All Forum Posts by: John Arendsen

Big thanks @James Wise. I found a lot of very valuable information in that post.

@Bradley Marion, Simply stated, it really depends on your particular station in life. At 70 years young I've worked most of my life to eliminate all debt and have finally arrived and plan to stay that way. 

We hold a very healthy and comfortable stock and RE portfolio and don't leverage at all anymore. If we can't pay cash for it we don't buy it. Our goal is PASSIVE INCOME and you really can't realize the ultimate in that if your leveraging capital, assets or equity in my humble opinion.

However, that stated, if your young, healthy and ambitious and have some capital to invest via leveraging and building a portfolio as you go and grow then go for it with zeal. If you're not willing to take a little risk along the path of life you'll just sit on the sidelines and watch while the real movers and shakers entrepreneur their way through life.

My 3 cents worth adjusted for inflation.

@Chris B., well that's certainly a very positive endorsement. Thanks for sharing that information. My only question, and it's certainly not a deal breaker, is whether or not the site will benefit me based on demographics and geographics. 

I don't get much from other SoCal, especially San Diego, South Orange County and South Riverside including Palm Desert/Palm Springs which is really my primary focus for investing in res & com RE.

In fact most of what I get from BP is primarily in the North & Southeast Coast and the Pacific North West and I'm not interested in doing any type of investing in those areas at this point. That's not to say that I don't get a lot of great info from those areas about RE investing in general.

Once again I'm not the least bit concerned about throwing a couple of hundred buck at this. Especially if it helps cultivate and maintain what I consider to be a very good site with a lot of well informed and experienced folks. I'm just a stickler for research and information. Probably the stock investor mentality I've developed over the years. 

Thanks again for the great comment. 

@Jay Hinrichs, Big thanks, I'll check it out and heed your advice.

@Account ClosedNot sure who you were referring to in your comment but I find your tone very unnecessary and offensive and will report it and ask that it be remove. This is not a venue for levying hostilities at one another.

Eating establishments are as fickle as an 18 year old co ed in the middle of the mens football locker room. That stated, I'd go the 30k route and let the tenant deal with the TI. You can't second guess your lessee. You could spend a 100k and a viable tenant would want to change things. Unless you're a restaurantuer with a specific plan which you've stated you're not.

@Account Closed, I hear ya there my friend. However, I'm not in any hurry to hook up with anyone on any RE deals unless its on a matched funds basis. I've never been one to just loan money to folks. I've worked too hard for it. But equal or close to equal partnerships are where its at for me unless its stock. I'm still long on APPL and DISNEY. LOL! Thanks again for stopping by.

@Alex Curtis, Actually I have a pretty broad and diversified stock portfolio (approx 10% of my net worth) and RE passive income portfolio (approx 50% of my net worth). Personally, I'm pressing my stock portfolio and in a full buying mode as the market drops but will still stay within the 10% range moving forward. 

For my comfort zone dollar cost averaging all the way down is better than buying on the rise. Warren Buffet only started making his billions after he turned 50. His credo is never sell. Only buy and he's done that admirably by investing in high yield dividend stocks which he lives quite comfortably on. 

That stated, I'm not giving you investment advice so please don't take it as such. The Stock Market is not for everyone by any means and there are definitely advantages in investing in RE. However, just like the stock market RE has its peaks and valleys as well. 

A lot of folks got stuck on the high side of the RE market and ended up losing their shorts albeit that was due to some very loose and whacky lending regs as we all know. Voila, in walks Dodd-Frank.

But you'll get some very good investment tips on BP for sure so by all means keep moving the ball down the field. There's a lot of very good FREE webinars and pod casts on this platform for newbies and I'd recommend visiting some of those before you plunk down any of your hard owned doe, rey me. 

That's my 3 cents worth adjusted for inflation.

@Jimmy Moncrief LOL! That's nice? Don't really need a lecture about investing in myself. At 70 and very comfortably semi retired and doing as I damn well please I'm fully vested in myself. 

FYI, I belong and subscribe to a host of biz blogs, organizations, stock & RE advisoral groups, clubs, meet ups, etc. I asked this question for good reason and I'm actually getting some very good and informed answers. Why don't you invest a little of your time reading some of the comments?

@Jay Hinrichs, Thanks for your candor.  I've noticed that the majority of activity comes from the Midwest East. Haven't noticed nearly as much activity from Cali and some from the PNW. 

I'm also in agreement regarding low to mid ranged residential, MF and apartment activity, however, once again mostly from the Midwest to the East Coast. I'm primarily interested in commercial and hight end properties from Orange County South to the North San Diego Coastal area.

If I thought that being a BP PRO would help me grow my portfolio or contact base I'd sign up today for a year in advance. But I'm not getting as many signals from that area thus far. It doesn't mean that I'm not benefitting somewhat from BP but I have to wonder if it's any better than the Active Rain blog that I've been a member of since '08 and/or FB and LI. 

Thanks again for your comment.