Is this the new normal? I was talking with a buddy of mine this week about how to evaluate the returns on rental property using the financial calculator. I’d like to share with you what we did. Before we get started, if you haven’t had your morning cup of coffee, put me down and go get. This column is going to be numbers-heavy and will require an acute…
Did we buy an alligator? Real estate investors are known for being risk takers. As a matter of fact, most of the time the reason an investor gets into trouble is because they estimated too high on what a property would sale for once they fixed it up. The outcome for this speculation is that the investor gets too thin with their numbers and overpays for the property….
We just did a land-home deal over in Adairsville. During the course of the purchase, the sellers found themselves in need of a truck. They were moving to Florida after the sale and were planning to live in a travel camper until they could decide where to buy and settle down. They already owned a vehicle capable of pulling the camper, but something went wrong with it a…
Investing isn’t restricted to buying a stock or a piece of real estate. It’s more than that. Investing is a thought process where you use money and knowledge strategically to create more money. This was perplexing for me, at first. I grew up believing that you were a slave to the dollar and money was something that ruled over you. But one of my teachers, named…
Oh B-1 can no beat. That title was supposed to sound like the Star Wars character Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yeah I know it’s a stretch, but bear with me. The reason I chose that title is because B-1 is the lot number of a Lonnie Deal we have down in Acworth. And I want to tell you about it because, to reference Star Wars again, “the force is strong…
I’ve been listening to a phenomenal book called “Mastering the Attitude of Achievement,” by Lou Tice. I’ve got to tell you, I wish I’d found this years ago. Lou is a motivational speaker, high school teacher and football coach. One of the main points in this book is that the pictures that we formulate in our heads affect what we do in life. Lou gives a great…
Would you rather have cash or income? I was sitting at a closing recently, quietly working through a problem on the financial calculator. My agent asked what the app was on my phone. When I responded that it was a financial calculator, both my agent and the buyer’s agent were perplexed as to why I needed one, since the mortgage brokers do all the mortgage calculations. This is…
Trailers is as trailers does I’m a big fan of mobile homes. To me, they have the best returns, by far, of any investment in real estate today. But be aware, mobile homes are quirky. We have a doublewide on Berry Bennett Rd. It was a little rough when we bought it, but we got it rehabbed and looking nice. We did all the normal stuff like painting,…
Does a refi make cents? I got a call recently from an investor named Brad that had a conundrum. He was looking at refinancing a mortgage from a 30-year fixed ARM (adjustable rate mortgage) to a 15-year fixed mortgage. A fixed adjustable rate mortgage sounds like an oxymoron. They work like this- for the first five to ten years the rate is fixed. After that, it can…
A/C Repair Yields Over 31 Percent: Financial calculators aren’t normally a hot topic, even in real estate circles, but I took the opportunity to attend an information session on the subject sometime ago, and I haven’t regretted it. The instructor’s name was Gary Johnston, and the night of the session, he forever changed the way I look at investments by introducing me to the financial calculator. Consequently, I…