All Forum Posts by: Timothy Trewin

@Kameron Patterson , I have yet to live out there but I have known since October that I am going to Ft Campbell. I am in the Army and almost finished with my recruiting assignment in Ft Collins so I am getting stationed out there. Since I have known that I was going to be stationed there I have been researching the area since then. This is how I know what I do know of it. This will be my final assignment so I am planning and preparing for retirement there in case I don't move back to Ft Collins.

@Kameron Patterson Thank you for what you do. I am also currently serving, but preparing for my life after serving. I am about to move to Clarksville, and will be down there full time in less than three months. Once there I will be involved significantly in my investing, which is also buy and hold. I would recommend Clarksville/Nashville for what you are looking to do. For buy and hold there is no shortage of renters from both Ft Campbell and Austin Peay University. Then you have Nashville just south of there. I would like to link up with you once you get out there if you choose to head out there and we can compare ideas and networks.

To me #1 is sorta messed up. Do wealthier tend to eat healthier? Sure, but if you are poor it is very hard to stop by Whole Foods Market and buy healthy food. Processed food (which can be considered "junk food") is much cheaper and therefore easier for the poor to eat (I know because I grew up dirt poor and ate this stuff growing up). They don't eat less healthy by choice in many cases. They eat what they can afford which is why places like Wal Mart do so well in the grocery business. That makes that stat skewed.

Also more poor gamble than the rich, I am pretty sure that gambling revolves around the lottery. Although I find the lottery to be an utter waste of cash I can understand the lure of it. If you are poor the lottery offers you a potential way out of poverty, hence the attraction. The wealthy have less need to play the lottery and therefore the numbers seem smaller. Should the poor play the lottery? Nope. But in many cases that might be their only hope of getting out of their bind.

@Robert Blake I can see your point. It was just always fascinating to me how people can be like that.

@Bill Gulley , I do agree with your post. Desperation is a recipe for disaster no matter what venture you engage in.

Robert,

I do imagine that in some cases being a slumlord does not pay off while treating tenants well makes a larger profit. Outside of laziness one would have to wonder then why someone would choose to be a slumlord if there was no significant financial gain in it, especially a gain that would supersede that earned doing things the right way. I am not saying you are wrong, just not sure the benefit of being a slumlord then unless it was better financially.

@ Bill Gulley I think I might not have represented what I meant by greed well enough with my post. I do think trying to better yourself is a good thing, but there is a fine line between bettering yourself and greed. To me a good analogy would be the difference between owning buy and hold properties, such as an apartment and treating tenants well and being a slumlord to maximize profits. Both are trying to better their financial situation, its just one will do it at the expense of others. That to me is greed and that is the kind of individual that I myself refuse to be.

Great post. It is interesting to see how your motivations have changed over time. For me I do it not so much for greed, but for the financial stability that it can provide long term. I work in a profession that is physically demanding and I am well aware of the toll that it will take on my body long term. I seek to provide enough residual income to provide for myself and my family when I am an old man and unable to work or do as much. If successful enough I can live off of that and be content. I can be the old man putting little smiley face stickers on the hands of kids when they come into Wal Mart. I don't seek yachts and multi million dollar houses and tons of cars as I have never had it and don't miss what I don't have. I just want the ability to not worry about how to pay bills and have the luxury to take my spouse on vacation if we want.

My other motivation is a sincere desire to help others. I grew up dirt poor and I witnessed what it was like for my single mother struggle to raise myself and my brother. I know there are many other stories out there like that and I want the joy that comes from helping others whether that be from buying their first home, or developing a nest egg so they can change their lives. I guess I get joy out of watching others succeed and seeing the pure joy that they have. In turn the hope is that they pay it forward and help the next ones.

But enough of my rambling, hopefully my message makes sense.

US Army recruiter soon to go back to working in the signal field. Working on my masters and my real estates license.

@Alex Craig I was wondering how many others out there were successful while not completely using the 2% rule. I understand how it is a good guideline, but seems unrealistic in most cases. I am not sure there are many areas where you can command $2,000 a month in rent and in those areas I would assume the chances of getting a house for $100,000 would be slim at best. But I am still learning so I could be wrong. I am just glad others do not follow that rule.