All Forum Posts by: Suzie B.

When I was a kid I used to dream about a car that would take you places. It would follow a magnet or something embeded in the road to stay on course. You as passenger would be alert to let it know when you wanted to turn and such. Not as sophisticated as what they are actually working on, but hey...

This was before internet was a house hold thing and I'd never heard of GPS.

I've never heard of that.. sounds interesting. I knew there were limits on cash, but didn't know you could give gifts of high value and avoid taxes. Something to think about in the future.

I'm interested in seeing what others know about it.

Looks to be a common problem.

We had a tenant who lived in two different units of ours. Started out in a duplex with high water bills (we paid the heat as it was shared), moved to a house in the same city with high water bills and high electric bills. We went over to the house to do some other work after she had complained about the electric and while we were there, took mental note of the place. The home was all electric and she had all the doors to the rooms closed making the too largest baseboard heaters do most of the work to heat the house .. and it sure was toasty! Tv's in every bedroom, extra appliances plugged in, and the dryer running almost anytime we were there for something. In the summer, same complaint... multiple window ac's running constantly even when no one was home.. plus all the other stuff. No wonder!

With a month to month, we often ask renters to pay more. It is a bonus to tenants to do month to month because they can give their 30 days and leave whenever they want..... not such a bonus to the landlord. Hopefully they don't leave in the dead of winter when it's hard to find a tenant (although I see you live in FL, so probably not as much of a problem there).

If they've not been a model tenant in the first place, would you be happy to see them go now? If so, let them go find a month to month somewhere else... and certainly don't sign a year again if you don't want to deal with them that long.

Sit tight on your numbers if they work. We've had a bank come back months later and accept an offer. By that time we were no longer interested in the property and declined.

My husband and I do both. There are pros and cons to each approach.

We both enjoy working together on home repair. He knows a lot about the mechanics and structure of a home, I do the design and much of the detail work (including tile and drywall finishing).

Flips can be a great thing when they go well, but they demand a lot of time and $$. We have enjoyed seeing them change from something we wouldn't live in, to something very nice. Our latest one isn't selling as quickly as we had hoped, but we have had some leads. Hopefully it will happen soon. If not, our exit strategy is to rent it... and it will cash flow just fine.

Rentals are usually less demanding on time and finances. You have to have a big chunk of money up front for down payment and usually some for repairs, paint, cleaning, etc. It will take a little time after purchase to get it ready and find a tenant, but then the work is minimal ... providing you have a good structure and mechanics, and a good tenant.

We have purchased rentals that need a substantial amount of work as well, that we could do ourselves to keep the costs down. That might be a good way to get into it and see if you want to do repair work on your free time, or just buy a few rentals along the way and play with design and colors if you want to when they are empty.

With a full time job, 5 days a week, your husband may find it hard to balance working on the flip and spending time with you and the kids. That said, my husband works full time and I'm a stay at home mom as well. Hubby works 12 hour shifts that rotate differently every week so he has some free weekdays every week. When we are doing a flip or remodeling project, he helps me on the weekdays he has off while our son is in school.. Weekends we take off, unless we are nearing the end of a project and have a boost of energy to get it done! On the days he works, I work on the project myself if there is anything I can do there. Hubby says ours works due to his unusual work schedule. You would have to decide how you could make it work with a normal work schedule.

I think I would hold it. It might not be your desire of a location to live in, but if you've not had problems getting good tenants, why go to the trouble of "upgrading".

Will you make more $$ a month if you upgrade?

Maybe buying another one is a better option. ?

I would certainly shy away from that one. Put yourself in a prospective tenant or home buyers shoes... would it bother you? If you have young kids at the present time would that make even more of a difference?

Hubby and I have looked at properties before that just had loud dogs next door barking at us... I can only imagine if they are left out at night they do the same. I hear complaints from tenants already.

Make it a breed that is thought to be more threatening ... no go for me!

There are pros and cons to both approaches.

The duplex would be nice so you can have your own space and although you are used to that, wouldn't it be nice to have a place to invite your friends and not worry about a roommate?

Single family home is easier to sell should you decide you want out of it. You will have more choices as there are more available. May get a roommate you don't like to live with.

If you decide on a duplex, you will likely have more money coming in per month for rent vs renting a room out of a SFH.

I don't know the price comparison between the two for your area... that might make a big difference in your decision as well.

See what kinds of loans you can qualify for and what kind of money down you will need. Are there any comps for duplexes or multis in your area ? When we bought our duplex, we had trouble getting comps which made it difficult to get a loan.

What it takes to become financially independent is a big question. It will vary greatly for everyone. Your location, risk tolerance, money to put down, etc, etc, etc can all play a big part in determining what it would take to get to that point.