We don’t do short term rentals

We don’t do short term rentals   “Mr. Insurance man, we don’t do short term rentals.” This was an actual conversation I was having this week when we got approached by an insurance company looking for a rental for one of their clients.     The client’s situation was they had had an accident that had destroyed their home. And when I say destroyed, it was a total loss. They…

Monsters don’t live in the bathroom

Monsters don’t live in the bathroom I was a guest on podcast recently with my mentor Bill Cook where we were discussing things that hinder the success of newer investors.   As we talked, Bill asked me if I thought a lack of education is something that stops newbies from moving forward. I told him I didn’t think so. You see, there’s a ton of information out there about how…

Find the right advisor

Find the right advisor   I got a call from a brand-new baby investor last week. The reason I describe him this way is because he had made the mental leap of wanting to invest in real estate but had not done a deal yet. He is still in the fact-finding scramble stage of trying to figure out where to begin.   I like this guy. He was younger, but…

Do they understand why

Do they understand why?   In the book “Extreme Ownership: How Navy SEALs Lead and Win,” the author Jocko Willink describes a time when he and his team were put into a situation that they didn’t like. Jocko’s unit was conducting missions in the battle for Ramadi, Iraq and they had been doing well. But then a decree came down from the higher ups that said that the SEAL unit…

A different side of financial freedom

A different side of financial freedom   We have had a rough last couple of days. Tuesday morning my son Seph woke me up from the living room sobbing at 4 a.m. I was in the back bedroom and it was loud enough to wake me up from across the house. When I got there, I found the ear infection that had started on Monday afternoon had my boy doubled…

I got called a four-letter word

I got called a four-letter word   Last night, I was taken aback. I had a tenant call me a four-letter word. Now, I’m used to being called some four-letter words, and I’m OK with that. You see, not all of them are bad. I’m used to being called “boss.” Ashley calls me “cute,” and sometimes bumps it up to a full-fledged “hunk.” Of course, I have to be doing…

They just aren’t cutting the mustard

They just aren’t cutting the mustard   I learned a great tactic from one of my landlord teachers named David Tilney when I took his course called “Hassle Free Property Management.” In the course, David said that all his leases end in either June or July of the year. The reason for this is multifaceted.   You see, June and July is when kids are out of school. This makes…

For sale by neighbor

For sale by neighbor   When I was a kid, we had a cassette tape of James Gregory. I remember listening to the different segments, laughing real hard, and rewinding the tape to listen to them again. (And to any of my younger readers, a cassette tape was like a small storage thumb drive for music that came before CD’s. And yes, I’m that old.)   One segment that sticks…

The family board meeting

The family board meeting   Investors talk a lot about the financial freedom that comes from having investment property. We glamorize going on trips, not having a J.O.B. and feeling like we are more in control of our future because of the passive income from rental properties. But are those the real reasons why we invest in real estate?   Let me clarify what I mean by that.    …