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View Poll Results: RE moguls represent! How many are rental owners?
I have owned rental real estate. 30 32.61%
I currently own rental real estate. 69 75.00%
I self manage. 35 38.04%
Rentals are my primary source of income. 7 7.61%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 92. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 08-31-2014, 08:32 AM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wolf View Post
Currently have rentals, self manage. Dumb question, how do I access the
poll?
If you haven't voted you just check the boxes up at the very beginning of the thread that apply, then click "view poll results". Once you have voted I think you are only presented with the poll results.
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Old 08-31-2014, 10:09 AM   #42
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I guess the lesson here is that rentals can be a very good investment. Just go into it with eyes open. Do your homework. And, it may not be for everyone.

I also think it varies a bit state to state. The laws among the states vary quite a bit when it comes to owner-tenant issues.
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Old 08-31-2014, 10:14 AM   #43
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Had 23 units (AND a day job) prior to FIRE in 2005 ... bailed on all the multis. Kept half a dozen SF ... built a vacation home/rental on a small lake in ski country.

Still living off the rents nearly 10 years n'counting.

Prices tanked nearly 50% in some areas I own in (inner city). But the rents were steady and values are slowing recovering. Did one flip in 2012 for "fun".
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Old 09-01-2014, 03:39 AM   #44
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i invested very heavily in nyc real estate. mostly special situation stuff like owning co-ops with rent stabilized tenents in them over looking central park.

we would offer lots of dough to buy out the leases and sell the apartments. my partner was a famous real estate mogal.

we also owned some fabulous lease rights on some commercial property in the same area.

we didn't even own the property ,just the lease rights and in march an investor group bought the remaining 20 years of lease rights from us for a staggering amount which made real estate headlines.

but with retirement less than 1 year away we have been liquidating everything. the last thing i want to do in retirement is deal with tenants ,courts and the city.

we still have 2 apartments left with tenants not going anywhere and expenses and rents are about a wash. so it does not look like i will be totally out but 95% out works for me.
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Old 09-01-2014, 07:45 AM   #45
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My Dad had residential rentals and ultimately sold them because of the hassle factor and he was too busy to deal with them and didn't want to hire a manager to deal with them. He also had a commercial rental that he kept and has worked out very well for them.

I have no rentals and have no interest in buying myself a job. I may end up inheriting the commercial rental and I would be fine with that, but I wouldn;t go anywhere near residential.
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Old 09-01-2014, 07:51 AM   #46
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we have a commercial mgmt firm but even so i don't want the hassles or ill-liquidity of it through retirement if i can avoid it.

retirement is no time either to play around with tenants who turn bad and leave you with no income stream and expenses for what could be months unless you have deep pockets.

we started unloading our holdings over the last decade.

the irony is i loved the income from those commercial leases we held . that was going to be a part of my retirement income. but now that our partner bernard spitzer , who is one of americas real estate mogals decided to sell them the burdon is on me to get that kind of return on my own and there is no way i can do that consistently.

i got a chunk of taxable cash from the sale so it is something i can not duplicate.
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Old 09-01-2014, 07:55 AM   #47
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I hear you but this is a bit of a special situation in that it is single tenant (large company) and they have been renting this building for over 30 years so other than negotiating the lease every 10 years it is very low maintenance. I can't for the life of me understand why they haven't bought the building.
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Old 09-01-2014, 07:58 AM   #48
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if it is trouble free and if you can afford to deal with it when the day comes they say they are leaving then all is good in the hood.

these lease rights were ours since 1984... figures 11 months from me retiring the pensionized income ends ha ha ha.. it was that steady and good.

these are the stats on our lease rights that were sold. we owned 9 co-ops in the same building of which just 2 are left now.

we had a 10% stake in the lease rights and a 25% stake in the apartments with our kids having another 25% stake.

http://www.masseyknakal.com/listingi...th_-_Setup.pdf

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/01/...itzer-for-18m/
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Old 09-01-2014, 10:37 AM   #49
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We rent out our home for 6 winter months but it is all professionally managed. We don't rent out our winter home in the summer.
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Old 09-02-2014, 11:22 AM   #50
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have owned a 6-plex, sold and took appreciation. That one was tough as it took a lot to get into, we (my partner was my ole man who currently owns a handful of rentals) had a lot of appliances and maintenance work added with the fact it was 100mi away from us.

Sold that after owning it for 5 years and banked < 3% plus some tax breaks that allowed reinvestment into dads other investments.

Bought townhome foreclosed in 2010. Has been a positive cash flow since and is < 5 years from being paid off. Looking to buy another rental but the markets are a bit high in my area and the trick is ALWAYS buy low, and select tenants with good credit.

My ole man paid off his original home a looong time ago and used the positive cash flow to pay off his current home which now he uses his job income to pay off his latest investment property sooner as well. He told me between a few smaller Pensions and his rental income he shouldn't have to touch his SSN. The tough part is convincing him to maximize his SSN WR for his and moms tax situation.

My oldest sis (40yrs old) owns 7 rentals with her husband. Her DH is hands off basically just signing when he needs to to obtain low financing. She says she is planning to retire in 5 years at 45 after saving diligently and investing high in 401k at MegaCorp since she was 25 so past (15-20yrs). Her kids will be trust fund kids and I am beginning to think mine may as well.

My families fortune is multi-millions now which is astonishing considering Grandma relocated the fam from a rented farm to "the big city" in 1969. Grandma is living off SSN and is happy with that...ole man prob just bought her last used buick a cpl years ago she is 89 and lost everything she had to a gambling diabetic hsuband who passed years ago.

I don't think single handedly a rental would be worthwhile, but compounded...just like market investments... seems to take the sting and "sweat" out of owning the rentals.

ALL are self-managed. Would never pay someone to wash my vehicle let alone manage my investments. We hire out the work ourselves when needed but avoid this at all costs. Both me and the ole man have noticed since texting has become mainstreem it has made managing these things a little easier for some reason.

My dad plans on self-managing (currently 62yrs old) until he can no longer physically do it...then its my resp...or else I will hire a prop manager if my sis ever decides to go that route...we will prob need to to some sort of family trust to maximize all of the wealth coming from these properties once they are all sold throughout time. Thinking about a trust with a defined Inherited IRA or something.

I like to relate my family to the modern day mafia...we are definitely not a soup kitchen.

In the over 10+ units and over 30yr timespan between me, sis and ole man we have had to evict 2 people.

Another side benefit is we have built up a ton of local connections and friends in the process, and aquired a fleet of trucks and just about any tool you could think of. No backhoe yet but we haven't needed one.
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Old 09-02-2014, 04:07 PM   #51
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i am so un-handy that i want accolades if i put a bulb in and it works. last thing i want in life is houses to care for.
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Old 09-02-2014, 05:59 PM   #52
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You aren't alone - often when tenants move out about 3/4 of the bulbs are burned out. I figure they are moving because the place is just so darn dark!

Looks like less than 3/4 of the poll respondents still have rentals and less that a tenth have rentals as a primary source of income. A working theory is that landlords don't much feel like they retire - early or not?
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Old 09-03-2014, 11:45 AM   #53
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And dirty! Most tenants act like your property is a garment they put on, soil and tear to their heart's content, then shrug off and leave on the ground.

Replacing flooring every couple of years sure got old (and expensive). We were advised not even to bother trying to get security deposit money back on carpet issues - we would lose in court.

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You aren't alone - often when tenants move out about 3/4 of the bulbs are burned out. I figure they are moving because the place is just so darn dark!
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Old 09-03-2014, 09:00 PM   #54
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I have been notified today that the tenant in my remaining rental property will vacate the premises at the end of the month. I am putting it up for sale.
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Old 09-04-2014, 02:44 AM   #55
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like i say ,landlording is great , that is until it is not.

the grief and headaches because of tenants , courts, ill-liquidity, unexpected expenses and the time frames things can take to resolve far out weigh the benefits in retirement in my opinion; and i loved the rewards from my real estate earlier in life.
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Old 09-04-2014, 06:38 AM   #56
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We rent out my DH's condo, basically by default. He bought it in 2007 and it is still underwater. So, since we can't sell it, we rent it out. We basically break even on it but are also helping out the cousin we rent to - we get slightly lower than market rent but are helping out a family member; his rent covers the monthly payments and the condo association fees.
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Old 09-09-2014, 11:35 AM   #57
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Long time lurker, first post...I have been watching the real estate specific posts for a long time. Im 29, wife is 27, both employed but my main focus in the portfolio of 60 rental units we have accumulated. We have Two 11-unit buildings, Four 4-families, a few duplex's and a bunch of houses. We have a good chunk of retirement funds, post tax savings, emergency funds, etc.. and have done well for ourselves but when I look at our global wealth, RE has blown away everything.

Smartly using leverage to buy undervalued properties that cash flow, with additional upside appreciation potential has suited us well. I have attempted to use mgmt companies in the past, but with no luck. We ended up hiring a full time employee to run leasing, mgmt, take phone calls, etc... and outsource all maintenance and renovation work.

We do manage some stressful situations at times but to know that our RE NET income is roughly 1.5x our combined salaries certainly makes it worth it. There are bonuses as well such as tax advantages and other residual benefits that sweeten the deal.

Happy Investing!
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Old 09-12-2014, 09:17 PM   #58
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Just signed closing docs today on the sale of our ski resort vacation condo. Bought in the recession, hoping to make money during ski seasons and supplement our early retirement. Wow, were we surprised. Property mgmt companies take 40% right off the top, ALL of them. I swear it's a conspiracy! Then they charged "fees" on top of that. Then there were the $600/month HOA fees that doubled in the 3 years we've owned the condo. Well, we got a cash offer last week with a fast closing. Fortunately, we made a great profit, but in the end I learned I just don't have the stomach for it.
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Old 09-12-2014, 10:11 PM   #59
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We have a 3 bedroom house on the beach in Florida that is rented out on a weekly basis in the summer and to snow birds in winter.

This leaves us with Spring and Fall to use we please.

We love it and have very nice family vacations there several times a year.

Unfortunately even with 30k a year in rental income, we are still in the red, not counting tax deductions and appreciation.
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Old 09-12-2014, 11:01 PM   #60
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I voted "I have owned rental real estate".

I sold the house I used as my primary residence in Los Angeles in 2002, as the value had increased quite a bit since I'd bought it 4 1/2 years earlier. I cashed out, went to live in an apartment, watched RE prices in continue to rise at a fast clip, and wondered what to do with the money I had made. About a year after selling the house, I bought 3 single family homes in an area 70 miles away where it was still possible to buy with 10% down and have a small positive cash flow from the rent. The homes were professionally managed.

18 months later, the houses I had bought for ~150K were each worth ~250K, so I sold them and got out of RE completely. I realized it might be a long time before I'd see such a sharp increase in RE prices again over such a short period of time. Although the experience had been a good (and easy) one, I didn't want to deal with the hassles, stresses, and expenses of being an owner over the long term. My timing was very lucky, as it turned out I had sold at the peak of the market.

Nowadays, I am very happy to have nearly all my investments in low-cost Vanguard funds. It gives me less to worry about, though I know that many people are comfortable owning RE.
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