All Forum Posts by: Caleb Schmitz

Hello @Marcus Auerbach I like what you are saying about rentals. I feel as though I may want to consider doing the first couple properties as flips and then combine flips and rentals.  It is definitely a risky thing to consider secret compartments in a rental. Were you saying that it would only work in more modern rentals with higher rents? Or that those are better to pursue to keep vacancy time down?

Thanks Michael! I like that closing idea and keeps the person intrigued. If I did it in a rental, it would be a built in mini bar of sorts for theatricality and less on a security thing. I am a big fan of that closing idea though.

I totally agree. I do not really plan on doing a full panic room of any kind unless it happened to be a really nice flip 10 years from now. Not my strategy at all now though. In reality, I will use it for old buildings that have little uncovered closets below staircases or odd corners.

I am not really worried about this being a million dollar idea. Just a method of reducing vacancy from the start and driving traffic just slightly with a simply modification. Like you said Adam, "it sounds super cool." That's exactly the reaction I think many possible tenants might have while that are looking around. I appreciate your input!

Hello all,

I am new to investing and will be purchasing my first property later this year and hopefully develop a portfolio from there. Now, I am searching advice on some of my investment ideas. I am a design engineer in Wisconsin, and thought I could incorporate this into the portfolio marketing.

I have 3D designs of a few secret bookcases and want to develop a portfolio of properties (rental or other) that have some form of secret bookcase or passage. Since I designed it myself, it only costs around 300 for materials to put it together, so not a significant investment. I think that this may draw attention and traffic to my website or advertisements during vacancies. This would hopefully payoff quickly because my vacancy time would decrease. These secret bookcases or passages may range from simply having an in-wall mini bar or secret closet all the way to a panic room.

My main reason for doing this is that it will drive interest to my properties and advertisements as portfolio increases. I suspect that this will give me more applications so I can select the best tenants. Another minor benefit is that if I were to sell it in the future, it would be a way to attract buyers.

What do you think about this venture and concerns on this type of investment? All comments would be great!