tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post2644441103607233859..comments2024-03-28T02:23:23.177-07:00Comments on JohnnyFD.com - Follow the Journey of a Location Independent Entrepreneur: Buying a House: Investing in Real EstateJohnny FDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16606448957561483887noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-35610225114184834632020-10-20T18:44:04.360-07:002020-10-20T18:44:04.360-07:00I am house hacking with a Duplex. I'm renting ...I am house hacking with a Duplex. I'm renting out rooms and it's honestly not a good experience because I'm an introvert and dealing with so many people in the same house has been stressful. In the future, I'm thinking about investing in vacation homes that I can stay in or rent out short term. I think people should research long term rental vs short term rental and which fits their personality more. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-41462856283001738042019-08-04T05:55:53.474-07:002019-08-04T05:55:53.474-07:00Thanks Mark. I agree it was confusing. I think I w...Thanks Mark. I agree it was confusing. I think I was trying to wrap it all up but there was so much info that I kept adding sections. But taking your advice I've now changed the section titles! Johnny FDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16606448957561483887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-74812829122861790312019-08-04T05:54:51.020-07:002019-08-04T05:54:51.020-07:00Thanks for sharing your story Darren! I'm glad...Thanks for sharing your story Darren! I'm glad you did well with your townhouse! But I agree it's a risk! I've heard of a lot of people buying into areas that were scheduled to be building xyz and it never happened. Johnny FDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16606448957561483887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-78434650886292448062018-01-21T02:06:29.323-08:002018-01-21T02:06:29.323-08:00Good info Johnny but I suggest your work on how yo...Good info Johnny but I suggest your work on how you present this post. I think you can create a better blog post. It is unnecessary to have: <br />* Lessons Learned<br />* Real Estate Summary<br />* Final Thoughts Summary<br />and then <br />* Summary<br /><br />Just write the post and have a summery of the most important points. You don't need summaries of your summaries. Pointlessly confusing for the reader :)Mark Grovhttp://www.markgrov.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-2323429651236365762017-07-27T09:44:17.931-07:002017-07-27T09:44:17.931-07:00Hey Johnny! I think it was a little bit of knowing...Hey Johnny! I think it was a little bit of knowing the area and research. Before I bought the townhouse my research found that a proposition had just been put into place to build a much needed highway near the new townhouse area that would greatly shorten the commute to the big city for people moving into that area. After I moved in, people caught onto the trend and started snatching up the rest of the real estate. The house prices rose quickly once demand was at a high and supply was shortening.<br /><br />So I guess it was a bit of research, luck and risk. Which is pretty much the way with any type of venture you could say (amongst other things).<br /><br />Anything could have gone wrong and I would have been stuck with a major liability for sure. I guess you could ultimately say - the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward (as cliche as it sounds).Darren at Money Trekkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13546693172560862540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-2286279758719182212017-07-27T00:59:10.163-07:002017-07-27T00:59:10.163-07:00Hey Darren, thanks for sharing your experiences wi...Hey Darren, thanks for sharing your experiences with real estate. It's good to hear from people who have both lost money and who have made money. With the townhouse, thinking back, do you think that it was your foresight of knowing the area around you would develop nicely being the key to that success, or was there also a chance that if it didn't go as planned with development it could have been another liability?Johnny FDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16606448957561483887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-27006753994761973082017-07-26T17:42:41.417-07:002017-07-26T17:42:41.417-07:00Hey Johnny FD! Darren here...I've been checkin...Hey Johnny FD! Darren here...I've been checking out your site for the past couple of months now and I love what you are doing, keep up the great work!<br /><br />With regards to real estate, I've been on both sides of the fence too. <br />When I was 19 I purchased a condo as my first dip into real estate. With my inexperience I was going into the red about $500 every month and had to sell the place less than 10 months later just to stay afloat. I had no idea how to calculate my bills and living expenses properly.<br />Then I took my second stab at it years later. I saw an up and coming community with new townhouses going in. I begged my fiancée to put some of her savings into the purchase of a new house as an investment (even though it was our primary residence, I treated it as an investment).<br />We purchased the home for $604,000 with 5% down and lived there for 19 months.<br />The area developed nicely around us as the builders plan had shown and the value of our house went up an average of 10k a month.<br />Last September I put the house up for sale by owner at $789,000. The house sold in less than 24 hours for full asking price with zero conditions. <br />I ended up with a check for $178,193.81 after the sale...<br />I then then purchased a 300k house away from the noise of the big city on 1.3 acres (which could sell today, a year later for about 400k). <br />I put a large chunk of the rest of that money into a 16 unit apartment building with my brother as an investor as well.<br />I totally agree with you about buying more units (4 or more) rather than 1 when dealing with rental properties. With 1 house, if someone moves out, you are immediately at 100% vacancy. Not a good way to go. Also with single houses as rental properties scattered around a town or city, that's more roofs to fix, furnaces, etc. Not to mention travelling like a ping pong ball around the city fixing issues at all these properties. I like the idea of 1 roof over multiple units (apartment buildings). But there are still tons of people out there killing it with single houses. It really all depends on preference. Buy and hold vs trading up etc etc etc. There are so many discussions that could be spawned off of this topic. Either way, real estate can make you rich, just ask the Donald (actually maybe don't ask him)...<br />I fully believe that any type of real estate can be seen as an investment, it just depends on how you treat it.<br />If you asked me 5 years ago I would have said to not ever worry about paying off a mortgage, so you can leverage the banks money to buy and live in your house. I've since changed that notion, I look forward to paying off my mortgage and owning my house free and clear. Because really, until your house is fully paid off, the bank owns the deed to your house, therefore it's their property, you just sleep there every night.<br />Thanks for the great post Johnny!<br />Darren (moneytrekker(dot)com)Darren at Money Trekkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13546693172560862540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-76366600926353531192017-07-26T00:49:36.413-07:002017-07-26T00:49:36.413-07:00Hey thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'm glad...Hey thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'm glad to be able to share this knowledge with people just starting out as I know most investors only talk about the high level aspects of investing. Johnny FDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16606448957561483887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-70600664328598227982017-07-25T08:31:21.070-07:002017-07-25T08:31:21.070-07:00Your research is fantastic Johnny! As someone who ...Your research is fantastic Johnny! As someone who has been investing in real estate for 10 years I've forgotten how difficult it can be for someone who is just starting out to decide what to invest in, how to get started and if real estate investing is right for them. I've had a lot of success in real estate building $1 million in net worth in under 5 years and now earn six figures in annual cash flow. However, there was a huge learning curve and it took a lot of time and effort. Like your research showed, multi-family is the best investment due to the multiple streams of income under one roof. <br /><br />Buying a home to live in is very different than investing in rental properties and I think it is more risky because you are the one paying the mortgage instead of tenants. My easy way of determining if it makes financial sense to rent or buy is if the mortgage payment would be within $200-$300 per month of what you would pay for rent. We all have to live somewhere, and if the rent you would pay is $1500 per month but you can own a home for $1700 the tax incentives would effectively make that mortgage payment $1500, so now you are paying what you would have to pay anyway but toward your own home. Where I think people go wrong is when they are thousands apart and now they lose all chance of ever keeping that house as a rental. <br /><br />Thanks again for sharing your research!Real Estate Investing Millionairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18023492820504334501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-64728203293348002892017-07-22T01:32:38.711-07:002017-07-22T01:32:38.711-07:00Thanks Wallace, i'll check it out and reply th...Thanks Wallace, i'll check it out and reply there. =)Johnny FDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16606448957561483887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-76899891214663121842017-07-22T01:32:03.056-07:002017-07-22T01:32:03.056-07:00Hey thanks for sharing your thoughts as a parent, ...Hey thanks for sharing your thoughts as a parent, it's valuable to hear the other side as well. I agree that home stability is a very valuable thing, maybe even priceless. I did mention in one of the videos though that I believe having parents be able to move closer to their work and being able to spend more time at home with their kids instead of commuting is more beneficial than having a fixed address. I grew up in the same house my entire life, since I could remember. But my dad's job moved 1.5 hours away, which meant that he would have to leave before I woke up, and didn't get home until just a few hours before I went to bed, so I hardly saw him. It would have been better for me to spend an extra 2-3 hours with him a day than have a stable home.<br /><br />I also think staying in once place is comfortable for kids which is why they want it as making new friends is daunting but moving has other benefits such as building character and forcing kids to learn to adapt and make new friends in new surroundings. <br /><br />As for the 7-8% gains, it was Warren Buffet that calculated that number (he said 7%) for the total stock market over time, which includes the 50% drops, as in good years the stock market gains over 10% to make up for it. There are also things like PeerStreet that guarantee 8% returns through their collateral backed hard money loans, that I mentioned in the videos as well.<br /><br />But you're right, there is so much to consider when choosing to buy, not to buy a house, which is why this is such a long and complicated topic that can vary by person to person and situation to situation. I think my goal was really to figure it out for my own personal situation, while sharing the thought process behind it all so people would have the info to decide for their own. Thanks again for this comment, I love discussions like this from readers! <br /><br />Johnny FDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16606448957561483887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-36719459587581486712017-07-22T01:20:04.833-07:002017-07-22T01:20:04.833-07:00Hey Steven, happy to share. It's good that you...Hey Steven, happy to share. It's good that you are taking the time to set proper goals and research before you jump into it! Johnny FDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16606448957561483887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-63631276620184604462017-07-21T21:03:50.827-07:002017-07-21T21:03:50.827-07:00Hey Johnny,
It's Wallace from DSL. Great vide...Hey Johnny,<br />It's Wallace from DSL. Great video! I just left a comment on this video on Youtube. Please let me know what you think of my ideas. I would love to talk to you more about it.Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04937424746869131234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-51327923793446277342017-07-21T20:52:54.869-07:002017-07-21T20:52:54.869-07:00Johnny... You are a bachelor with no children, co...Johnny... You are a bachelor with no children, correct? If and when you have children, your whole outlook on life will change. Children want a stable home, friends in the neighborhood they can grow up with, and more importantly, parents want the best school district they can afford so their children get the best education. Children want to bring their friends home, to play in a yard, etc.... Our children (we have 5 of them) begged us not to move from our current home. We will stay until the last is out of high school.<br />I want to challenge some of your assumptions. About that "30 year mortgage" ugh...getting a 15 year mortgage, and paying a little bit more each month (forced savings) will save homeowners $100,000+++ over the life of the mortgage. <br />Next, assuming that ANY investment, whether stock market, REIT's or fixed income funds will pay 8% (or whatever %) consistently over a period of 10, 20 or 30 years is just unrealistic. Markets go up and down, and many lost 50% of their money in the stock market in 2008 alone. So you can't really compare investing in anything versus buying a house. There is too much volatility. <br />I agree with you, that investing in real estate for the tax benefits is unwise, the tax benefits, nevertheless, should still be calculated in order to compare apples to apples. When our children were young and we qualified for the tax credit, our effective income tax rate was <br />3-4% because we had so many tax breaks..(deducted interest, property taxes, etc..). My husband makes $100,000+++ per year. I bring in the petty cash working part-time.<br />I am so glad we live in Texas, with NO state income tax, and in a place where property values have slowly risen, so we don't have a huge property tax bill. I really don't know how people in California have paid all those taxes for years. I would be out of my mind.<br />Thank you for sharing your thoughts on buying a house. I love how you keep an open mind about choosing the life you want to live. It is thought-provoking. Plethora of Serendipityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15534715921062725022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194848132778607550.post-89460774108181660042017-07-21T16:40:27.548-07:002017-07-21T16:40:27.548-07:00Really awesome and helpful post Johnny, I think yo...Really awesome and helpful post Johnny, I think you're absolutely right in that people rarely differentiate between the types and goals of real estate investing. I'm in the process of searching for an investment property right now as well. We're definitely at the top of the market right now though, so I may have to hold off. Thanks for the article! <br /><br />Steven~Steven M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13666500865360121005noreply@blogger.com