Hi all

I opened an HSA with Health Savings Administrators or healthsavings.com. Flat rate of $45 a year. There was one other one that might have been less cost dependent on how you invest, how much you had in there etc. this was $45 flat and had good Vanguard funds so felt like the easier choice.

Plan is to use this sortof like a 401k and NOT withdraw from it (unless some dire medical emergency) until retirement. This is one I set up individually not through where I work so money put is in AFTER tax but should; be tax deductible. Limit is $3350 this year. Will try to fund this , the 401k and the Roth every year. Trying! I put $50 in it to start the account.

Trying to be financially free in 5 years is exhausting stressful work!.. less than 3 years left.

that rental house is filled. the other house is almost filled. still confirming things (manager is slow)..

New strategy w rentals. I am going to get some outside opinions , use the web and get selling price estimates across the 6 homes so I have a good market value and look to 'swap' some out that and increase the quality of the neighborhood and therefor maybe lower my costs, not be so stressed with management etc etc.. . Step 1.. get market values this week ( I will get the 3 units value even though I can not sell that right now and really do not want too. rents easily, good area, great cash flow but realistically long term mayeb I would want small homes vs apts.. we will see... be interesting to see what folks think it will bring). 2. decide which to sell.. 3. I was going to take a stab at selling at least one via investor contacts and Craigs list (yes, really) have had friends sell them like that. why not me? 3. get a pulse of the market and homes and prices to see what I can buy w the cash 4. run my thoughts by some advisors for thoughts about selling at all, sell now or later. 5. get the new managers thoughts on ease of renting these homes. really we have only had issues with one home..

I may lose some cash flow upfront if I do this.. but steady returns and simpler may be preferred and cash flow will come as it is easier to raise rents on a more highly desirable area.

I can not be 'financially free' when I am stressed w the rentals anyway..

I did go for lower quality areas to 'get in' and do not regret it .. easier to get in.. much more cash flow...now I have somethign to swap... but is that where I want to stay??.. I am not thinking so. I have options now to 'swap' out of them and I think I may take that opportunity.

Anyway. just thoughts right now. got to get some facts, do some research and think on it. no more fast decisions over here!

Onward.

hi there.

Updates. I think we have that 'harder to rent' house filled with a tenant I like. Manager is setting up a lease appointment. She has family in the area and wants to stay long. Fingers crossed.

House we rehabbed. we have someone lined up for that as well but she wants to move in on the 1st. We will do final checks and then sign the lease w her.

New manager starts 11/2. Excited.

Renewals notices are out for that one house..and one apartment. should have news this week

I am thinking of doing an HSA as another tax savings retirement vehicle. Any thoughts of where to put that. Healthsavings.com looks very good and has a $45 flat fee each year. $3350 per year limit

Still trying to max out the 401k. got $3200 left to fund.

Thoughts welcomed.

Onward.

ON the 2nd round w the refinance underwriter.. got another 'condition letter' w items I have to fulfill. Will work on that tomorrow and hopefully close it next week.

I will NOT fully pay myself back this month. I had hoped too but looking like I may end up short.

HI all

thanks for the feedback on the property manager issue. here is where we ended up

1. Current PM will terminate 11/2/15. Rents for November will go to new PM. I need to send the new PM an updated contract to sign. he did sign the one calling for him to take over as of 10/1
2. Current PM will keep the vacant homes until that time. The one I am rehabbing is done and BEAUTIFUL. he has showings tomorrow and one person we took an app from who wants to move in who has family in the area and is likely long term, Other vacant house, he has showings tomorrow and had a good one yesterday. Fingers crossed. we went over what he is doing and the only thing I can add is to put it on the list at Section 8 whch he should have done already.


Meanwhile we have 1 house and 1 unit coming up for renewal. Both look good but he did not send renewals out yet (hello??) but claims to have talked to the house and they want to stay another year. He has not called the unit yet but send out the notice today. He will have updates next week.

All rents in except vacant homes

Paying off the 6 homes makes a MAJOR difference in the cash flow across the homes and my own budget. I had a mortgage of approx $5500..

I am still however catching up after paying my part of paying off the 6 homes so super tight this month making my savings goals.

Work hours are slightly down w the holiday and took a day off here and there. I should average 48-50 again as of next week

I have had contact with the office of the new property manager and they are very professional etc.. organzied really excited. AND they are 2% less.. over $2k a year difference and will work w my contractor.

For this 'hard to rent ' home. the new property manager did not feel it should take 3 months and talked to some folks who felt the same way 'unsure why it is taking so long'... Regardless, IF this house IS this hard to rent, I will look into selling it and others on that street and buying easier to rent homes/units with the money.

Calm and continual cash flow is my goal

I will hear on my tax dispute in November across the rentals. Hoping for a $625 decrease each month in taxes but have no experience or facts to base that estimate off of

Still trying to reach $8000 stable monthly cash flow by 6/18

Did second submittal for refinance on main house. should hear next week. (had to submit a bunch more docs)

onward

Hi all

My property manager contract calls for a 60 day cancellation notice. I talked to the current PM yesterday and he was saying he will hold me to that and in general not very nice. He also has the house he has had vacant for 3 months. He says 'no one is going to rent is faster'. The seller (65+ year old owner rented it before on his own). We are hitting the slow renter season and I do not want that particular hosue waiting 60 days to turn over when I know this other guy can rent it faster.. and/or to a better client

The current PM says he has 5 showings set this week. betweeen Thursday and Saturday. I told him we will talk later in the week so I could figure something out and get ideas from folks. I feel like changing the locks or doing something 'forcible' but then he has all the other homes.

Any suggestions?

he makes nothing on the house right now and is likely just being an *****.I can not afford to have bad property management causing me months of rent. but can not afford to have him mess up the rest of the homes too.

HI all

Diarying. been feeling a little 'unfocused lately'.

In a relationship and wondering if we are compatible or going anywhere.He does not express himself as wel as I would like w words.

ANYWAY..

1. 6 homes bought! took more money than I had thought and had to rehab that one house. already paid back my emergency fund.. got to put $3500 back in the personal emergency fund
2. now that I OWN these I feel a little more serious and long term. Anyway. I gave notice to my old property manager .. he still has that 1 house sitting and 1 house I had to manage the rehab (which was not so bad as i learned and got it done how I wanted and for 2k less )but he did not assist with meeting people, reviewing the work etc. . Anyway I gave him 30 days notice. He says the contract calls for 60 days. I called him this morning and his VM was full (not an unusual occurrence).I am going to ask he release the homes in 30 days and that 1 vacant home immediately. I will update.
3. Put my first $1750 into the 3 units payoff fund. Looking to pay those off 6/2018 and need $69k

Basically switching property managers as the one I have (though better than the one I switched from who ran the 3 units)
1. he is overwhelmed and is a 1 man show, he has 2-3 times voiced concerns he may 'quit this' if things do not improve. VM Full often and several times got complaints from tenants he did not call them back. Not organized. reports late or not submitted at all. Still waiting for July, August reports and laundry $ from 2 months ago. Does not renew leases on time.. Having to remind him of things all the time
2. Does not have a good relationship w section 8
3. Slow to rent . Slow to rehab. It should be noted this was NOT how it was when I started w this guy. Maybe he is more overwhelmed??
4. I do not trust his repair people and he will specifically not let me speak w them.

In contrast the new guy has an online software system that allows me access to see rents as they come in, run reports, has leases etfc uploaded and has all communications w tenants noted, has an office with staff and have 9-10 people on staff. They personally take emergency calls 24-7. All calls are logged. I met the repair people and I am free to talk to themm on repairs if I want AND they talk to me upfront about all repairs with a PRICE for my approval. Plus I can use my own contractors which they will manage. Monies go out automaticaly on certain dates, late notices go out on certain dates, they have a very good relationship w section 8,. they enforce the leases and have a guarantee . if they have to evict they will refund my 'placement fee' and they are 2% less per month..

Also with the current property manager, repairs costs were high and it appeared he was 'fixiing something' every month. I recall it being 'curious' that when I did hte switch the last time the need for repairs stopped and how mmuch can need fixing in a house. these are small 1000 square feet homes? It made me feel repairs were 'made up' and added to the bill .

Again this was not how it started w that guy.

So concerns w the first guy were
1. ability to rent
2. communication
3. repairs
4. reports

It appears I wil have improvement in all of those. I need these homes STABLE.

Started an eating and working out plan . want to lose 20# in these next 8-10 weeks. gained weight getting my primary residence back from the bank and then again recently.

and looking to find ways to be more relaxed, less stressed and have more thing I enjoy

Really if I can hang on this job (or a similar job) an get these properties under control I just need to follow my monthly goals and I will reach my June 2018 main goals.

Primary home refinance still in progress. LOTS more docs this year.

And got reassigned at work to the largest account they have.. with a project that will go past 1/16/16 so feeling like if I lead this project is pretty much guarantees my renewal for another year or at least 6 months. I will ask for that in November

HI all

Worked 141 hours these past 2 weeks. Crazy.. good money but not what I want long term. I may get a Nordic Track ifit treadmill w some of the money. that or they have one of those training bikes w ifit with incline and decline.. both are approx $1500

I feel I am getting out of shape!

Anyway.. CLOSED on 6 homes. had to borrow from my emergency fund approx $2000.. will pay that off next month

I TOTALLY own these 6 homes now. no mortgage

IF homes run well I should be able to pull $3500 from the homes and will not have put in $1000 a month anymore towards covering the monhtly payment. so total NET increase to me per month $4500 ($1000 saving and $3500 new income).. basically ALL will be saved and invested to reach my 6/2018 goal

2 homes vacant. One we have an excellent long term tenant for and are fixing up. this is the home the 15 year tenant moved out of.

One has been vacant for almost 3 months.. 4 weeks I got rent for.. and the rest is a total loss.

Met with other property manager.. looks real good.. will post for input here and have asked some other folks

Thinking of for sure switching over the vacant house to him immediately w the rest to follow..

Made a mistake switching last time so want to be real sure but how can I lose? this guy is letting this house sit and has not sense of urgency.. other stuff too. will update later.

Current property manager does not appear to have time to show the house timely, and marketing is not getting what we need. I asked several folks what they thought of the vacant house. and they looked at it and were surprised our starting rent was so low and that it had not rented... even providing comps they owned near by with renters.

I contracted w a real estate attorney to appeal the real estate tax assessments across all my homes (my personal one too) .. cost 33% contingency of the 1 year reduction amount.

I currently pay $20k across 6 homes and 3 units and $10k for my own home. I am hoping for a $3k or more decrease. Never did this so do not know. What I think is good is that we just recorded SUPER low sales prices across the 6 homes w the title transfer..

Anyway. IF 3 units were also paid off I would make $6200 NET a month (this includes escrows for tax, maintenance, vacancy etc) . so I am $1800 off my goal of $8000 NET by 6/2018. Will continue to work on that.

I am CHANGING my June 2018 goal from 'having my own home and having it paid off' to 'having my own home and only owing $100k on it'. I do not feel I want to use my money to payoff the home totally right now.. $100k or less owed is fine..

Still waiting to hear on primary home refinance.

Onward. and looking forward to when hours lower (45-50 is fine but 70+) is 'soul sapping' so I can concentrate on Me, health , happiness and MORe to life than finance and work!

Also saw Dad yesterday. though he is happier at Silverado and cared for better. he is weaker and really not sure how much time we have. I am spending as much time as I can w him. This weekend I showed him the yard and he could not make it around the house (walking) on his own.

HI all

6 homes updates.. feeling stressed and trying to just get through it all.. Whatever God gives you to lift he gives you the grace to carry'

I STILL Do not feel I have the 6 homes under control

1. 1 house has been vacant for 8 weeks (but only missing rent for 4 weeks of that so far). Took 3-4 weeks to fix it up (too long. will remedy that next time), then spent 2 weeks at too high of rent and now 2 weeks at the realistic rent. .getting showings and good feedback but not rented yet. Upsetting and stressful. had long talk w property manager on it today
2. the section 8 house, forgetting if I mentioned it we were thinking we wwere going to pull it out of section 8 and then instead did all sorts of roof, water drainage work on it and left it in section 8 because the lady has lived there for so long and wanted to stay... well she UP AND LEFT. I found out from Section 8? not her. not the manager! He is going over there tonight to look at it but with her being in there for 13 years likely needs a full paint job and updating. ARGGH!! Manager says he talked to section 8 Tuesday to get it reinspected and no one said she moved out and she did not either. He talked to her Monday. Crazy

I have been having MORE AND MORE insane crazy totally unprofessional costly things happening w the section 8 folks .. Property manager says folks are getting out of section 8 and did not think it was bad to lose this house out of section 8 as rent was low (13 years in there) and the annual inspections and nonsense like this. craziness

Bottom line though is I am going into the month with TWO VACANCIES (1) already at 8 weeks and (1) likely to go at least 4 weeks as we have to do a rehab on it..

I am not prepared to spend more $ to rehab another home and am going to need to beat some bushes to find the money. or something. I am feeling severely money crunched. SEVERELY. with the landscaping (paid for) and the fence (money sitting waiting for completion)..I have been scratching around for money and cutting all costs already. hard to find or cut momre.

I speak with another local Property Manager Tuesday
and will speak to a local investor this weekend to for ideas to rent these faster... cut costs..

Positive things

1. all the rest of the rent is in
2. the house that we did rehab looks good and rehab is paid for in full
3. I am working 65+ hours a week at work so getting extra money
4. still hoping to hear positive news on the gift to partially payoff the 6 homes
5. this too shall pass (hopefully onto better tiimes!)
6. fixing up this house will mark the 4th house rehabbed.. only 2 more to go after this and one of those looks pretty good
7. even though it is hard to fund these rehabs., if done right these are long term investments into the homes.

Onward.

HI all

I never had the 6 homes I have properly inspected before purchase and long timers on my blog know that that was a mistake. I do not like the uncertainty and not being in the know so I am going to get them inspected now. I got a few referrals so calling and getting someone good to walk through then inside and out and point out any major issues. Not sure of cost yet but I feel it will be worth it.

These are long term cash flow properties so need them SOLID.

Property manager and I are thinking of pulling another home out of section 8.

I may be coming into a $10k bonus so if so will devote that into making these homes 'solid'... some may be fine already.

Still saving as much as I can and having less stress w the homes but having an inspector guy to review the homes will be helpful

also attend the landlord meetings next week

HI all

Just musing here.

Dad has made me realize or struck home that life is REALLY short. Seeing him confused is VERY SCARY and makes me want to make the best use of my time and to watch my health what I eat, drink etc.

I do not want to waste time with things I do not want anymore or 'settle'. So re thinking some things in my life.

Anyway

rental updates.

The drama w the homes and 3 units is leaving me which is nice. No dramatic updates. Moved in those 2 folks. Got 4 renewals on the 3 units.. 2 more for the Fall at the much higher rent and we are not concerned. NO MAJOR work needed immediately. I could re-side the place but no need too. I just did a major tree trimming.

City inspection is quoted and funded.

Laundry money is UP

6 homes
1. short term lady moving out next Thursday. We start showing Monday and have 6 possibles lined up to see it. Hoping it rents soon.
2. Property manager is now a preferred vendor with that local insurance company with people in need of short term housing due to fires etc. He just filled one of his other homes at a $500 premium. Mine was not available yet but bodes well for the future that we may be able to do that again
3. other long term lady SHOULD be moving out end of this month. hopefully she is but my guess is maybe not. that house needs the rehab (not quoted)
4. everyone else is fine. I have section 8 inspections on the 4 homes every year and they are not fun. Inspectors appear to want to find something every time. I may look to remove other homes from the program. Others are doing so and Section 8 housing is hard to find. I am tracking how much they cost each year
5. repairs in general are down across the homes .. like break/fix repairs which means the proactive approach has worked
6. got to do some landscape work on 1 home but really feeling fairly in control

I am now forecasting that even with all the repairs I will end the year with $15k in that account and am holding onto $8k to fund forecasted repairs outside of the $15k

Job is fine..working 50-55 hours. LOTS of money but tiring

I need and now have a goal to find HOBBIES, interests, friends outside of real estate and my not for profit

I am in general unsatisfied w my life and want to be happy. No reason to wait to do that until the homes are paid off. I am seeing someone and am in general not satisfied w that too or just stressed or both. I will make some decisions on that in the next few months.

I am trying to get my arms around Dad's finances. He has much more than I had thought and all (ALL) of it is in cash accounts. I want to speak to someone to hep me consolidate and put that into safe interest bearing accounts.He will have about $1MM total cash after the house. any thoughts for advisers or what to do w the money? Plan was to keep a year worth of costs out of the market and invest the rest??

Also house should sell and close in these next 3-4 weeks..

he is not doing super awesome. VERY confused. Very bad. Last week he got into his car and got lost for 4 hours and was found by a good samaritan and driven back. We took away the car and he has an eval next week to see what stage of dementia/alzhemiers he is in. He is NOt happy at the assisted living place and I am not sure how to act. Is he not happy because he thinks he is on an airforce base being forced to re-enlist or am I holding him against his will in a place he does not want to be at? Do I act for his safety or his happiness and he is so confused not sure what to do

He says 'he hates himself, hates his life, wonders if I hate him and he wants to kill himself'

very bad.

Hi there

We got the 2nd renewal at the 3 units. so so far 4 units turned over to $600 (out of 6).. 2 left to go . There leases are up September and November.. 3 units are STABILIZING.. yay

and got folks waiting to see the house that is vacating by that short term insurance lady. We charged the insurance company $1435 but market is more like $1200 so getting a rent decrease there on a 1 year lease.

Hi all

Still putting a good amount of money in savings..$20k so far for the year not including the 401k

Expecting $14000 of fix up costs this year on the homes/3 units. Got $8000 towards that with only $6k left to find/earn/make up. This math will keep me at $15k emergency fund by end of year which is my goal

I was thinking of taking out the $15k rental fund from my networth calculation. what do you guys think?I really will not use it for anything but real estate . and need it that high for the first few years to fix these up. weather changes..maybe just in general ALWAYS keeping $15k

Two houses move outs at the end of the month. Already showing one... and have fix up work on the other so will have to fix up/rehab first and then show (more downtime)

So far. got 3 units turned over or re-leased at the 3 units (6 total units).. All at $600 ..all look good. I also raised the security to $900. NO current vacancies. Waiting for this one guy to get out or re--sign his lease at $600 for June 1 and then got 2 more who renew in a few months. So after these homes and this guy and this fix up work. things should quiet down.

Overall happy w the rental property manager change but want to fine tune it. These homes are long term. need to hone my process and relationships to lower stress and tighten things up.

Dad gave me his guns. selling for $2000 approx (on consignment) that will go towards the rental fix up.

INVESTMENTS. how do you guys allocate? I have been reading up on this and thinking about doing an investment policy statement with my long term goals and strategy. . currently thinking.

10 % bond
15 % international
75% aggressive stock fund

All at Vanguard.

What are your thoughts. Thanks

Still plan to refinance the house in August to a 15 year loan with closer to a 3% rate. currently at 5.35. This will not change my payment significantly. possibly raise it probably $300 a month.

GOALS w status.

GOALS FOR END OF YEAR 2015
1. $15k rental EF-POSSIBLE but need to rebuild fund by almost $8k by end of year to make this goal
2. $35k increase in savings/investments-DONE and striving higher.
3. 1 Roof for 6 homes-BUDGETED AND ORDERED
4. Decrease negative cash flow on rentals by $400/mth-VERY POSSIBLE but pending, at $380 increase now but taking a $235 decrease on one and further increases pending still on 5 others.
5. Stay within maintenance and vacancy budget for all rentals-VERY possible still
6. Make all 6 homes/3 units payments-VERY LIKELY
7. Fully fund Roth account-DONE

HI all

Just diarying the journey today and should do that more often.

Updates..
1. work still fine, working 50 hours a week, making more than I ever did, raised 401k to 19% from me (and get a 3% match credited at the end of the year)-SPEECH CAME BACK!! yay.
2. doing a roof and turning over a house this month (roof is $3500. house is getting quoted)..
3. 2 tenants moving out end of May... one is long term and house requires updating. one house we should be able to clean and turn over quickly
4. 3 unit "turning over bad tenants/raising rents effort" is progressing but definitely more stressful than I had thought but still on track., We DID go down in rents from our projected $630 across all units to $600 across all units. Still hoping to have the bulk of this smoothed out at the end of May
5. projecting $17,600 worth of long term improvements this year between my house and the homes and 3 units. I will have to take $7600 out of the rental emergency fund to fund that and them replace that by end of year
6. still trying to save every month. $12k saved since the start of the year NOT including 401k
7. $28k increase in investments since start of year (with appreciation and new cash put in).. goal was $35k. Raising goal to $50k for the year
8. Dad is moving in to assisted lviing tomorrow .. 5 minutes from the house. big life change for him and me.. adding stress
9. lost wallet and 6 homes check last week (caused lots of stress.. ) almost had to replace the 6 homes check ($5100)but got it worked out.
10. still planning to refinance the house to a 15 year loan in August. I am currently on a 30 year loan paying almost 5.3.. rate should drop to 3.15 or something


2 years 9 months til 6 homes paid off but hoping for an easier year next year as we raise rents and take care of finalizing the bulk of the long term improvements this year.

Have not had ANY time to work on coming up with an extra $119k to pay off the homes at the end of this year but have 2 friends doing fix and flips. t hey are newbies but are estimating making $40-60k each.. being newbies maybe it will be much less but still interesting

We will see how it goes but I have friends who are NOT newbies, more experts, who do them and DO make that amount. I need access to cash (not my own) and TIME to THINK and RELAX (has been in super short supply lately)

Onward..

HI all

Been out for a while.. LOTS going on w Dad.. a little down. my speech (stutter) has taken a major turn for the worse.. and working on other stuff.

Anyway.. a good accountant is worth their weight in gold.

Worked with accountant (took some time) as this year was A LOT (lost the 2 flat, and refinanced my house twice after buying it in a hard money deal) and got a great refund coming.

Anyway.. refund $13,568. Crazy!

$4500 goes to the Roth IRA
$1000 wil go to regular investments (taxable)
Much (if not all) of the rest will fund this years 6 homes/3 units improvements.

We are working on tenants for both the 3 units places and will firm up tomorrow likely.. the 2nd person we were tossing moved on her own. Both have tentative move in dates of May 1 once signed.

Hopefully no vacancies there in a while! (but still have 2 more rents to raise)

Expecting the S8 lady to move out end of May .. along w the short term lease lady. so will have to fill 2 homes this year. Section 8 people generally stay a long time so when this one moves (7 year tenant) we have some updating to do and then hopefully can get another long term tenant. We took the short term lease lady because her lease bridged the gap between a bad time of year (winter) to early spring setting us up to re-rent it well to a longer term person. Also she paid like $300 more a month.

this is a BIG year for turnover though! Costly

and all the same time of year.

Hopefully next year will be much less.

HI all

My rent increase with section 8 went through and all it took was an email, call and filing out a form. WOW. got almost a $200 increase on a long term tenant.

Getting lots of good showings on our vacant apartment and other person we are tossing did not qualify for enough disability so expecting her to leave shortly.. Both will go up to $650 so so far on the 3 units I will have raised the rents $205/month . and the 6 homes $186 a month since the start of the year. hoping for more .. I WILL likely take a cut when that short term lease lady moves out so can not count yearly totals til we are at the end of year. Goal was to raise rents $400 across the board across all units. I want to exceed that and stay within the maintenance budget. note: rehab and roof money does not come from my maintenance budget it comes from the rental long term/or emergency fund.. so that will need to be either built up now or replenished later so I end the year at $15k

In other news.

car paid off!
and another $350 towards investments today and managed to vacation for 6 days with no noticeable decrease ins savings.
and set up $50 Vanguard auto invest per month (difference in car insurance w dropping the Tahoe)

facing some big costs though

1. city inspection on the 3 units.. estimate a few thousand (new code rules regarding water heaters and furnaces across ALL units)
2. remainder of the city inspection on 2 homes. minor outdoor work
3. roof on one house
4. turn over one house that has a long term tenant. estimating at least 4k?

But as I turn over these long term tenants the homes are getting updated so the 'update/rehab the whole house' is not yearly expense. (thank the lord)

Onward!

Rachael

hi all

unit that was vacated looks fantastic. We will do a quick clean and re-rent. listing it for the weekend

I am going to a local landlord meeting April 14.. meet people and learn. I am looking forward

and finally seeing the 6 homes/3 units for what they were . a good deal but not a 'turnkey' situation more a deal where the sellers were sortof 'done' and rents were lower, management was 'ok' and the places needed some fix up.

I went into it thinking 'oh this will be relatively turn key'

Anyway glad I had the money to fix them up and hang in there through the turnovers (JUST starting on the 3 units this year) and the lack of rent.

I feel very good though that this was a good long term buy and feel I have 'turned the corner' and it is getting easier and easier and smoother and smoother.. and really when I am done I will be in a better position then had I not done the rentals and just 'saved' and actually even better then if I had kept the OLD rentals that I lost in foreclosure(those I paid too much for it. Only thing I wish was I had not used up my IRAs in the past..

that is the past. looking forward to the future

and just did the FIRE calculator thing and with a conservative estimate of savings $100k and my rentals paid off (4/2019 for ALL of them) I have no lines going to zero!

3 unit update. Looking up!

1. Guy we were throwing out is OUT! Property manager will assess the apartment tomorrow Am for repair/clean up but looked great last week. Will list for the weekend if looks good. Rent will be $650 and we are going to ask for $800-900 security. I will also have manager have Section 8 look at it. to see for the future what they would pay for it. He talked to Section 8 before and they were thinking $700 or so.
2. lady we went to court with today. Court went well. Basically 'we won" and got the judgeent. Move out date 4/14. It was set so far ahead because the tenant's income situation changed and she may be able to pay the back rent, attorneys fees and a higher rent and says she want too. We will see. If we do not work out something her date to get out is 4/14 and she WILL have increased income so hopefully can do that.
3. I also meet with the property manager tonght. We talk all the time but I meet w him once a quarter. I have a list go go through.

Feeling MUCH better w 6 homes/3 units this year. more proactive. less reactive. more in control

ALSO finally did my excel sheet summarizing up everything from the 6 homes/3 units for taxes for last year. Gave that to my accountant. I expect to have news on how much of a refund I will get either this week or end of next. Hoping for at least $10k

I also now have a process (MUCH better process) to track every month, track to goals and this process will allow me to just print it off at the end of the year and voilah! I am ready for taxes.

VERY happy I got rid of the other lady property manager

Put $500 to Vanguard. Rest of car money will towards the rental emergency fund and the Genesis payoff

Hi all

Tahoe ad is up on Craigs list Hoping for $22k for a 2008 Tahoe LTZ w 88k miles.

Fingers crossed.

Brother dropped off $300 this month for the privilege of using my address.. sent itright to vanguard. I should get this every month.

Talked to Section 8 on my rent increases. They are submitting 1 house that is now at $975 in for approval at $1111 a month. Hope it works. (very easy way to raise the rent on long term tenants if it does.. teannt portion does not go up) The other 2 are not eligible as the people in them have only 1 bedroom 'vouchers' but choose to stay in a much larger house so for then I need to move them on to raise the rent.

The short term insurance lady moves out at the end of April. she pays $1435. We are looking to re-rent at $1250 or so. She paid more because her lease was short term. I expect minimal fix up there as we just fixed it up and she has kept it up well. should rent fast.

Other lady (section 8) rent $950 is moving out around the same time. end of April . end of May. We will need to update that house and will expect $1100-12oo in rent when we do. I expect to lose a few weeks here fixing this up.

Things are still in the works on the 3 units. Hoping that one guy gets out over the weekend but if he does not all his stuff wil be set outside (extra $200) on the lawn Tuesday.

Court date for other lady 3/24 too

and 3rd 'slow payer'.. his lease is up 5/15 and we can not apparently serve him for just a late fee. Property manager is going to talk to him and see his intentions etc. His rent will go up to $630 if he stays..if he misses rent we will start fileing.. so his rent will go up 6/1 to $630. if he misses that we will serve him

I think people are seeing we have pretty good units in a nice neightborhood at a good price in town. Which bodes well. We did a random search and really again there are very few 1 bedrooms in town.

reviewing w my accountant I have already raised rents $460 (a month) across the 6 homes since I got them.

Onward.

HI all
Brief good news on the 3 units

1. we got our first renewal!! Lots of people (including the old property manager said I was crazy and did not know how to run my business) but looks like it may just work. We got our toughest renewal. the one with the biggest rent change. $560 to $630 effective 4/1!!
2. guy we are tossing out is moving out THIS WEEK. apartment look immaculate. Goal is to rent it by the first. If he does not move by this week. sheriff comes the 24th. Most move before hand and he knows the date
3. Court for the other lady (who was on the failing payment plan) is 3/24..
4. other guy we do not like and who is always 'slow' w rent and late fees. his lease is up 5/15. We sent him a renewal. if he does not pay late fees immediately ($60) or renew we will toss him as well.

With THAT done we will have gotten rid of ALL the bad renters and can smooth things out. The other 2 folks are newer people and good renters. likely to accept the renewal when it comes up but if not we expect no trouble.

Goal was to raise the rents by $400 this year across ALL units. With these 4 points above (raising rent to $650 on NEW tenants and $630 on the renewals) . we will have raised rents by $280. This assumes the 'slow payer' renews at $630 and straightens up . if not we will put a new person in there at $650 making the total go up to $300 month increase. Of course this comes at a cost but we the cost was worth it (and unavoidable. these guys were not paying anyway) AND now w the new leases in my property managers name (not the old PM) he can file eviction suits on his own on any new or renewed tenants.

feeling good. still a lot of cost this year but feeling like things are getting more and more under control.

HI all

A milestones for the 6 homes. I made my payment this month (it is due the 25th) and now I only have 2 years 11 months left to go.

Feeling much better much more in control w the 6 homes (and 3 units)

in February I can pull yet another house out of the package and get a free and clear deed which would give me 2 free and clear deeds. I can pu1l 1 more in the life of the deal and then get the rest once the full loan is paid off.

Next big (non 6 homes) milestone is the refinance which I will go for in August which should take me from this loan I have now at 5.xx percent (forget) to a 15 year 3.x% loan which actually will only be a few hundred more than what I pay now if that.

Onward.

still saving every dime I can.

My brother should start paying me $300 a month start next week. All of that will go towards savings.

STILL have not done taxes. dad and work have taken all my time. will make time this week. Hoping to get $10k back which will go to the Roth and more savings.

Rachael

All,

Lots of updates.

Work offered me full time $100k, 2 weeks vacation (they have room to increase vacation to 3 weeks or maybe more), 3 % 401k match vested in 3 years. I make effectively $120ish now and HAAVE an instant vestd 3% match so NOT going to take this now. I am on contract for a year (January 2016)and will evaluate at the end of thisyear options to go full time, jump to another group who can extend my contract where I work now or get it extended in the group I am in

Dad.. looks lke Dad is deciding to move to assisted living nearby. getting forms and drs evals set up. fingers crossed. He did drive a short distance and was fine. We do not have authority to stop his driving and lettign him drive to the dealership helped him free up to make the decision to move. easier to deal w the car when he has transport options avail (assisted living)

6 homes.. going great.. rents always in .. the short term insurance lady we put in last year is likely moving on in 30-60 days.. so May or June 1.. we will look to rent it for $1200..current short term rent is $1435. Should rent easily. good time of year to rent

other homes.. one section 8 lady is moving end of April. will look to raise that rent by $300 and fix up house (few thousand)

3 units. guy we are throwing out was served by the sheriff. we looked at the apartment. IMMACULATE.. hoping he moves soon but sheriff comes in 3 weeks (most move prior to that). raising rent by $65 (or more if we can)

Other lady not paying rent. attorney was not happy w our 5 day notice (did not include certain wording). we have changed the wording. re-served her LAST Monday and expect to get a court date in 7-10 days after THIS Monday. same time frame with her.. within 4-8 weeks after that court date she should be OUT!! raise her rent by $90

Slow payer. paid all but $50 of his rent.. we are putting him on notice he needs to pay or get out.. and will serve him Monday if needed..

We are trying to clear everyone out in the SPRING. so we can rent them easier..

Put in for s8 increases (of $200 each) on the other homes.. Section 8 did not deny them but asked me to redo the forms etc.. did nto fill them in correctly and clear up this city inspection (due 3/24) and may want me to do some fix up. we will see but fingers crossed.

I have a budgetted $1300 monthly loss across the 3 units and 6 homes ..every dollar of rent i can increase decreases that budgetted loss. My goal is to increase rents $400/month across all. I am hoping to exceed that.

6 homes paid off March 2015, 3 units March 2019

By some miracle still able to save every month.

Did not do taxxes yet.. swamped w work, work trips, Dad. will look to finish the needed data thsi weekend

HI all,

Just diarying.

3 things.

1. person who was making payments at the 3 units is no longer doing so and has said that. We are filing today on her and are also going to the sheriffs office today to toss that guy who we already won on in court. The brother of that guy is getting 'unreliable too' so may need to toss him. All hard challenging COSTLY news but better to get these guys out NOW.. than later. Also sent out 2 lease renewals at $630.. Really need to clear this up fast and restore income to me.. tough!
2. Dad.. VERY BAD SITUATION. Dad has dementia and some times thinks things that are not the case (thinks he is still in the airforce, thinks he is in trouble may go to jail etc). His long time girlfriend lives with him but is moving out (soon.. weeks/days). She is hiding his keys but every day gets very frustrated with the situation and wants out now. She and Dad were out here Saturday. I found a good assisted living place for Dad right near the house. He does not believe he needs help and in short I am not sure if he is going to sign a lease. I have a room on hold until the 18th. Talked to an attorney and he says my power of attorneys are not worth much and in this situation I need GUARDIANSHIP and since it is out of state it will be a 2 step process (get it in Wisconsin first and then transfer to Illinois). Anyway costly.. lengthy . just bad. Girlfriend is having a hard time living w Dad as he for the past week has been panicked about jail and trying to leave/drive the car (she hid his keys). Anyway. situation is really to explode and just very hard. I expect to learn more from an attorney today and will continue to ask Dad/encourage him to sign the lease at this assisted lviing/memory h elp place near me. Fingers crossed.
3. Kevin my brother called and on a high note wnts to pay me $300/month to use my address to send bills too etc. he is a truck driver and will find that easier etc.. Hopefully that works out.

Work is still ok. BUSY.. 50+ hours a week. and traveling to Nashville again Wed-Thursday

Had a vacation set up for 6 days to Pheonix at the end of this month. likely cancelling to deal with the Dad situation

Onward and hoping for some GOOD NEWS!!

HI all

Excited for first pay day tomorrow!! Have not had a check in 4 weeks and this one will have 401k money being transferred too.

Had a SUPER bad day at work yesterday.. but feeling good today (this sales guy talked down to me but he apparently is this way with everyone so I got over it)..

Hoping for a good month next month w the rentals but got that guy moving out at some point, the city inspection partial fix (rest will wait til that lady moves out) and a lease renewal to a 3 unit person at $630 to get signed off on or we need to turn the unit over.. Also submitting to get increased rents at the Section 8 homes. They say an exception maybe can be made and my rents increased. It would be great to NOT have to turn over the remaining homes to get a rent increase. Got the fair market rents off of HUD and the 3 bedrooms fair market rent is $1249. I get between 900-975!! I want to raise those rents the least cost way possible.

meet with tax guy hopefully SUNDAY!! Hoping for at least $10k. fund the ROth and save the rest.

Onwards.

Hi all

I went out this last weekend and walked through the 2 side by side homes in detail. These were 2 of the ones who had the city inspection and that we had not rehabbed yet. The home with the most items is being vacated in April (lady is moving on. YAY..we did not like here). we expect a rent raise from Section 8 to $1200+. it is at $975 now.. We will attempt to defer the fixup until then so we can just do the rehab at the same time when she is out..kitchen cabinets are way out of date so considering new kitchn cabinets there.. the other one had a some minor items and I love the tenant (but she only pays $950.. long term tenant and Section 8 is on that 10 year rent freeze). So this year for large expenses I have that one roof, the turn over of this house and probably turning over 3-4 units at the 3 unit property.. Feeling good and positive with raising rents and keeping things on track. Being MORE proactive and am now saving for this rehab..and the roof (vs being reactive and trying to pull it out of nowhere). I already socked away the cage bank money $1750 and will get $1250 from the tenant who is moving to go towards rehab/roof money.

We won in court for the 3 unit tenant who is not paying. he has until March 6 to move out. if he does not we have to file additional paperwork to physically move him out and the physical move will likely happen at the end of this month. Attorney was wonderful.. easy and low cost and costs DEFINED.. So he is moving end of month either way. one bad tenant down. I get updates on the other tenant today (the one trying to catch up) and property manager is sending out lease renewals today.

Feeling positive

My hours at work definately look like 45+ a week on a regular basis. This means I can fully fund the 401k and save $13-1500 a month on top. some months this will be true savings some month it will go towards the work above.

Onward.

Hi guys.

First of all does SA load slower for you lately? these past few weeks it loads super sloooow.. I use Chrome .. any advice?

Updates. 2 of my homes are subject to city inspection. got a lengthy inspection this time.. (first time inspection since I had the homes). anyway getting quotes and looking at the homes this weekend with the manager but expecting a few thousand? news sooon

Also one of the 6 homes people (the one we were actually considering getting rid of) is moving out on her own.. that is 'good' but these homes have not been fixed up in 5-7 years .. because tenants have stayed so long. I am expecting a few thousand to turn it over.. Luckily these paragraphs are on the same house so maybe we can do double duty and save some $

On a high note too. I should get at least $1100 if not $1200 or more for rent on the house she is moving out of . Current rent is $975 so big bump in rent and easy to rent.

I am taking my $1750 for the cage bank and applying that towards the rental fund to help with costs of the above.

So far even with one guy not paying and 1 lady behind I am sticking to my budget every month.. makes me feel it will be awesome when I have full rent.

So hanging in there and better organized than last year but got some 'turning over' of units to do this year too.. so some costs to cover.

Next month marks the 24th payment and after that I have 3 years to go on the 6 homes...continuing the count down

HI all

Sold the cage bank for $1750.. taking payment today and then dropping it off next weekend. YAY!

Also found another $500 so definately making up that shortfall for this month. maybe I can save something?

Another 45+ hour work week and going to Nashville next week for work.

I feel like this year will be a good year.

The lady making payments paid $600 yesterday .. maybe she CAN catch up. I have a call in to the property manager to see what her plan is.. either way we have done the 5 day notice so can file at anytime.

Guy not paying at the 3 units.. court date is next Friday. quick!.. hopefully he leaves on own before or shortly thereafter

Attorney said I do not have a significant enough case against the old property manager for damages for putting this guy in with out doing proper screening. so moving on

Almosst done gathering up all tax docs. hope to work with the CPA the week after next or next weekend. Hoping for a BIG refund so I can fund the Roth and have more left over

Motorcycle guy (owes me $6k) .. no news yet

Dad is not doing well. and his girlfriend is indicating she is moving on and he needs to be in a memory care or other home (and he does). so will be setting that up in the next few months unless something changes.. little scary sad.. but plowing through it. he looks very ill and is VERY WEAK.. so not sure how this is going to go or for how long. Need to sell his house in Wisconson. car and stuff inside house. Girlfriend will assist.. and need to find a place out here..Dad is not being forthright with his financials at this point so will try to get information out of him. I am SO GRATEFUL that where I work is so large they have offices all over and have one near Dad (20 minutes) away so when I want to work in Wisconsin I can.

Looking to buy the 3rd row seats for the Tahoe off of ebay ..$799..(sold them last year for money thinking the Tahoe was long term car).. with the 3rd row seats I can get $1500 more at Carmax and I am sure more everywhere else in general. Some guy online (I called him) had a similar car to mine. same year.. great shape. sold for $23k cash to some buyer off Craigs list. Buyer had to get a loan but that was it. I owe approx $16k on the Genesis after the Warranty credit which is STILL not there. was thinking to pay off the car and when the time comes buy a 4x4 SUV for me and the rescue to use at a much lower price. Rescue maybe can kick in a portion.. hard to justify the Tahoe sitting all year.

Onward.

HI all

All good news . feeling positive.

Overtime approved long term! up to 50 hours (have to ask if more than that)

Put 401k percentage in at 16%.. work will contribute an instant vest match of 3%^ so almost 20% total will go in allowing me to max it out this year

Rents all in at 6 homes and 3 units. except payment lady and guy we are throwing out.. my budget for the month is set now.. no more variables out of my control.. running $700 short with FIT BIT (see below) and medical bill.. but got an idea to make up $500 of that. Realistically I have a $1500 buffer in my checking so am fine but want to not use that.

speech is improving.. stutter subsiding as i get more at ease with my teammates etc. drove to Brown Deer, Wi yesterday to meet people HUGE HELP.

My boss however at work was let go.. unsure why. they are posting the job. I will express my interest in wanting full time but I just started and want to get he lay of the land first.

I got the FITBIT (some electronic wrist band thing) that someone else got here that tracks calories, miles walked etc. can not wait for it to come. I want to get fit this year and get into a sustainable routine with this work at home.

I can now work at home ANYTIME I want but will go in to work every so often.

Feeling good.

More 3 unit updates.

Got costs from attorney referral.. $250 if no trial. $350 if trial.. feels good to have it quantified..

No news on non paying guy. attorney will file Monday.
The person with a balance was served w a 5 day notice and says she will pay $600 next FRiday and get caught up in full by March. We will wait to file to see if the $600 comes in.. and wait out the 5 day notice. Basically though she is unlikely to suddenly turn into a good payer long term so at some point she may just need to go.

Meanwhile. trying to figure out if there is a way to terminate water for INDIVIDUAL apartments. Right now the city says they can only turn off the entire 3 unit building. If there is not a way to teriminate individually that might be a good thing to install in the future. City gave me and the property manager things to look for to check this out.

Rents still being collected. do not have final count on 3 units. but the 6 homes rents are in.

Already paid 3 unit mortgage.. 6 homes one is not due until the 25th.

Onward.

Figuring after 3 months on this new job I will change my goal of a 4 month emergency fund down to 3 (which I already have) and if renewal or full time looks likely a few months after that. I may invest some of that fund to grow it..

HI all

Another update.

New job. STRESS LEVEL is dramatically reduced. It is challenging with it being new and my stutter but looks manageable and fun. I drive to Brown Deer Wisconsin Monday to meet my bosses boss and some other folks and I go to Nashville the 17-18 to meet some clients and my project team. Meeting in person will help my speech anxiety. Excited. Boss is not who I thought it was .. they switched it at the last minute. He is in Florida. Basically i have no team mates or boss locally.. little weird but this company gives you lots of latitude IF you get the job done. I am handling a MAJOR project (the infrastructure side). little scary still but hanging in there. Last day of my first week is today (whew!)

ALSO my boss . this is crazy but possible good news. These folks work over 40 hours ALL the time so I asked him if I was capped at 40? and he said he will check the way I was set up but was not concerned so while he checks that (2-3 weeks) I am ok to bill overtime. 'just try to keep it at 10 hours over. do not want you working all night'

TEN HOURS OVER is almost $2000 extra a month!! WOW.

Anyway it is hard for me to work 10 hours over since I have to work at work these next few weeks and this week did not get on the network until yesterday, also waiting on VPN access but at home it will be easier and actually I have the work now to do the overtime so will get in some.

FIngers crossed that overtime works out long term.

3 units.

A rough patch (which I and the Property Manager knew). a little rougher than expected because I did not realize or think that my PM can not go to court for me because his name is not on the lease. it is the old property managers name. This means we have to get an attorney $$

Anyway.. person who has been continuously behind . we are filing court docs on her and the guy who 'just moved in in Dec' we are filing court docs on him. Hope and thought is that these guys will be gone way before court date comes but you never know.. And my property manager did not put these guys in there so we do not know them. Never had to go to court before (except years ago when I was like 20) so this is upsetting. I will get costs/plan today and tomorrow.

upsetting but better to take the loss and move on then have this drag on and on.

Reclaimed both their security deposits to help with cash flow.

First renewal goes out next month ( new lease) for someone else in the 3 units at $630. We will see how that goes.

6 homes still going well. that lady we moved in last year (fire insurance claim) we have no word yet on when she is moving out but it will likely be in these next 3 months. No other pending move outs.. so 6 homes are riding right along there.

and this month I paid all bills and my estimate to the 6 homes/3 units fund already(I subsidize that every month since it is on a 5 year payoff and does not cash flow on its own) and am coming out with a projected $500 short for the month. I have no more projected job income coming in this month at all. I have $1500 buffer in my account though but am going to try to come up with that $500 or cut costs so I do not ahve to use it.3 years left on the 6 homes as of March. Turning these 3 units over and cleaning that situation up should reduce my monthly pay in to $700 a month. Also taking care of these large things helps too. just getting the homes and 3 units in shape and purring along.

Only variable at this point is for the month (1) rents/costs ( I estimated HIGH COSTS and 6 homes rents are in. no word if all 3 units are in but we will be missing at least 2 which are already in my estimate) .. (2) food/misc monthly expenses.(also estimated high) .. probably can shave a lot here.

Here is to hoping I can cover this $500 shortfall with out any pulling out of funds.

Onward.

Estimatimg my tax refund as $11-13k. Hope that is the case. If so. I will fully fund the Roth (need to check with my accountant that I can ) and put the rest towards savings.

Guy with that motorcyle.. STIll in contact.. still trying to sell. HE needs to sell it now too so he is working harder and is in more contact. Remind me NEVER to loan people money again. Anyway that is $6,000 which will put the rental emergency fund back up to where it should be. $15,000

If I can average 45 hours a week at work . I can MAX out the 401k (company gives 3% instantly vested match so all I have to put in is 13%) and then use the rest to save.

Still waiting on interpretation of city inspection report .. hopefully news this week or next and then I will go out there myself to see.

Hi all

My old job asked me to bill an extra 20 hours last week so I could help with transitioning my work after hours. Total billed 61.5. that is 700 extra after taxes) WOW! That is awesome. Also got an unforeseen insurance refund of $100.

I put $1900 towards the vacation fund (as you know) and $500 towards saving to keep me at the $500 short still for the month... actually now only $350-400 short for the month. may put more towards the rental fund. we will see.. My plan/challenge is to make that $500 shortfall happen without dipping into savings.

FIRST DAY at the new job tomorrow.. sortof nervous.. excited.. hope it goes well

14 inches of snow today. glad I got my snowblower as a gift and that I still have the Tahoe.. need to figure out SOMETHING with a 4 wheel drive or the Tahoe.

3 units .. bumpy road but not unexpected. Guy who is not paying should be moving out this week. GOOD NEWS.. need to turn it over ASAP. Will take his security and unit should be in good shape as it was just fixed up last mmonth for him

Other lady who is behind missed 2 payments . we are doing a 5 day notice tommorrow and just getting rid of her. HOPEFULLY she goes fast without a big court thing and then we have our first renewal notice going out at $630 this month to another unit.

So little rough right now but will be better long term to get rid of these bad tenants and bring it back up to market rents.

6 homes continue to chug along but had a 'city inspection on 2 of them' (happens every 4 years).. got a big list .. property manager is figuring out costs and what exactly inspectors wants.. costs/plan next week..many items are small and you never really know from looking at the list as they pick from 'pre written drop downs' to fill in the form

STIll believe in homes and the plan.