Rental Property

[frayne]

Been retired for about three years now and 72Ting out of an IRA. Still able to save and have approx. $100K after tax in savings. Have been thinking about picking up a couple of rental properties in my neighborhhod for some passive income. Houses I'm looking at are $150-200K range and contractors are having a hard time moving them. My thought process is to pick up a couple at a reasonable price and rent them out until the market turns. Any thoughts from the wise sages of the forum ?

[Nords]

Ye gods, man, are you not feeling fulfilled enough? Search the board for keywords "landlord", by me or by anyone else.

But wait, how inconsiderate of me. Can I interest you in a nice tropical 4BR 2BA SFH yielding 5.1% (before expenses!) on tenants who may or may not be able to afford their lifestyle on his E-6 military pension & GS-12 job? The after-expenses yield is closer to five-year CD rates.

Before you start checking open houses, you might want to read: (1) Investing in Real Estate, 4th edition or later, by Andrew McLean & Gary W. Eldred (who's taken over the new editions) and (2) Landlording by Leigh Robinson (7th edition or later). Those are two of the more objective tutorials.

Bank stocks & REITS are coming down to reasonable prices, too, and they don't forget to pay the rent or trash the place.

[unclemick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Ye gods, man, are you not feeling fulfilled enough? Search the board for keywords "landlord", by me or by anyone else. Bank stocks & REITS are coming down to reasonable prices, too, and they don't forget to pay the rent or trash the place.

Duplex 15 yrs while saving for ER. Basically good tenants. One of the first things to go in ER. My theory - either you have the 'landlord mindset' or you don't - it is a skill.

Now my landlord way back in Denver(circa 1970's) had 8-10 good size buildings 15 -20 units in and around Denver - wouldn't touch a stock - true believer in R.E. and developed/learned the skill. Was an aircraft salesman in a prior lifetime before becoming a landlord.

heh heh heh - sold my VG REIT Index(10%) in jan 2006 went all Target Retirement 2015. My small hobby stock position New Plan went private last year(Aussies) and have tiny amounts of UDR and WRE left. It's a hormone thing with the stocks - but don't want to be a landlord again even though I had great tenants and made a modest amount of money.

[calmloki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Ye gods, man,... Bank stocks & REITS are coming down to reasonable prices, too, and they don't forget to pay the rent or trash the place.

Geeze Nords - our tenants rarely forget to trash the place - what kinda island renters are you getting?!

[HpRyder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frayne Been retired for about three years now and 72Ting out of an IRA. Still able to save and have approx. $100K after tax in savings. Have been thinking about picking up a couple of rental properties in my neighborhhod for some passive income. Houses I'm looking at are $150-200K range and contractors are having a hard time moving them. My thought process is to pick up a couple at a reasonable price and rent them out until the market turns. Any thoughts from the wise sages of the forum ?

Do a little more research. Try this site for LL education.
Discussion Board

Happy researching.
Bin doing it for ~25 yrs.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmloki Geeze Nords - our tenants rarely forget to trash the place - what kinda island renters are you getting?!

Clearly I'm typing too fast...

It was a sweet once-in-a-lifetime deal-- shipmates of a shipmate. He was retiring from active duty at the Pentagon and wanted to move back to Hawaii to a GS job. His spouse was pregnant. They were having a hard time figuring out how to househunt across five time zones and move two small kids plus all their stuff (they have a LOT of stuff).

We had the place torn apart (new ceilings, new carpet, new flooring) but we loaded a bunch of "before" pictures on Photobucket and gave them all the info. After a few volleys back & forth they sent us a deposit-- pretty much based on our mutual friend's recommendation, a Photobucket album, and a walkthrough. They're very good tenants (and nice people) but we fret a bit that they're on the edge of their cash flow.

We rented it because it was the same type of work as selling, with the added advantage of being able to rehab the exterior & yard while getting rent. They signed a one-year lease but of course our cash return was way lower than last year's long-term CD rates. That situation sure has changed! But now the lease is up, they're month-to-month, and we're ready to sell when they're ready to move out (or when they win the lottery and decide to buy it).

Landlording has been very very good to us but I've had enough. And except for spouse's parents, we've had good tenants...