Category Archives: real estate investing

I love real estate as an investment because it allows me to earn money on my investment each year in the form of rent while (hopefully), the property appreciates in value at the same time. Another reason I like real estate investing is it allows me to take some nice tax deductions, even if the property management side of being a real estate investor is generally considered passive income unless you spend all your waking hours devoted to it.  That said, there are a few deductions that real estate investors can […]

A common question I get regarding real estate investing is whether the investor needs his or her real estate license to successfully be an investor? The short answer — no. We have been investing for about 10 years now and I have only had my real estate license for the past two or three years. Since then, having my license has been handy but far from necessary. The main reason to get your license is it’s worthwhile financially. Let’s go through the costs first. $500 — the cost an online […]

Besides being a general pain in the ass, moving residences can also be exceptionally expensive. There are many costs and fees that go into securing a new place. In addition to the time and emotional energy, tenants must also pay up front many non-refundable fees like application fees, pet fees, parking passes, and security deposits. These fees are usually on top of the other expenses, such as the costs of setting up new utilities, storage units, professional cleaning, and renting a truck to move personal belongings. Security deposits where renters […]

Nearly 11 million people in the United States out of about 330 million individuals own rental properties to generate income. And of the roughly 50 million rental housing units in the U.S., roughly 41% of those units (20.5 million) are operated by individual investor landlords. Although classified as “passive income” from the Internal Revenue Service, being a landlord can be a lot of work. In addition to arduous work of finding good tenants, landlords must also answer calls from their tenants when something goes wrong — usually in the middle […]

The headlines are all about real estate these days with journalists asking all the right questions. Have prices finally peaked? Are homes overvalued now? Are we going to have another housing bubble like in 2008? Or will home prices stabilize now that interest rates have gone up, reducing what buyers can afford?     As an investor, let me tell you what I’m seeing on the ground here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Houses that are in good condition and listed at reasonable prices continue to sell quickly. For those homes, I’m […]

The competition for homes has been Tiger King crazy intense these past few years. With fewer existing homes on the market to sell and fewer new units available for sale (in part COVID shut-downs and due to material shortages), homeowners and investors like me have been forced to expand budgets and get creative with purchase offers. Beyond offering more than the asking price, a free rent back to the sellers, or waiving the home inspection, some buyers have been throwing in more unique items to try to make their offers […]

Renting a house by the night is a very popular these days — both for landlords looking to make some additional income and for guests looking for an experience beyond a traditional hotel. Usually called short-term rentals, travelers can easily find these opportunities through platforms such as Airbnb or VRBO. The advantage of using sites like these is landlords can often earn more money per night renting for a few days at a time vs. a rental with a yearly lease. For example, it may be possible to rent a […]

Spoiler alert – I am not a lawyer nor to I play one on TV. Get legal advice from a real lawyer. Really. This article is based on my own personal experiences. Mileage may vary. Create a limited liability company. There are lots of legal reasons related to limiting your liability that a lawyer can explain. However, the reason that I like having an LLC is it’s a good way to keep my rental investments separate from my personal finances. Once you get an LLC, you can also contact the […]

For folks trying to get into real estate, probably easiest place to start is buying a home where you can safely have an income property as part of your primary residence. There was a great show on HGTV about it and it’s worth finding the old episodes to watch (see Income Property). The basic idea is finding a home to make your primary residence that also has a unit that you can rent out for profit. Depending on where you live, that could be a duplex or triplex that was […]

Before you can start to invest in real estate, you need to first ask yourself how much risk is acceptable. I know, I know, that’s one of those vague questions they ask you when completing some 401k enrollment form, but it’s even more important when it comes to real estate investments as the money you invest will not be liquid. Basically, the most liquid of all investments is cash. When you have $1,000 in your bank account, it can be exchanged for $1,000 in cash or exchanged for goods or […]