All Forum Posts by: Peter Sanchez

1) You can get the hardwater stains out by draining the toilet, then fill it with white vinegar and let it soak.  Then it should come off easily with a toilet brush.

2) I would go with the home depot route.  I assume you are talking about a whole house filter, where you can install it yourself. If not, get some quotes. $3k seems like a lot to install a water filter. Take the model number of what they wanted to install and go to a regular plumber for a quote to buy and install it, not a "water softening company".

Whenever someone comes up with a specialized name, like "water softening company" instead of "plumber" I feel like I'm about to get hit up for a big bill.

 THIS!!!

Re-doing the stucco is expensive, which is why your repair guy is telling you to do it (more money for him). What @Chris is telling you should work out fine.

I don't think it's the 100+ year old houses that you have to worry about.  It's the houses in the 1950s-1970s where asbestos was commonly used. 

This is the crab bucket phenomenon.  You don't need to  put a lid on a bucket of crabs because as soon as one tries to climb out, the other crabs latch onto it and pull it back down into the bucket. 

People would rather see you fail because it gives them an excuse for not trying to improve their situation.  You're doing something to improve yourself and your doing it ethically and on your own.  Hold your head up high.  The world needs more entrepreneurs like us. 

@Brandon Turner you need to figure out why it's sagging first, then you can figure out the cost.

My house had a fire and they replaced the 100 year old wood with newer wood, and 2x4s etc are not exactly 2x4, but they were in the old days.  So that's 1/2 inch dip, not enough for me to give a crap about, so I left it like that.

2" is a lot though, so it might be some settling or erosion under the foundation.

If it's a solid concrete pad, there is some new product (like expanding foam) that they can shoot in under pressure and raise it up a couple of inches.

If it's cinder block, you would probably support the house beams near the sagging wall with lolly jacks, then take down the cinder block and rebuild it, but 2' higher.

This doesn't make any sense.  So if you met a guy who won $100 million by buying lottery tickets, would you think buying lottery tickets is a good idea?

First of all, Dave Ramsay made his millions by hosting a radio show and selling his books, not by investing in the actively managed mutual funds he recommends, or by buying houses using no leverage. 

How about a person, Warren Buffett, who made billions by investing in the stock market (not writing books or hosting a radio show)?  Do you know what he recommends?  Well, the instructions he left for investing the money that he left for his wife after he dies were that they should be invested in low-cost index funds, like Vanguard.  But what does he know, right?

Some of the things Dave Ramsay advises, like getting out of debt, are great. Some of his advice, like buying high cost, actively managed mutual funds from his endorsed local providers who are paying him affiliate commissions for every lead they get from him, are terrible ideas.

Investing in Real Estate (or anything else) is like playing sports.  Whether you'll be good at it depends on your attributes.  If you're short and overweight, you won't be a professional basketball player, but you might be a professional bowler.  

It doesn't make any more sense to say everyone should buy and flip than it does to say everyone should be a kickboxer, or everyone who goes to the doctor should get penicillin because it worked for you. 

If you want to think about what kind of real estate investing you should do, think about how you feel about debt. If being leveraged to the hilt is something that keeps you from sleeping at night, then think about things like wholesaling where you aren't borrowing money and you are trying to get base hits instead of home runs.  If debt doesn't bother you, then get mortgages, second mortages, hard money, whatever makes sense to you. 

In my first condo, and the live-in flip that I own now, most of the appreciation hasn't come from doing the actual work to improve it but from sitting on my *** and waiting.  If you are impatient, this isn't for you, but you are not me. 

When I buy stocks I use what is a called a value investing approach.  I don't look to find the next Facebook, I look to find something that is undervalued and won't lose money. I'm not looking for a lottery ticket that will pay millions, just to keep steadily buying dollar bills for fifty cents and waiting. I'm sure some of you will get rich faster than I do, and that's fine.  But some of you will blow up and end up broke.  That's not a risk I'm willing to take.  I don't mind taking risks as long as failing won't take me out of the game. 

I also don't like aggravation, so when I'm done with this house I'm living in, I will not be renting it out and dealing with tenants.  I will sell it and move on. Screening your tenants can help avoid a lot of problems...so can not having any tenants at all.  

What about you?  Do you think your investing style matches up with your personality?  Is there something you could do differently to help you sleep at night? 

@Josh C., well why don't you pay off your student loans?  Student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy, so if you get rid of them it will give you some room to maneuver.  If things go horribly wrong, you can short sell a house, you can't do anything with student loan debt.

Also, put the max amount possible ($5k?) into a roth IRA, so that it grows tax free until you retire. You can pull out the principal amount you put in (leave the gains) at any time with no penalty if you need it.

I have a couple of how to books (Plumbing, and Electric) that i've had a loooong time and were worth their weight in gold. Now i use YouTube for everything. 

nice work!