Archive for June, 2010

Ya Gotta Roll With The Punches

I’d like to tell you about my evening…

There I am, doing some demolition in one of my units. I had all the bathroom fixtures removed and I was getting ready to remove the drywall so I can remodel the bathroom from scratch. The drywall’s in a pile on what used to be the bathroom floor, and as the dust is settling I begin to hear a hissing sound… Read more…

Becoming A Landlord Series – Part 3: Pulling The Trigger

In part one and two of this series I discussed some of the qualities you should have to be a landlord, and some of the things you should do you get yourself ready. In this third part of the series, I would like to talk about some things you should consider when you decide to finally cross the line from being not a landlord to being a landlord.

If you followed my advice from part two, then you should already have a pretty good chunk saved up for a down payment and an idea of the locations that you’d like to start looking for property. Your next step is to go to the bank and find out how much you can comfortably borrow. With this number in hand you begin your search. Read more…

Becoming A Landlord Series – Part 2: How To Prepare Yourself

In Part 1 of my Becoming A Landlord series, I tried to point out some of the pitfalls of being a landlord and I’m glad I didn’t scare you away.

Let’s approach Part 2 as if you are fresh out of the cocoon of high school or university and you’ve landed your first job. You know you want invest in real estate, but aren’t quite sure what the first step is. Unless you somehow have a large pile cash laying around, you’re going to have to work your way up from the bottom like I did. Read more…

Becoming A Landlord Series – Part 1: Do You Have The Right Stuff

It takes a unique individual to be a landlord. You have to have the right set of skills to be able to deal with the variety of issues that come up on a daily basis. This business is easy to get into, but not so easy to get out of. The lessons you learn can be beneficial and/or costly. This article is not intended to scare you, but you need to be realistic with yourself, because becoming a landlord is a bigger step than some people think. Read more…

My Gameplan For Success

One day I had an epiphany: I don’t want to work. More specifically, I don’t want to work at a nine-to-five job for the next forty years. I would prefer to spend my time experiencing things that are fun, exciting, and improve my life, or the life of someone else, in some way. to get myself from being a working stiff to living a life of leisure I needed a game plan.

Plotting your game plan for success is a simple three-step process:

• • • Determine where you are now (A)
    • Define what success is to you (B)
    • Figure out how to get from A to B

Pretty simple, eh? The last step might need to be a little more detailed.

By creating my personal income statement and statement of net worth, I was able to get an idea of where I stood financially and identify the areas of my situation that needed to be improved upon and which areas needed to be eliminated. You can probably guess that it was income that needed to be increased and debt that needed to be eliminated. Read more…

Why I Became A Landlord

I think it’s only fitting to begin my new blog about being a landlord by talking about why I became one. If you were to ask me why I became a landlord, my first answer would be to manage my properties better, but the reason I own properties is to create wealth. So, the real question becomes: why do I want to be wealthy?

Ever since I was a young child, I knew that I didn’t want to be poor. I was never greedy or money hungry, I just knew that I wanted to live comfortable life. That used to mean that I wanted to be able to buy things, but it is now starting to mean that I want to be able to experience more things. I also knew that I didn’t want to be tied to a nine-to-five job until I was 65.

I spent a good part of my teenage summers mowing lawns, washing cars, walking dogs, and even hunting for empty beer bottles all in an effort to earn some money over and above the allowance my parents paid me for doing chores around the house.

Earning extra money was always easier when I had a defined goal to work toward, whether it was a new bike, roller blades, or whatever, but the amount I could make was always determined by the number of hours I could work multiplied by the wage I could negotiate. This is when I learned that I needed to work smarter, not harder. Read more…