All Forum Posts by: Ray S.

Thanks. 2% (1.9% currently) isn't bad at all for a savings account. There's no minimum hold period? And you can transfer your money out within days?

I bought some REITs a while back. They had good dividends but the prices were volatile, so they weren't very liquid because I didn't want to take the money out when the fund was down. Are there any you recommend that are very stable and offer decent returns? Which bond fund do you buy too? Thanks 

Where does everyone store the cash they keep on the sidelines while you're waiting to put it to work? This would be money that I wouldn't want to risk losing. What would be the highest return available that provided the least amount of risk with the most liquidity? Aside from leaving it in a money market are there places you can put it that will at least make something, even if it's a small return? I usually stick it in bonds, but the bond market looks a little more risky right now. 

Thanks

People say there's going to be a recession every year. I think now I've been hearing it more than ever in recent history though. The sentiment alone may trigger one, as more people are starting to get cautions in anticipation one is coming and cut back their purchasing. For me the property prices don't make any sense anymore in my area. You can't cashflow a 4-5 cap multifamily unless you own most or all of it. And with a condo you could own it outright and still lose money if you rent it. So if a recession came along and rents stagnated or went down, and the occupancy rate went down it would perform pretty poorly, not to mention the loss of value. It's a different story in other parts of the country. For me I'm not buying right now. Even if we sidestep a recession in the short term, it's coming and I'm going to be patient and see if prices pull back so I can get in then. If it never comes, then I'll just never own in my area and start looking into places where I can make money. 

I want to stay in the game. I have the flexibility to be an active investor, but if I'm putting in time I want to get a better return than 5%. My current place isn't too much work, but it's more than I feel I should be doing for that kind of return. Sure my place could appreciate dramatically in the next few years, but could also plummet or just stay stagnant, so really want to shoot for higher cashflow. So I'm looking for ideas where I could really boost my earnings by being even more hands on and/or taking on more debit, another area, type of property, ect.  Or if there are also good options for better cash flow in a less hands on investment. 

What would be some options for better returns that are more passive or more hands on? And if I wanted to be really involved, what would be my best option to get the most gains?

Thanks

It's in a flood zone. Flood insurance keeps skyrocketing but rents aren't going up. Lots of competing rental inventory popping up. It's a little under a 5 cap. Property values have been softening. Thinking it may be time to cash out and look for better opportunities or move to cash. 

I own this property 100%. If you say it's when and not if, why not consider ways to get out of the property and sit in cash until when it goes down? The property prices have been softening and rents have been flat for years. 

I agree, and that's exactly what I did. Bought this properly near the bottom of the last cycle in cash, added value and saw appreciation in the market and now have the opportunity to sell and what could be possibly be the top of the market cycle. Are you saying the better strategy is to not sell at all, and then take debt if/when the market bottoms out to buy more property? Wouldn't it be harder to do a cash out refi or HELOC if they market was in the dumps? If I took out 75-80% lets say, this property would probably just break even.

I'm just using MLS and looking mostly in my state at multi families, most have their income statements in the description. 8-10% caps are the most I'm seeing and they are in really bad neighborhoods. And I also don't believe they would stay 8-10% caps after transferring ownership. So I'm looking for ideas where 10+ cap rates are more common.

I would probably use an OZ fund, and not purchase the property myself. The purpose would be to take money out of the market and roll just the profits over tax free. So if it were a 1mil property that had 100k of profits. Take the 100k, put it in an OZ fund and forget about it and then put the 900k on the sidelines until better opportunities come along. Ideally the 100k would start to cashflow in 1.5-2 years from the fund and then you have that chance of future appreciation as well. V.S. using a 1031 exchange where I would have to spend the full million.