All Forum Posts by: Michael Plante

 Sleeps 6. Pull out sofa always a must 

I spend a bit of time reading and contributing to different forums...  
Real Estate, FIRE/Early Retirement, Sailing, Overlanding - and every time I come here to BP I'm left wondering why the discussions/goals I see on all those other forums don't seem to show up here.

In most cases on other forums people are 100% focused on buying their freedom and how quickly they can get there.  
For some people it's RE, for some it's the market, for some its various side hustles (for most, it's a combination of all of the above), but in almost all cases the early questions and focus is always on the end goal - FREEDOM, and how soon they can reach it.

When the method is focused on the market, those investors can almost always tell you "the number" that is their goal or end point.  That number where the math works out and they feel comfortable that they can live off their nest egg or dividends for the remainder of their days without working again. 

But here I feel like the conversations all seem to center around growth and striving for massive portfolios and making millions... so I'm just curious what everyone's end goal is in this "game" - and IF you already have a portfolio that covers your living expenses and would allow you to live a good lifestyle without ever buying another property... what is driving you to keep expanding the portfolio and working what is now another "job"??

I'll kick things off - 
For us, we initially got involved in RE investing because we were fully in love with the idea of passive income and a monthly check rather than having to wait/work jobs we hated until some unknown date far into the future.

Fast forward a couple of years and we realized that lifestyle changes and downsizing/living more simply meant that even our small/modest portfolio could already cover our living expenses and allow us to live without jobs (if we played our cards correctly).  
I'm certain we could have stuck around, kept our incomes/paychecks (to be more easily financeable) and continue growing the portfolio to a more impressive stature; but the goal was always freedom, and we quit our jobs and walked aware as soon as we thought we could survive on the passive income.

Now almost 10years later, our properties have continued gaining in value while our tenants continue paying off our loans for us and we continue traveling and living abroad full-time living our best lives (quite literally) and if I look back, honestly... I only wonder why we didn't trust the process and leave even sooner.  

Whats your number/end goal???

Hello!

I currently am negotiating a multi unit building that needs a ton of work. It has been vacant for 10-15 years and is currently without power. 

I cannot find a way to test the well and septic system because there is no power and have no history on the systems (except for a permit that was pulled in mid 1980s). 

Any ideas on what I can do? 

100% disagree with that statement. We have a 2/2 in pitman center that is t1-11 siding and all drywall. We made it into a farmhouse/cabin feel. Picture chip and Jojo designing a cabin. We have only had 1 night vacant all year. Will do over 100k this year alone. Many people feel the all wood cabin and bear everything is tacky and our property have many 5 star reviews that mention they love that it is not a dungy wood cabin. Just make it look relaxing and new. We are building 2 more just like it. 

https://www.vrbo.com/1694665

I have heard from a few people to stay away from short term rentals in the Gatlinburg area which have drywall walls and ceilings. 

If the rest of the house is themed correctly, why not simply install wood siding/paneling over the drywall?

I have seen multiple people discard properties on account of the drywall alone, and do not understand why, when the installation of paneling does not seem to be prohibitively expensive. 

Thanks. 

I have 23 units in Fayetteville, NC and I couldn't be happier with how things are going. Fayetteville is probably one of the most stable markets mainly because of Ft. Bragg. Fortune Magazine actually labeled this market 2nd in the country to invest in during a pandemic. I made this post on FB a while back.