All Forum Posts by: Michael Haynes

@Jack Hensy, Hello from Tampa. You could wait for the Fed to continue to raise the interest rate, until they cause the next Crash in the Markets and "Buy when there is Blood in the Streets." 

@Ryan Nitzsche, Hello from Tampa. Not to belabor the issue, but, if you can open this link to How My Friend Retired at 40, then, this is the basic business Plan with RE that also includes the big picture view of the RE Market.

https://outlook.live.com/owa/?path=/mail/inbox/rp

The idea of farming the 33629 Zip Code for "Deals" right now, does not make sense. All the builders are on top of it.

As an example, an older friend who lives in Venice, just bought a house with two trailers on a property in a crummy neighborhood in Nokomis and he can Flip it for $30K profit, without doing a thing. I have my eyes on two, two story, commercial buildings on Armenia that have stores downstairs and apartments upstairs. This is the way old style City Centers used to build out. I would be Selling what I have now and trade Futures to save in Dollars and keep my list of what I would Buy when the Market takes the next downturn. Harry Dent says the next move down could be worse than the 2008 Crash. I lost 60% of my property values in Tampa and they are just now showing sufficient profits to make it good enough to sell my 10 and 15 year Rentals with profits. Just like trading a Stock or Commodity. Buy and Hold does not work if you are a Conventional, Retail, Investor who does not pay attention to the RE Cycle. They Buy at the High and Sell at the Low. This is not Dollar Cost Averaging with Rental property. You don't get Rich from Rents. You Create Wealth with the Appreciation of the property as you sleep. The 3/2, 1200 sq. ft. block house  I have been repairing for the last six months, near MacDill AFBase, is being sold to an old tenant and his sister who is going blind as a retired nurse. She is going back to her Ex who will buy it for them to live in when he gets back from a 90 day tour of duty in Afganistan. In the meantime they are going to rent it for $1200 a month. My profit should be more than $30K for the ten year Rental.

@Ryan Nitzsche, Hello again from Tampa. If I told you to save up as much Cash as you can and just wait for the next Crash to Buy when there is Blood in the Streets...would that make sense? Would you do it? We are in a Deflationary World. The Fed is raising Interest rates until they kill the Real Estate Market with Mortgage Loans being too expensive for the Buyers whose wages have not gone up in 18 years. Rents are going up. The cost of Utilities have doubled in the last ten years here in Tampa. The price of gasoline has gone down, but, the average wage earner makes less now, after Inflation. The Europeans have to pay the Bank to hold their money. So, they look towards the US Dollar and our Bonds to Invest in something that gives them Yield. The Dollar is viewed as safe. There are two reasons to Buy Real Estate. Monthly Cash Flow and Appreciation for the long term. You are a Buy and Hold Investor who does not care whether the properties will Appreciate over the Long Term. You are satisfied with a Monthly Cash Flow portfolio. In my 30 years in Tampa, I have seen that SFH's almost always fail to support themselves and if the Market is not in an uptrend, Monthly Cash Flow is not enough to make it work. Everybody and their Agent are out there looking for a Deal in the 33629 Zip Code. Did you see the 2/1, wood frame house that they just gutted to rehab on Manhattan near Bay to Bay? Insane! They even took off the outside walls with a complete new roof to save a 2/1 with the lot being worth, maybe $300K. And built a new house next door. If you already have Rentals and a Home that have appreciated since the 2008 Crash, I would Sell here at the Top and look to Buy an apartment complex for Long Term Cash Flow, so, that everything would be in one place, with professional Maintenance and Management. My friend owns 90 individual Trailer lots with Single and Double wide and Manufactured Homes. Why? Because it is the Land that will eventually go up in value and you can make more Cash Flow with Boxes. But, he also bought a small Apartment complex and some Trailer Parks to be able to consolidate his efforts in one location and save on Travel Time. After 30 years of waking up each morning with a Honey Do List of things to repair and do with individual houses in S. Tampa, I look forward to selling off and just stay home and trade Futures on my laptop.

@Ryan Nitzsche, Hello from Tampa. I see two things. You worked to Buy a Town House that you lived in for a few years and now you are going to Rent it? Why would you give up your opportunity to Sell your Town Home, Tax-free, up to $250K per spouse, at the top of the RE Market, using the Residential Sale Rule? It's like selling a used car...you don't even declare the Sale on your Taxes. Take the money you profit with and Buy something else to Rent. How are you going to feel six months from now if the Market tanks or the Congress changes the Residential Sale rule? If you are talking S. Tampa for good School Districts, then, you want Plant High School. That is the 33629 Zip Code. You can do a Google Search for the Zip Code Area. Then, go to Zillow and plug in any address near there and get their map. Enlarge it to show the whole Zip Code Area and search for a Deal. You have red dots for houses for sale. Yellow dots for houses that sold. Green dots for foreclosed houses. Purple dots for rentals. If you don't find anything and you think that offering to buy a Rental is a way to go, then, make up a proposal letter to send to each owner that has a property that would fit your needs. I was told by my partner 30 years ago that he would send a written offer to the owner of any property he was interested in. The reason he said, was that you might just put that letter away in the drawer and six months from now, get it out and make the call. I have only had one sent to me in 30 years. Last year, online, full contract to sign with a Cash Offer, by a guy who had been farming the neighborhood for twenty years. He owns the house next to mine and another a couple doors away. His first offer was $117. A few months later he sent another written offer online, to my email without me giving it to him, for $120K. Then, he called me to talk. Get the idea? I am finishing all the repairs I can do to this 3/2, 1200 sq. ft. block house with extras this week. I have an offer to Rent it for $1200 again to an old tenant who owes me rents that he promises to pay back, with his older sister who is getting back with the Ex. The Ex Husband is doing one more tour of duty to Afganistan for 90 days and then they want to Buy it for my price at $160K. I have a meeting in the morning with a young couple who say they are Cash Buyers. An Agent came by this evening and left some material with a possible Buyer. Another agent came by two weeks ago and said that it is ridiculous to ignore the Zillow properties. She gets up each morning to see what's new and makes the calls. My house is not on the MLS. In S. Tampa you can Buy a new, 3/2, 1900 sq. ft. Town Home for $240K. The only thing that people want, South of Kennedy Blvd. down to MacDill AFBase are New Houses. The few blocks around my house seem to have dried up on the ten or so houses for sale this last six months. You can't squeeze blood from an old stone, just by gutting it and putting in new cabinets and marble counters if your Sale Price is going to be the same as the New Town Homes in the same area.

@David Jesse, Hello from Tampa. One other thing to consider is that it can be a huge mistake to live on the same property or next door to...your Tenants. It is bad enough to get the phone calls when something goes wrong and they want you to fix it right now, or they will not pay the Rent. I have a house next to two houses on the same lot, that my friend owns. I have worked on them for a few years and managed them for him, until the 2008 Crash created all the problems with Tenants in Tampa. The problem is that you can only rent to one family. It is only Zoned for Single Family. But, it is Grandfathered and can be changed to multi-family or I can live in the back and keep the Utilities in my name as there is only one water meter and two electric meters. They all have to be related or Code Enforcement can shut you down. These two houses are grandfathered in as far as the buildings are attached with the back porch that I closed over to the back house with a roof. The City made an In-law rule years ago in Tampa that would promote building of places in the back to house the extra family member. I see dumb building all over Tampa with people wanting a "detached garage" when if they just ran the roof over to attach it to the main house, you are able to set up the garage with sewer and water for a future In-law apartment. In S. Tampa everybody took the carport and illegally closed it in to make an extra suite with the 2/1 and 3/1 houses that they built after WWII for the military families. Those are all grandfathered in, but, you never know about the type of construction. The different ideas that BP members have with trying to live in one to help pay the other is really basic. Why not buy two cheap houses to fix up and live in one and rent the other? On my Commercial property I am going to do the same thing as Michael Short. We have a friend with a nice RV that needs motor fixing. They want to give it to me and I will put up a fence behind the 3/1 and keep the RV in the back where the sewer line comes around. Hook it up and rent it to one of the old tenants that still owes me back rents and can't pay for all the Deposits to rent the house. Lots of stuff to consider with the funky houses in Florida.

Micah Weiss, Hello from Tampa. I was a Merchant Seaman with the MM&P Union here in Tampa. I taught myself to Invest in Mutual Funds while I was shipping on Oil Tankers and made $100K to buy mostly Duplexes in S. Tampa, 30 years ago. The 2008 Crash did destroy the value of my Rentals, but, I continue to work my way out of that hole with my remaining properties, which have all recovered and greatly appreciated in value. I only have one house on the East side of I275, next to my friend's two houses on one lot that I want to Buy, Financed by the Owner. My girlfriend and I just sold two old farm houses, near downtown Tampa, South of Kennedy Blvd. two blocks, for $320K. It was a 15 year Rental and we made $90K from the sale to pay off all of our Debt. I am just finishing six months of repairs on a 3/2 house down near the AFBase. I was trying to Sell it, but that area seems to have gone flat. I have an offer to rent the rooms separately to a group of roofers in S. Tampa as the price for the Motels has just gone up from $280 a Week to $320 and they can't afford that. These types of workers, have no Credit, they drink beer and work hard, pay check to pay check. They can't afford two full months rent with all the deposits for Water, Light, Cable, Phone, Insurance, gas etc. to move into a House with a one year Lease. I can double my rent, with Utilities and for now that is a good thing for both of us. There is a need for Affordable Housing in S. Tampa as the Builders are building out all the lots South of Bay to Bay and now East and West of Dale Mabry Hwy. I have four lots on Dale Mabry just before Interbay with a 3/1 House that I can do the same type of rental deal with these roofers and they will save $100 a week for their beer and cigarettes. In Louisiana we had Bunk Houses and old ladies who would rent furnished rooms like this, to make their living. Here in Tampa we have Cuban families that have houses with 3 or 4 rooms that they rent to older ladies, two to a room, with an area for sitting and watching TV, a patio for visiting and they get their meals cooked for them for around a thousand a month, each. In the next few months of repairs, with the five houses I will be able to start clearing $5000 a month in Rental Income. So, I am back in the game. While I was shipping out and buying Duplexes in S. Tampa, I would take time off from the ships and build cheap houses in Brazil in the Oil Capital of Brazil, Macae. Everything I own down there, including some small farms, is paid off. I am now, getting ready to get back there and take care of my Rentals etc. I live on a double lot on the river, across from the Zoo. I am buying my girlfriend out of this property. I will add another bath to convert the Florida Room with the river view, into the Master. Then, it will be a 2000 sq. foot, 3/2, Rental house with a big lot to rent for $2000 a month. That will give me another $1000 a month in Cash. When it is paid off I can move back in and Sell as my Residence, Tax-free. The Plan in the beginning was to Acquire ten Rental Houses that produced positive Rents and in ten years, fix up the five worst to Sell and pay off the remaining five houses to be worth a Million Dollars with $3000 a month in Rents to live on...I also have gone from Mutual Fund Investing to Stocks and then Options on Stocks to Daytrading just the S&P Emini Future in the morning on my laptop. Since the 2008 Crash I have been occupied with just saving the Rentals in Tampa. Now, I will free myself up and I always thought that I would be able to make more Money in my retirement, than when I was working. Just trading the Future on my laptop should net me ten times that amount and I trade out of my Roth IRA which is Tax Free in and out and I don't have to keep records for any of the trades. Sorry about the long message. Last thing. Are you related to Martin Weiss the Investor?

https://www.moneyandmarkets.com/experts/martin-d-w...

He grew up in Brazil which is the one place in this world where I feel "at Home." We call him a Perma Bear because he sees a lot of the Doom and Gloom in the Investing World...maybe like me with the properties on the East side of I275 and Tampa in general. Yesterday on the radio, a couple of local guys were talking about how Millenials are being told to move to Tampa and when they get here they hate the roads and traffic and low wages and dirt and want to move. They said that it has come to the attention of the Mayor who wants to find a way to attract the young, brains like Silicon Valley types to start businesses. I know that some of my Tenants, who tried to live in St. Pete, have moved to Tampa, even when their JOB's are in St. Pete, just to be with the younger, party goers and beer drinking crowd. So, "each to his own."

@Matt N. Hello from Tampa. I also heard that St. Petersburg was not happy with Airbnb business. Here is an article talking about making them pay a bed tax in Florida.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/tourism/airb...

There are more articles if you do a Search online. I was looking into an Airbnb business, but, you have to "host" them. I have property in Brazil that I have to get back to and this is my time to semi-retire. I am not looking to Manage a private Hotel...The people attracted to this type of business, seem to live in one part of the house and "host" the part that they rent out. I know of one lady in Safety Harbor who bought one big house. She took out all the carpets and my friend installed dark wood floors for easier maintenance. This lady starting making enough from this one house with Airbnb to quit her JOB and she bought another in Safety Harbor, looking for more on the "A" Class side of the little town.The is another couple who discovered this some years ago and they bought all the small houses and apartments around the Town Center to just Airbnb them. My question was, "Why Safety Harbor?" Turns out that Vacationers were willing to live in a quaint, quiet, beautiful, little Town, near the Clearwater and St. Pete Beaches with some views of Tampa Bay. They did not necessarily want to live, "on the beach." The other attraction was that each year there is an Antique British Car Show.

http://atlantahealeys.org/events/29th-annual-safet...

Lasts a week and everything rents for high prices. Here in Tampa, this would relate to Conventions, The Yankees, The Buccaneers football games. Ice Hockey downtown, Bush Gardens and all the beaches nearby. One other problem is Flood Insurance. This is a Federal program and the Politicians have not solved the problem with how to fund it. Flood was supposed to go up 10% a year until they found a way. There is no way to continue to raise the cost and expect all the Owner Occupied Retired Owners to be able to afford it in their Fixed Income, Less Spending, Retirements. I am living on a double lot, on the Hillsborough River, across from the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. One of our concerns is how the Flood Insurance problem is going to be solved. You want a St. Pete home to vacation on the Beach and Airbnb? I would do a lot more research from here to make it work out.

@ Clayton Mobley, Hello from Tampa. All well and good advice and tips for @Ed Diaz to do his due diligence. I just don't see how you are going to find "an incredible Deal" that pays positive Monthly Rents if some Pro does all the work to find, buy, rehab, vet, manage and offer this For Sale. "Where's the Beef?" We are in this business to make Money on the front side, by buying a Deal and then receive positive Monthly Rents and hope that the property will eventually go up in Appreciated value when we Sell for more. Using a full service Turnkey company for a property that I haven't even seen as an Absentee Owner and hoping to make this a good way to Invest does not make sense to me. I trade Futures and this would be like me taking advice to Buy Gold from my Broker...not a good idea. "Broker's are in business, to make you Broke." Some of the guys from California said that they just Invest in REIT's to eliminate all the concerns with actually being an Owner.

https://fundrise.com/education/blog-posts/the-new-...

The problem with Real Estate is that it is not liquid. When it is time to get out, you can't just push the button and Sell, like a Stock. Houses don't take care of themselves. 

@Iverem Rose, Hello from Tampa. I noticed what you pointed out with the "Deals" that the few Wholesellers were presenting on BP in our area. All of those Deals were already on Zillow at a 10 to 20% lower cost then what the Whoeseller was Selling them for. So, in my opinion, the Wholesellers presenting on BP for the Tampa, St. Pete, Clearwater areas were worthless. If you did a short Search on one of the sites like Redfin, Trulia, Realtor, Homesnap, Airivify, City-Data, Homes, Loopnet.com etc. you could identify so many properties For Sale, in Foreclosure, or Sold for comparisons and Deals, that there is really no need to do more than run the numbers and drive the neighborhoods. If you look at the map on Zillow for New Port Richie area, it looks like every other house is either For Sale or in Foreclosure. It's like picking a Stock in an Up Market...all you have to do is make a list and throw a dart at it to have some pick to Buy. I saw on the Flipping Vegas show that Scott Yancey said he was Flipping 50 houses a year for the last three years in Vegas. In that case you would want an Agent who was really good at doing all the different Searches online and pay them for some of the good Deals that they find. Scott almost always Buys through the Auctions and on the show he ends up with some really destroyed houses to fix up. A recent example that I saw is a house down the street from my girlfriend's home on W. Osborne, on the corner next to the Broward Elementary School. It's a 2/1 frame in really bad shape that was offered by a Wholeseller a few months ago for $89K and they were saying that you could fix up and sell it for something like $140K. I checked it out on Zillow as I had been watching it as an abandoned property to pick up and it had been advertised for months at $54K. Someone finally bought it and they have a whole crew over there this week, gutting the whole house and even taking off the outside walls to put on a new roof and rehab it from the frames up. Way too much work for me. That house was only worth Buying for Land Value with all the work they are having to do. There is another house that has been in Foreclosure for years, two doors up from my girlfriend's, in this same Seminole Heights neighborhood, that is selling for the original value and the incredible Equity Loan Value that the owner got back before the 2008 Crash. The Bank wants it all with a Sale Price of $135K, when that destroyed, 2/1 block house on a corner is only worth land value at around $50K. The Bank is stuck and the lady still lives there in a huge mess without paying a cent for Rent or the Mortgage, waiting to be Evicted. These REO's are an area that I don't understand. They just boarded up another house across the street from where we are living on the Hillsborough River, across from the Zoo. Nice, possibly, 3/1 or 3/2 block house for a Flip. So, now, there is another possible Foreclosure with a Bank that wants all their Money back, but, won't lower the Sale Price down to what it is really worth for a Flipper or family who wants to live there, to be able to afford to Buy and fix it up to live in. It could go to Auction and still not Sell, like the house on the corner near my girlfriend's and sit there for how much longer? Those are my observations in the short time that I have been a BP member. I did a Search down in the Venice area where my friend has three houses and her friend just bought a small house with two trailers on either side of the house that he can Flip, without lifting a finger, for $30K more than he bought it for. The Deals are all over the place. What does a single Investor need with a Wholeseller?

@Joshua Wilson. Hello from Tampa. Unless your Smart and Lucky with the right Education at the right Time, like Warren Buffett was, the Road to Riches is a long, winding road. There are many different ways to make Money. Investing in Real Estate is only one of them. I have had a few Rentals in S. Tampa for 30 years and I did get caught by the 2008 Economic Crash. It took about two years to find a bottom and seven years later, S. Tampa valuations are back at breakeven or better from the Crash. I am repairing my last few Rentals and Selling them off because they will show me a Profit. My girlfriend and I had two old farm houses which we just sold near downtown Tampa. They were a 14 year Rental producing about $500 a month Free Cash. We sold for a $90K profit which paid off all our current Debt. We may not be at the Top of the Market Cycle, but, I don't want to get caught again. I will keep my Residence, because that is where you can make Tax-free profits when you Sell after living there for two years out of the last five. You have a Home. Make good use of that Residental Sale rule. You pointed out that you have just paid off your Credit Card Debt. Now, you can be like Dave Ramsey and say, "I am Debt Free!" And then, as an Investor, get back to work and save a little more and learn how to Creatively Finance the next property with a long term Plan to make Monthly Rental Income and Create Wealth through Long Term Appreciation in the property. I had a 10 Years to a Million with Rentals Plan to follow. There are many out there on the internet. Here is one

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2012/12/1...

The other thing is that with $5000 and good Credit you can buy single lots with Trailers on them...here is an article about Warren Buffett and how he is Investing in Trailers

http://www.prweb.com/releases/warrenbuffett/mobile...

My friend has 90 lots with Single and Double wide Trailers for rent. He started with one and it is just like raising cattle or planting oranges. It's a numbers game. Once you get enough going to show profits, you use that Money to Buy and Plant more and your Business grows.