Category: Real Estate
Welcome to the Housing Wars: May the Best Investor Win
Did you think your life would be easy? Did you think you would attend college or join the military and buy a house before age 30? Well, those days are over, maybe even forever. Homeownership is no longer a right but a privilege—only the privileged need apply. How did we reach the point where only…
The Road to Homeownership #3: Saving for the Down Payment
So you crunched the numbers and controlled your emotions; it’s now time to get your new house. But, there is still one major roadblock—the down payment. Welcome back to the Road to Homeownership series (Part #1, Part #2), where we move into the house of our dreams. What is a down payment? The bank will…
The Road to Homeownership #2: Reducing Emotions
Purchasing a home is one of the most emotional experiences of your life. The process will send you to the highs of the mountains and the lows of the valleys. I would never suggest removing emotions entirely from the process; however, reducing your feelings to make sound decisions throughout the journey is a great idea.…
The Road to Homeownership #1: Crunching the Numbers
Although homeownership may seem out of reach today, you’ll still need to know how to buy a home effectively. Yes, there is a right way and a wrong way to buy a home. I own three houses, and my track record is spotty. My first home was a financial disaster (score 20 of 100). My…
Five Ways to Make Rental Income Without Owning Rental Properties
The real estate market is tougher than ever. It is difficult for the average person to buy a primary residence, let alone own rental properties. I own two rental properties, and it’s safe to say that they are a pain in the rear end. Being a landlord is not for most people. However, everyone’s goal…
My Secret Formula to Determine Housing Affordability
The housing market is out of reach for most American households. However, there are still small pockets of affordable places to live—you just need to find them. I have been using an affordability technique over the last ten years that has served me well. It uses a combination of Zillow and Military housing calculators to…
Is Homeownership Still The American Dream?
I detest paying rent to someone else. Currently, I am renting a room as I finish the last month of my military career. I am paying $800 monthly in San Diego as my family awaits my return to Florida. I feel many negative emotions every time I pay rent on the first. I am a…
Rents Go Up: Which Side of the Equation Are You On?
Rent prices across the United States and the world will continue to rise. There is little we can do as the average consumer. Once institutional investors, foreign interests, and the Airbnb crowd entered the real estate game, it changed the landscape forever. So how do we become homeowners in today’s environment? Even better, how do…
What I Have Learned From Having Tenants for 10 Years
Most people will never become landlords and oversee tenants; they simply don’t possess the drive to manage another human being. Being a landlord requires you to separate who you are as a person from what you represent as a landlord. Sometimes these two individuals (you) are at odds. I own one large house in Arizona,…
House Hacking to Defeat Credit Card Debt
Being in credit card debt is one of the worst situations in the world. There is nothing fun about the incredible power of compounding working against you. We must employ extreme measures to get ourselves out of dangerous credit card debt. We will struggle if we are trying to “work more hours” to clear our…
Living in 1,000 Square Feet as a Family of Four
When did we become so selfish here in America? We want our small families to live in a 3,000-square-foot home on three acres. Unfortunately, we need to be alone, and this is destroying our finances. Living in these monstrous homes as a single family simply costs too much money. The need to be individuals. Families…
Renting Rooms to Family Members
Do you own a big single-family home with only a single family living inside? Well, congratulations, that’s a fantastic feat. The follow-up question is, how is your financial situation looking? Chances are, it is not looking too good. The bait and switch. Who told Americans we all deserve to live in 2,000-square-foot, 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom homes?…
5 Takeaways from “Scale”
“Scale: A Successful Agent’s Guide to Leveling Up a Real Estate Business” by David Greene is book three in the Top-Producing Real Estate Agent Series. Luckily, I have finished all three books in the series (Sold, Skill). At its heart, Scale is a leadership manual. You can use this book for any profession where you…
Why Rents Will Continue to Rise: And How You Can Get Ahead of the Rental Curve
Are you waiting for a housing crash before jumping into the market? Well, you may be waiting for a very long time. The rental market will continue to rise for the foreseeable future for one main reason—investors. There are simply too many individual and foreign investors, institutions, syndications, and real estate investment trusts (REITs) for…
The True Value of Owning a Home
Sometimes it takes work to distinguish between value and price. In my last article, I discussed the true costs of owning a home. However, you can deal with the costs if you understand the value. Owning a home is difficult but can be an essential investment in the long run. Inflation protection. The best reason…
Turn a Reverse Mortgage into an Income-Investing Portfolio
At some point, our parents may need to use their primary residence as a retirement plan. We, as their kids, need to remove the emotion from these decisions. Each generation’s retirement years are getting longer, so it could be tough to generate income for 30 to 40 years. This is especially true if they liquid…
The True Costs of Owning a Home
If you are on the fence about owning a home, this article is for you. No matter how bad this makes homeownership seem, it’s still a must. In the following article, I will discuss the VALUE of owning a home. But, before value, I need to talk about the costs. Let’s make one thing clear—owning…
Learn to Barter and Trade Today: How to Prepare for the New World
We should all be fearful of the future. No, this does not mean living in fear, but having a healthy respect for the fact things will change. Money is becoming much harder to obtain through a W-2 job. If you have a job, it’s like having five jobs because you are doing the work of…
Homeownership Will Only be for the Rich
When did Americans become so greedy? Okay, I may need to word this differently. When did Americans become so entitled? As Americans, we want to work a standard job but own a home, drive two late-model cars, and put our kids through private school and college. And we want to do all these things without…
Retiring to a Small City and Living on Passive Income
Are you living in a big city attempting to fulfill the American Dream? How’s that working out for you? Even in small remote towns, the American Dream can cost upwards of $5 million. Actually, it’s more than that, just from last year’s inflation. If you are seriously considering retiring before 50, you must be extreme…
