My husband and I got married young, at 22 and 23, when my husband was a young ensign in the Navy. I was newly graduated from college. He was stationed in Texas. I struggled finding employment, so I went back to grad school. After we used the rest of the funds from our undergraduate degrees, it was important to pay cash for my master's degree. We were already on a tight budget, so I had to find creative ways to reduce our costs. We did the … [Read more...]
7 Reasons Not to Pay Cash For a House
I am $1.1 million in debt by choice. If I reach my goal of owning nine houses by my 28th birthday (1/1/2016), I will be $1.6 million dollars in debt. I am a real estate empire builder whose goal is early retirement by living off the cash flow of our houses. To do so means building my empire large enough that it produces the cash flow needed. Unfortunately, I am young and cash poor, so buying the houses mortgage-free is impossible at the … [Read more...]
16 Common Mistakes Found in Rental Ad Listings
You have decided to rent your house. You have decided on a price to list your house. The decision has been made regarding what extras you will offer (washer and dryer, landscaping, etc). You are ready to list your home and have decided which of the 18 different places you will list the house. The next step is to create a great rental ad. If you are anything like me the first time I listed my house, you are stuck. You don't know how to put … [Read more...]
“Bare It All” October Monthly Rental Income Report
Many landlords are reluctant landlords trying to survive and hold on until they can get out. Many have been burned by housing prices, losing money on their rentals or are jaded because of horrible tenants. I would be lying if I didn't say that being a landlord had many ulcer-inducing moments. I have lost money, had lots of pain and agony and even had over a $4,000 repair bill on three houses in less than 36 hours. Let's just say I was very … [Read more...]
4 Ways a Landlord Can Efficiently Set Up Showings
How to Prepare for a Hurricane as a Landlord
As an owner of a small and growing rental empire, we are lucky enough to get to experience all kinds of events regarding our houses. As always our pain is your gain. While we have been blessed to never have an issue with our houses in major weather areas, we have learned from others how important it is to prepare both yourself and your tenants. How to Prepare for a Hurricane I will never forget right after marrying my husband we moved to … [Read more...]
5 Reasons an Emergency Fund is Key to a Landlord’s Success
For a landlord, Murphy's law says things will break. As an empire-building landlord, things will always break in succession according to Murphy's law. Of course, as always, it held true. We hadn't had any repairs for a while, and in 24 hours we had THREE! Replaced my pools cleaner motor at house 7- $450 Installed a brand new AC unit at house 4 - $3,400 New refrigerator board panel at house 2- $350 Total - $4,200. That's a little more … [Read more...]
3 Ways a Landlord Can Split the Utilities
Renting your rooms out or having roommates are two great ways to live rent free. The simple act of putting up with others in your space is a form of sweat equity -- one that we took part of during our first years of marriage. It was one of the things that allowed me, not only to graduate grad school debt free, but also allowed us to have a significant savings account when we bought our first house. As we have discussed in the past, renting out … [Read more...]
10 Tips for the House Hunting Tenant
I remember when we were house hunting for our first rental home. I was a newly married woman of only six months. The only times I had looked for a place I was either with my dad or my husband. In true military wife style, at the ripe age of 22 I was looking for a place while the husband was off at training. Luckily, we were only moving an hour away. Still, I was overwhelmed and honestly had no idea what I was doing. Fast forward five years and … [Read more...]
How to Calculate a Rental’s Rate of Return
If you buy a house and plan on keeping it for the long term, then you are an investor. It doesn't matter if you plan on having just one house or an empire of 7 + houses like me, you are still interested in your rate of return. While the key to being a successful investor is remembering that this is a marathon not a sprint, knowing my return on an investment makes those more difficult moments a bit more tolerable. Learn How to Calculate a … [Read more...]