Any of you drivers out there without property?

I've seen some pretty #### cool places in a cow truck . I'd think twice about taking my jeep down some of the roads we load cows off of though LOL.

 

I'm not saying this is a bad idea, but the 10% only pays for the management. The owner still has to pay for all the actual repairs and maintenance, which can get expensive. A management co. may or may not bill you the best price or do the best work. I also would have a hard time letting a management co. select my tenants. They will send the best qualified tenants to their best (largest) clients.

If you sit down and do some real world numbers and factor in things like vacancy rates, major repairs (I have a $18K bid for a new roof on my 4-plex) and all the lesser costs, you will find that it takes a boatload size down payment to make a small rental property cash flow, even if you self manage and do all possible repairs yourself. And you will earn whatever equity you build via late night phone calls over things like flooded bathrooms, carbon monoxide detectors going off, the neighbors kids climbing on the roof of your building, tenants being arrested by a SWAT team, etc., etc.

IMHO, there is no such thing as easy money. Rental properties are one choice to make some the hard way.

 

Rental is not easy money. I have found it to be steady money. The quality of renters is equivalent to the quality of rental property.

 

This is really #### good timing... I've been tossing this idea back and forth for the past couple weeks.

Duplex is a good way to go IF you don't plan to live in one.

That being said, I don't know if someone has touched on this... Buying property is a good way to shelter your income too. You get more back from taxes. You obviously can't get back more than you paid in, but it's possible to play the game well enough to not pay any taxes.

Thing to do is buy one duplex, allow the property to depreciate in taxes over 7 years. During the 7th year, buy another duplex by mortgaging the first. Why? Because now the depreciation on the first house resets and you can continue to allow it and the second house to depreciate.

Theres all kinds of crazy stuff you can do when it comes to just the taxes that's still legal.

My understanding, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, is that companies who collect the rent for you charge more than 10%, it may be up to 20%. You're still responsible for paying any maintenance or fees associated. But! After helping my grandfather clean up after some renters...believe me, you're far better off paying someone to take care of it.

 

We've had our rentals for several years, and we heard a lot of horror stories but we've never had a major issue. Granted when we first bought them we renovated it and put in brand new water heaters, GFI where needed, new toilets. bathtubs, fresh coat of paint, etc.(Forclosure housing) so it will give us many years of maintenance free passive income and is allowing us to build wealth better than stocks. Just don't rent out to people with pets if you can avoid it. A buddy of mine rented his house out to a guy with a pitbull and got his house back with chewed up doors and window sills, etc

You lose money on a house when you purchase it, We got decent homes well below market value. I would look at San Francisco over the next few years, Holy bubble batman! When that eventually craters, plus with the states drought problems, you might get some fire sale deals there.

 

Own it or not, you'd think people would have more respect for the place they call home eh?

You and I could tell some stories...I'm sure.

 

We're out on the road for a few weeks at a time and have figured out the cost of paying someone to mow in the spring/summer and shovel snow in the fall/winter on top of paying to keep the place warm enough to not freeze in the winter PLUS coming home to a leaking roof or busted water pipe, etc etc etc to be far more than renting.

As is, we rent an everything included spot right downtown close to bars, restaurants, theatres, stadium and waterfront in a neighbourhood we could simply never afford to buy in. We have the world at our fingertips when we're home, don't have to drive anywhere if we don't want to, and it's much more affordable than mortgage payments anywhere near where we live.

We've been there a few years, don't see myself rushing to borrow half a mil from the bank to own a ball and chain anytime soon. We earn a year's rent in 6 weeks running team.

 

I have a buddy that owns a "duplex". It was his as part of a divorce settlement. I did his maintenance while he was on the road up until a few months ago. He is selling the duplex, and moving onto a 35' sailboat he bought for about 5 grand to spend his off time. His monthly slip fees are only about $280.00, which includes water, wifi, laundry, shower, and mailing address. Not a bad deal when compared to paying out around $1900.00 per month for the duplex. If I were single, I'd be doing the same thing.