All Forum Posts by: Michael Masters

@Jason Baldwin Beware statistics, consider what they represent. In this case, they don’t represent actual number of crimes committed. They represent crimes committed, then reported by victim, then documented by police officer. I can guarantee you that victims in some areas report less often and that police in some areas have less time to actually document the crimes. Somewhat related, I know someone who was beaten with a baseball bat in Chicago. Randomly attacked as part of a gang initiation. He was injured so bad that his brother and parents were told he wouldn’t live. He did live, which meant the police told him they wouldn’t be investigating because they were too busy with murder investigations. This despite the fact they knew which gang did it. So if I gave you a stat that said police in Chicago investigated fewer serious beatings than police do in other major cities, it may be true but misleading.

@Serge Suchkov How much in limits you should purchase and how much it will cost will vary based on where your properties are located. If you own multifamilies in Manhattan you should have more cover (5-10m?) than if you have properties in Nashville (2-5m?). Jury awards vary quite a lot by state and even county. Some areas are very well known in the insurance industry as being extremely litigious. I’ll try to find some insurance industry data by state and post it later.

No, do not waste $12,000 of your hard earned money on this course!

Instead, take my personal course for the low price of $9,999. 

Send check or money order to:

     Mike's Ripoff Premiere Course on Multifamily

13 Takinyercash Lane

Westport, CT

Wow, how many units do you have!  I use Excel at my day job for data which involves up to 50,000 rows, above that I start looking to house it in Access.  Excel just allows me more freedom, or maybe I'm a dinosaur who's not as good with Access as I am with Excel.

I'm going to follow this discussion and see if anyone out there is using Access.

I don’t think owning 80,000 units makes someone greedy, but I think once you get to that point I would hope you’re practices as a landlord are more on the generous side. For example, I remember reading a post about what someone should do when this elderly couple signed a lease but then the husband died before they moved in. The question was whether or not to give the deposit back to the surviving widow now that she no longer could afford the rental. While I understand those who said the deposit is there to protect your (the landlord’s) financial interests, I would hope a financially secure landlord with 100+ doors to be more giving with how they run their business. Someone with 4 doors may not be able to absorb that loss, but someone with an “empire” should be able to.

I get 3 or 4 nests each year on our personal residence.  I find each needs to be treated very differently.

-Nest connected to but outside house is easy, wait until an hour after dusk and spray, knock down, and destroy

-Nest inside the wall of house is very difficult!  Do not spray or they will look for an alternate way out of the nest which likely is a way into your house.  With these nests I tend to not take it out but control its size by using the "shopvac" method:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDJPRjn4-Fs

This method won't kill off the next entirely, but will greatly reduce numbers until more hatch, so you have to repeat it a few times throughout the summer.  Only other choice is to bring in an expert for a $200 which adds up with the number of nests we get.

Originally posted by @Aaron Hunt:

Originally posted by @Jim K.:

Congrats, BP. Our meat-puppet mania about passionately arguing about automobiles is once again showcased in full fig.

Queen - I'm In Love With My Car

Oh now it's on Aaron!  Hijacking thread to best car and/or cruisin' songs!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKpay8gumw0

I come at this from a strange angle. I have concerns about CT because the tax base is constricting and the state’s finances aren’t in a great place. For that reason I would buy near colleges as I assume these will be less impacted by the state’s problems. Having said that, I looked in CT and eventually decided to purchase out of state so take my advice with a grain of salt. Others’ advice likely more meaningful.

I’m not sure I completely understand what your asking but I’ll try to answer. Let’s say you buy a property for $100,000 with a cap rate of 10% and you get a mortgage at the rate of 6%. Let’s look at LTV of 50% and 75% and ignore property appreciation. 50% LTV Loan = 50,000 Downpayment = 50,000 Interest = 50,000 * 6% = 3,000 Annual income = 100,000 * 10% = 10,000 Your income net of interest = 10,000 - 3,000 = 7,000 Your return = 7,000 / 50,000 = 14% 75% LTV Loan = 75,000 Downpayment = 25,000 Interest = 75,000 * 6% = 4,500 Annual income = 100,000 * 10% = 10,000 Your income net of interest = 10,000 - 4,500 = 5,500 Your return = 5,500 / 25,000 = 22% If mortgage rate is lower than cap rate then the higher the leverage the greater your percent return and more money you have for other properties to purchase. However, more risk you have from vacancies and deadbeats impacting your income. This simple example also ignores the principle you pay down.

I prefer to “marry” a new car and stay together “until death do we part.” I’ve always purchased below my means. If I can’t pay cash its not a car I will buy, although I sometimes take a loan just for the cheap cash (if its half the interest rate of a mortgage, why not?). I buy new because I’m 100% sure of the history. I’m sure I could save $$$ by buying used but I don’t need aggravation in my life and the price differential isn’t great enough for me to be concerned about. The one exception was when I graduated from college and money was tight so I bought a 1 year old car. I’d say this is my mantra for life in general, live beneath your means and if you run into problems you are well placed to absorb the hiccups. As you move up, step up your lifestyle to celebrate success but always stay one or two levels below what your wealth would allow.