in the Accumulation part of that Plan? It would have helped me to get there in less than 10 years if I had known what the Real Estate Cycle was and what part of the Cycle I was in. As a Flipper or a Builder you can make money with R.E. anytime, but, at this time do you really think it is a good time to Buy houses? If the Wholesellers really had properties that they would Sell you for half Retail and you could fix them up and make 20%, after Taxes, then, you would be shooting for the same thing the Builders try to make. But, can you do this or better at this time? I think that Bigger Pockets lessons teach one to look to make Partnerships or Syndicating to shoot your way up the Mountain Goal. If you are a Pro and have a JOB and have Assets then, to speed up your Journey you should try to find a Partner and buy Multi-family, Quads and then Commercial...right? The biggest Cash Cow out there has almost always been Trailer Parks, but, your Renters are the biggest concern. Are you a Pro who wants to get down and dirty with Rentals and Tenants and the Law or are you more on the side of a Businessman like Trump? Deal maker. I am just a hands on Landlord type and I always tell people that the first thing they need to Buy is a Home...preferably one that needs a lot of fixing up and you double the value.  2 years later it is Tax-free to Sell and do another one. You don't need to do lots of Flips if you have a good JOB. You can get Rents or Equity Appreciation. Do you have Time for either? 

Ersin Deger, you have to record a lien against your ex-tenant where you are and go from there. You have to know the law from "there" to Tampa and in my 30 years it is a fruitless effort. You can get a Judgement and then you have to Collect from them if they have any Assets. You attach the Judgement to their JOB's and they quit that JOB. "You can't get Blood from a Stone." Small Claims and Worthless Check Court is a waste of time. 

Joyce Jackson...your making a mountain out of a mole hill. She got a Lawyer because you didn't try to pay her for the keys and just termite tent the house when she leaves and clean up the mess. Once you have German cockroaches, you never get rid of them unless you termite tent in Florida and then only until you bring them back in on something.

I just read the BP article yesterday, "Cash for the Keys" which explains the pros and cons.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/cash-keys-better-eviction?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%20%7C%208/23/20&utm_channel=28425

Hello Mitchell P. from Malibu. I am in Tampa and kind of in your situation as I just sold my Commercial property in S. Tampa and cleared $340K. I paid Cash for a 3/3 Townhome with garage and pool to get out of the City limits to my Target area in Valrico for a quieter life. I am finishing the repairs on my Residence in Tampa to Sell or Rent. I will make $50,000 Tax-free if I Sell right now, as my Residence, but, I want to get a HELOC on my paid off new home to use to buy a fixer upper house to Rent and I need more Income. I just sold my last Rental and it is easier for me to Rent my Residence for a year and then get the HELOC. After that I can find another fixer upper to Rent and still Sell my house in Tampa next year after some more upscaling renovations, for more profit. I am counting on Trump getting re-elected and the Fed continuing to pump up the Market and people like you fleeing from CA and NY. I could Rent my Residence in Tampa for two years and still Sell as a Tax-free Sale of my Residence. The rule is still 2 out of 5 years as your Residence to sell Tax-free. My question for you is that you obviously have a winner in Malibu. Why are you not Selling at the top of the Market, to get the Tax-free Sale of your Residence money as far away from Pelosi as you can get? You could try and 1031 the remainder of your profit out here to Florida. How many taxes do you have to pay on that $15,000 a month in Rent in CA, compared to what you can do with the money in Florida? There was a news flash this week saying that Pelosi wants to charge you CA Taxes even after you leave their State. I know they do that with any Retirement money. If you made the money in NY or CA, they want to tax you, forever. My brother is 30 years with the Electricians Union in San Jose and he said he is going to take a Cash payout and just move. His Townhome in Campbell is worth $1.5 million and the Asians all want to live there, so, it is a Bidding UP Auction situation whenever a home goes for sale there. I sold one Rental house in S. Tampa two years ago Without a Sign or Advertising, to a mother and daughter walking the neighborhood, looking to live as close to the old boyfriend who owns the home two doors away. I got my full Asking Price with a few demands. I just made a Bid two weeks ago on a Home with a pool and in five days they had 30 Offers and my high Bid was not even considered. If you think that you are going to make a Full Price Offer and get an Acceptance on houses in Florida right now...think again. I have one 3/2 with a popped pool that I want to buy as the owner needs to move and it is Off Market. Been talking with her for two months and I hope I can make some kind of arrangement to get that one as I don't like spending all the time making a Bid that is not accepted, against the Auction type situation we now have. You can't get a nice home offering Cash for the Asking Price. There are reports of people getting 50% more than the Asking Rental Price in Miami! My Agent in Brandon rented a house before noontime on Monday and she just listed it. You say you are in S. Florida and you see Hurricane Laura coming onshore right now in Texas? I used to run Crewboats out of Camaron La. Right where she is headed. If you look at the 130 year Hurricane map that we had on the Oil Tankers, you will see that all the hurricane tracks avoided hitting Tampa, Florida except for one in 1926 when this area was all orange trees and cattle ranchers. The only other "safe" place that I considered to set up my Rental Portfolio, thirty years ago was Jacksonville. I had a Union Hall to ship out in Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale and Jacksonville and I chose Tampa. Been lucky so far. There are some specifics for you to digest.

Hello Joyce Jackson. You are the example of what is wrong with BP type learning. Real Estate Investing takes time and expertise. It's not like buying TESLA Stock this morning and it pops $100 and you Sell for a quick Profit. You story is the reason I keep telling the Newbie to, "Look before you Leap." You are now the definition of a Motivated Seller. Would you like me to make you an offer or find you a Rental Manager to get you out of this situation? Your in Riverview? I'm in Valrico just behind the WalMart off of Brandon Blvd. No more Section 8's to start with...Ok? 

Hello Joyce Jackson in Tampa, Florida with a brand new home that you tried to Rent with an incredibly bad Section 8 Tenant. It's bad enough to have to be a Landlord, but, Section 8? As far as the inevitable clean up and repair you will have to do, at some point you will have to just Termite Tent the house to get rid of the vermin, if you continue with Tenants like that. I just moved to Valrico to get away from all the Section 8'ers hangin out on the street and begging on the corners. All the good people gave you lots of advice, but, if you want her to move, you should offer to pay her some Money and not do her any damage or hire a Lawyer and get some guys with a truck to move her stuff tomorrow. Just say that you want to rehab the house and move into it. The next step up from Section 8'ers are Trailers and my friend owns 90 of them. Can you imagine the nightmares he has? Advice from a burned out Landlord.

Hello Jesse Gaytan, Your a local in Clearwater. I had rentals in S. Tampa for 30 years. I don't know much about the other side of the Bay, but, if you are looking at investing in mobile and manufactured homes, St. Petersburg is full of them. The problem is the Communities and that is why my friend would find a lot and moved a used double-wide onto the lot with well and septic tank to rent, individually. When he got enough of those going in Lutz, then, he did Jumbo Loans to keep getting more of Other People's Money to buy a couple, distressed, Trailer Parks etc. There used to be an "Inventors" Club and an "Investors Exchange" Club in Clearwater. They were the ones who did Big Deals around town and the Clubs were private. One of their members was Lonnie Scruggs who is the Author of "Deals on Wheels." I have his book, "Making Money with Mobile Homes." He was the one to study for that type of investing. The Florida guy to go to for Buying and Selling Notes, was Jimmie Napier and I saw Lonnie at one of his meetings. Jimmie's book is, "Invest in Debt," the "how to" book on buying Paper for Cash Flow. When anyone tells you that, "Knowledge is Power..." I think of Jimmie Napier. He's like a horse trader and a used car salesman with the "good ole boy" attitude about anything Financial. I never met another guy who knew how to make more Deals and make them seem easy. Hope that helps. 

Hello BP Members, I am trying to point out that the step by step details of the Journey to the Bottom, do not matter. All the Worlds Governments are on a Race to the Economic Bottom and Control of All Your Money. Do you want to end up as the Goody, Goody, Creditor Nation with everyone else owing you Trillions of Dollars as Debtor Nations that will never be able to pay? 

Hello Mark Creason and the ones worried about our Real Estate Tax incentives being taken away. One thing to remember is that the Politicians that are spending all the Money without any intentions to ever pay the Debt, they also own Real Estate. Maybe, Kevin Brady does not own his own home or Investment properties, like the Clinton's and Obama's, until after they left the Presidentcy. We concerned individuals who try to make a living with Real Estate Investing have to wake up one morning and just realize that, "the Politicians spent all the Money!" At some point, there is a mathmatical number that is reached where All of the Tax Money Collected goes to just Paying the Interest on the Debt. Raising the Taxes only hastens our arrival at that point. One by one, the Tax-free or Tax-deferred advantages in Real Estate Investing are going to be eliminated by the Politicians. Trump tried to make the Tax-free Sale of your Residence Rule, 5 out of 8 years instead of 2 out of 5 years and that would have ruined my plans as I am 72 and selling my current Residence for a Tax-free $50,000 Profit. Martin Anderson says that if you want to see the direction we are headed, then, just watch what they do in Europe. The European Union has decided that they will never pay the Principal on their Government Pensions. You need at least 8% on Fixed Income Investiments to be able to service Pensions and the Europeans have Negative Interest rates in their Banks. You have to pay the Bank to hold your Cash and that is why they are going to force everyone to go to a Cashless Society. That way they know where all your Money is and they get to Tax it to the Max. You are their Cash Cow. They are making Cash Ilegal by changing the Currency to new bills and outlawing the old ones. You can't hold your Cash under your mattress because they make it worthless. Same with Gold and Sliver. They will just outlaw it. You go to prison if you try to hide your Gold. Their solution is to turn the Pensions into Annuities and only pay the Interest on the Pension Money and to do that, they want to raise Taxes 400%. Here in the US, the Teacher's, Firemen and Police Pensions are way underfunded in Cities like Chicago, New York and California. Those Pensions are not going to be paid. The Covid 19 Rescue Fund is being held up right now, by the Democrats who want 3 Trillion Dollars to give to the States that don't have the Money to pay the Pensions. Wake up America! We are in the process of watching the Government seize and spend All Our Money, like Drunken Sailors. It's like we are the Frog in the Frying Pan of water. As the Heat is turned up...the Frog does not feel too bad. Then, more Heat is added and it becomes uncomfortable. Then, more Heat and the Covid Virus and from the bottom, up, the people begin to feel the Pain and some businesses actually died. I worked in the Oil Field on ships etc. and the Arabs have a saying..."Grandfather rode a Camel. My father rode in a Ford. I ride in a Lexus and fly in a private jet. My son drives a Jeep. My grandsons will ride Camels." That is one way of looking at the Big Economic Picture that we are facing. Forwarned is Forearmed, people.