All Forum Posts by: Zac Boelkow

I found Rich Dad Poor Dad mixed in a bag of books dumped at the library steps. I thought to myself " I am a poor dad that wants to be rich". So I took that book and read it which told me to ask "rich" people how they did it. At the time the richest guy I new was regional manager for Aflac. He put me on to Dale Carnegie "How To Win Friends and Influence People". I read that book, took the course, and became a coach of the class. That book/course taught me how to handle people, the importance of others, and how to become just the best version of myself. By learning the tools and tact that you gain from the Carnegie course I made so much extra money at my 9-5 that all of a sudden I was winning with money so much that I had to find retirement investments which lead me to Bigger Pockets where someone on the podcast recommended, Chris Voss, "Never Split the Difference". Which after reading I resurrected a dead RE deal and negotiated a return that was comparable to winning the lottery.

I started my journey 8 years ago dead broke. $40,000 in credit card debt, over $100,000 mortgage, car payments, no money, and no hope. Today my net worth is $650,000. My mortgage is paid off. I just bought a brand new truck and paid cash. I have no debt. Cash in hand, the bank, and under my mattress. One paid for in full duplex and another one that is on schedule to be paid off in three more years.

How I got here:

#1) Rich Dad Poor Dad

#2) How to Win Friends and Influence People

#3) Never Split the Difference

Reading and "doing" what they say to do in these books has me winning financially in every endeavor I enter especially RE. I can say that these three books are the core of my success that has lead me to here. Last year I started a fund to help people pay for the Dale Carnegie Course. That is how much I believe in it. 

@Marcus Auerbach she entered in, in error obviously, that her annual salary is over $6,000,000. So smart move recommended accepting her. After running through her report we can see that there’s some missed payments, new unsecured bank loans, and behind payment on another. And with $100,000 in student loan debt in deferment it gave quite a bit of concern.

Thank You! That is exactly what I want to do in regards to writing the letter. Thank You

Thank you guys. I asked for documentation on the student loan so I could understand it. If that loan is active then she is way out of budget. If that loan is forgiven then she has enough money. I was not comfortable moving forward without knowing why the student loan was "deferred" and or if it was being "forgiven"...

After running a credit report on a possible tenant it lead to a denial. I understand I need to write the "denied" tenant a letter with the credit reporting company information. Does anyone have a template or can tell me how much I need to have on this letter? Is less, I assume, better? How specific do I need to be?

We recently listed a duplex for rent in Milwaukee, WI. We received three applications. After calling the references and verifying income, etc. we narrowed it down to one possibility that looked good. We informed this person that she would need to create a "Smartmove" account for credit and background check. She was hesitant to do so and supplied us with her own credit score printed out from "CreditKarma". Seemed strange to me that she did that. After we told her that it is a requirement to do a credit check/background check she agreed and did the "Smartmove" App. When I reviewed her debts and ran her budget based on her six months of check stubs that she supplied. It was clear that she would not have enough money to cover everything. I called and asked if she could verify any more income. Also she had $100,000 of student loan debt that is in "deferment" currently so I asked her about that as well. I was genuinely trying to figure out her "financial picture" to understand if she can afford the rent. She did not like that I was questioning her credit report, which clearly shows that she has too much debt and is struggling to make all payments. Then she said that I just did not want to rent her because of her race, except she put it a lot more blunt.

My question is does it pay to try to understand the tenants income while in the vetting process or should I just run the numbers and either qualify or deny based on that and not go the extra to try to understand if there is more income or if a 100 thousand dollar debt is going to be forgiven? Also I know I must write her a reason for not qualifying for renting my property because her income/debt ratio is too high. Is that all I need to basically say? "Based on your income to debt ratio you are not eligible to rent the property."

Thank you

@David Carroll I did this* I was sick of watching how slow my money was growing. I cashed out $40000. At the time I had over a $100,000 mortgage, a truck loan, student loan debt, and about $40,000 in consumer debt... I used my cash to invest in everything imaginable and 8 years later I own two duplexes outright, my house is paid off, my truck is paid off, all debts are gone, and I have replaced my money in the market more than 2X’s over and currently sitting around a networth of $500,000...

Also I took the last 12 months to read, research, & learn the market. With the knowledge I have now I am also putting my “savings” in the market in things like Roth’s, 401k’s. I’m 100% in index funds & 100% of my money is in stocks no bonds... I would take your time and get the knowledge of what it actually costs you to “cash out”. I think you would be way better off converting to a “self directed Ira” for tax/penalty purposes . Take your time here. Find out the laws. And for the love of god DO NOT pay absorbent penalty’s/taxes to the government! Have you seen what those bozo’s spend our money on?

I love your ambition as I had the same plan. I did not pay penalty’s or crazy taxes because I took my time and found the loop holes and worked with professionals to protect myself. I know the debate is always on going re or stocks? For me, based on 12+ months of reading, researching, talking, etc, I calculate the returns on both sides prior to doing either. I can tell you that with over 300k in re investment properties and under 100k in the market moving forward I’ll be beefing up my stock index fund before buying any more re buy n hold investments...

@Isaac Johnson where is the documentation that supports your statement? I do both and have ran the numbers on buy n hold vs index funds. I’d love to see your math that supports this. What I found is that they are as close to equal with re just a bit better because of tax deductions. The other thing re offers is more opportunity to force equity. I would love to see the numbers you came up with to support your opinion...

Just a little ray of hope to others on here. I have been cranking out the podcasts from #1. Listening, researching, reading, and re-listening. I have learned sooooooo much and built my self confidence along the way because of BP. I have been using all this information on my search of buying another duplex since October 2018. I have been in contract Three times, have so many offers out, and finally closed a deal on Monday! It took me four months of negotiating with the seller on this deal. We both used realtors and I had to ask them both to allow me to negotiate directly with the seller and then we brought the realtors back in after we sorted it out. Because of what I learned on BP I obtained owner financing at 3% on a 30 year term :) also had the sellers help in transitioning the sale and raising the rents without issue. Add a roof here, cut a cost there, reduce price, etc etc etc and the numbers are somewhere 10-12% returns. Once all repairs, taxes, insurances, etc get recalculated I'll know exactly what it is producing but for sure in that 10-12% range. My realtor I used is also an investor and is totally besides himself that I was able to get this deal with such favorable terms in such a "hot market" So I say to everyone: press on, keep on keeping on, it took me a full year but I stuck with it. I just kept on working and pushing on and was able to buy a duplex with an immediate $35,000 worth of equity that is going to produce a solid 10% return in an extremely competitive and hot market all while running a small business as my 9-5. Thanks BP!!!

Thanks guys... Sounds like we are all on the same page. I also agree with paying for garbage so "it does not pile up" and thinking about if it did "pile up" then the correct solution would be replacing the tenants with higher quality tenants. As a "buy n hold" investor, I personally feel, that major issues (roof, Painting, doors, windows, paying the mortgage, etc) is my responsibility. Living expenses is tenant responsibility. But hey, that is just my opinion and we all know what they say of opinions... Thanks again guys!