Comments on: Adventures in Real Estate Investing

By: forex newsletter

forex newsletter — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 04:58:31 +0000

Thanks for the link, and I hope the list of resources was helpful.

By: Frank Schulte-Ladbeck

Frank Schulte-Ladbeck — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:05:13 +0000

I do not like to blatantly self promotion in a comments section, but if you go to my site, you will find posts on how to inspect investment properties and an ebook on that topic.

That being said, my experience has been that investors need to carefully examine a home, and plan out costs. I see renters of homes becoming more discerning, acting like they are owners, so they want a “perfect” home. No home is perfect, so the investor has to be a good communicator when dealing with them and the repairs. The other big concern where I see some RE investors failing is to keep up with the current laws dealing with landlords/renter’s rights. Many states are doing what I see here in Texas, implement laws to clearly define the relationship between renter and landlord and what is required in the home. States seem to be rushing more of this legislation through their congresses since they see more people becoming renters, and they do not want to see their constituents having problems do to this increase.

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:29:06 +0000

Thanks for the link, and I hope the list of resources was helpful. Investing in real estate can be scary, particularly at first. But if you don’t over-extend yourself and take it slow, it’s actually a lot of fun and, over time, very profitable.

By: MITBeta @ Don't Feed the Alligators

MITBeta @ Don't Feed the Alligators — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:08:26 +0000

I’m a landlord. I own a 2 family where I live in one apartment and rent out the other. If I had it to do over again, I still would have bought a rental property, but I would have made sure the math worked better.

My site has a handful of articles about my experiences. Two pieces of advice:

1. Make sure that the mortgage is no greater than 60% of the expected rent.

2. On being a landlord: Ask yourself if you can stand toe to toe with another adult and say, “No.”

By: stella

stella — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:18:22 +0000

I agree with the first comment – be very carful and understand what you are getting in to. You may have to spend time tracking down rent payments. You will get phone calls from your renters to fix things in the evenings and on weekends. Also, you can have problems with how renters treat your property.

My in-laws had several rental properties and you would not believe the way some people leave a rental unit when they move. Their nephew even stole their refrigerator when he moved out!

By: Bible Money Matters

Bible Money Matters — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:41:32 +0000

Thanks for the link!

I’d be very careful before getting into real estate investing. You need to make sure you’re financially secure, and that you’re ready to deal with the hassles – even as a secondary owner.

My father owned a piece of real estate with some friends, and it ended up being nothing but a nightmare. If you’re careful, it can be a good deal, but if not you can regret you ever got into it. Good luck!