My husband and I are 27 and 29. We live mortgage free. This didn't happen overnight but through slow empire building, house by house, until we live mortgage payment and utility payment free! Our current dream home for our location (we are an active duty family so local is relative and so is dream) is a three bed two bathroom with office, 3 car garage and pool is paid for by the profits from our 6 rental payments. When we are transferred it will … [Read more...]
How to Ask Your Tenant To Move Out Early
It happened, you, the landlord need to break the lease. Whether it is you are moving back in the area or selling the house; it is all the same. You need a way out of your lease, a binding contract with your tenants. The first thing you will want to do is to review you lease to see if they cover your current issues. Here are the three things you will want to review in your lease. Reverse Military Clause - In all of my leases I have a reverse … [Read more...]
How to Save Hundreds on Your Dry Cleaning Bill
This post contains affiliate links see full disclosure policy here. The biggest surprise I noticed upon entering the professional world, was the cost of being a professional. Don't get me wrong, I love the salary. When I was given that offer letter right out of college, I felt like I was on top of the earth, $48,000. I am RICH!! or so I thought. Thanks to my amazing parents, the thing I didn't realize was the cost of being an adult. While … [Read more...]
18 Places To Search for the Perfect Home
Hunting for the perfect home, can be stressful, crazy, and honestly, tiring. When we first got started five years ago, the only place I knew to look for our next home was Craigslist. The truth is there are TONS of places to look for your next perfect home and as a landlord I have found that the more places you list your house, the bigger the audience you will reach. This is even more true as a potential tenant especially if you are in a very … [Read more...]
No Cable Needed: 69 Great TV Series You Need to Watch
This post contains affiliate links see full disclosure policy here. I am a "TV-aholic." I got through my Undergraduate Degree, Grad School, my first deployment (and the insomnia), and the writing of my ebook, all with the background noise of some amazing TV series! I was able to afford all of these big ticket items by living frugally which meant no cable. The hardest part was feeding those addictions with new TV series. I am always tempted … [Read more...]
80 Questions to Consider When Interviewing Your Next Property Manager
A very important part of being a landlord is the property management side. For some, the decision is to self-manage and for many others they wish to hire a professional property manager. Property managers are a HUGE and amazing asset. The thing to remember when finding a property manager is not everyone is created equally. That is something I found out the hard way (read about my experience here) and the ultimate reason that I decided to … [Read more...]
45 Books and Series You Won’t be Able to Put Down
This post contains affiliate links see full disclosure policy here. I am a book worm and I absolutely love a good book . The hardest part is finding the next great series, so when I saw the the list and recommendations I knew I had to capture it. I created this list based on those recommendation and my own favorites. We all know how hard it is to find a great read. These books will make you read until the wee hours of the morning. They will … [Read more...]
How to Bounce Back From a Less-Than-Perfect PCS
I was recently talking to a friend about our PCS from Virginia to California. It was our worst PCS to date. We had last minute orders and only a week to plan. Of course it was the ONE place I didn't want to go: NAS Lemoore. Not only did I not want to go there, I spent the entire time fighting for something I didn't want. As always, the husband was really busy so I gave my job three days notice, and then proceeded to spend most of my time … [Read more...]
33 Ways to Fall Asleep Quickly
This post contains affiliate links see full disclosure policy here. As a self-proclaimed night owl, I was totally inspired to share my way of falling asleep after a recent Facebook discussion. While personally I always struggle the most whenever the hubs isn't safely tucked next to me, we all have our different insomniac moments. I have always been the person who likes staying up until the late hours of the night and sleeping in until 10 … [Read more...]
How to Create a Rock Solid Lease in One Evening!
Author's Note: This is not legal advice and I am nothing other than a landlord who owns six houses and self manages a total of ten. This is how I put together my lease and I hope it makes things a little easier for you. This post contains affiliate links. As an experienced (aka jaded) landlord, I have learned the key to treating my rentals as a business is having a fantastic lease. For me, the key to having a fantastic lease is having a tight … [Read more...]