... and Landlord! Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast

One of my favorite quotes is... "Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get me!" - so I'm primed to be one who is paranoid about and fears the risk of proceeding in business (especially Rental Properties) - without having an LLC in place for liability and asset protection.

"What if someone slips and falls (or otherwise gets hurt) on one of my properties?"

"What if there's a fire?"

"What if there's an issue with CO2 or Radon?"

"What is someone dies!?"

If you're a Landlord and you've not asked yourself these exact questions, then you've certainly expressed some collection of concerns that if they happened - you feared ending up in court. And so you certainly wanted to have the best protections in place, such as having your business established as and properties held within an LLC. Is this valid protection for legitimate concerns or just unfounded paranoia?

Well, I actually believe BOTH are true. You certainly want to have proper protections in place for liability and asset protection. But this episode of the [... and Landlord!] Podcast is about how far too often, those who are new to business and Real Estate Investing are encouraged to spend time (and even more money) to setup an LLC (and sometimes a complex system of LLC's).

This adds cost, often complexity and may waste time. Not that an LLC (or a few) is unnecessary, but LLC's are pitched as step 1 and the first line protection against law suits for those in business - when really an LLC is nearer to being the 4th line of protection. There are other things that come BEFORE having an LLC that will provide protection and potentially keep you out of court.

So on this episode, I discuss those other things that provide protection to maybe lessen the obsession with LLC's. As you progress, you will reach a point of needing an LLC (maybe several) - but you don't need it from day one, and you certainly don't need to spend thousands on some complex out of state LLC setup from day one (if at all).

In this episode of the... and Landlord Podcast, I speak about RENT increases here in Durham, North Carolina. And one example I give is that of my own... The 2 Bedroom Duplex unit that I lived in for 4 years when I was last a renter myself (from early in 1998 to the start of 2002), where my rent was $625/mo (increasing to $645 in the final year).

Well now here 18 years later, that exact same 2 Bedroom Duplex unit (of ~1,000 SqFt), is suggested by Zillow and Rentometer to have an average rent value of $1,381/mo, with the median rent for 2 bedroom homes in the area being $1,450/mo... That's crazy! If correct, it means that rents here have more than doubled over the last 15 years or so since the boom and bust occurred in Real Estate.

But think of that... This Duplex is nearly 20 years older than when I last lived there. And I drove by it recently, and it doesn't look like anything major has been done to update it or improve its appearance or condition. If the same people / company owns it now as then, they have likely paid it off by now (or are near to doing so). So they are not only getting more cash-flow from this now 35 year old property than before due to greatly increased rents, but also because they may no longer have a mortgage to pay from those rents.

What is better than Rental Real Estate Investing!? You end up with what is essentially a FREE house - because the tenants pay all the bills and expenses. You get cash-flow for life. And that cash-flow greatly increases over time due to the mortgage pay-down / payoff; and as result of annually increasing rents. Not to mention the incredible tax benefits and the likelihood that the property increased in value despite having gotten older. And did I mention the tax benefits? You get to depreciate the value on paper as it actually appreciates in real value... Wow - Seems like you'd go to jail for that, but its allowed!

This 43rd Episode of the... and Landlord Podcast is about Optimism versus Pessimism - and how a person with an Optimistic outlook over the past decade (since 2010) had a much better chance of profiting financially than did someone with a Pessimistic eye towards the future.

I go into some of the many reasons a person might have legitimately had for being a Pessimist. But how resisting that tendency could have been very profitable - especially in Rental Real Estate Investing, or even Stocks.

I explain how I'm an optimist in most things... I'm not expecting the Zombie Apocalypse. I'm not expecting an Alien Invasion. Not looking for a meteor to strike. Don't expect the government to fall or the economic system to crash (again) - at least not anytime soon.

So I am proceeding with an Optimistic outlook towards the future. And as such, I'm making investments NOW, that I fully expect all will still be around (including myself) to benefit from in that future. And I make the point that a person who had that outlook in 2010, and acted accordingly - likely had a great decade.

Are you an Optimist or a Pessimist? What do you expect the next decade to hold for you? Because Optimism can be Profitable.

People have been getting rich on #RealEstate for decades - really going back hundreds and even thousands of years (before the current crop of humans on this planet even existed). But the #EconomicCrash of 2008 / 2009 might just have created the best Real Estate buying opportunity of our lifetimes.

Now as humans we tend to suffer from "recency bias" - thinking that what we've experienced is the best (or worst) that anyone in history has ever dealt with. True or not - in this episode of the [... @andLandlord!] #RentalRealEstateInvesting Podcast, I'm asking the question - "Are You Late To The Party?"

"The Party" I'm speaking of is the situation that followed the "#GreatRecession" of 2008 / 2009, where a year or few later (sometime between 2010 to 2012) - in many (if not most) locations in the country, it was possible to buy Real Estate for LESS than its replacement cost. In other words, you could often buy a property for less than it would (or did) cost to build that same property new. That's a situation (a party) that doesn't happen every day.

So in this [... #andLandlord!] Podcast episode, I mention my envy of those who were able to jump on those deals right at the start of the party (around 2010 to 2012). And I lament the past a bit (something I try NOT to do), in that I didn't get to the party until 2015 - but still in time to grab some #amazingdeals that are paying off big-time for me today. And I start the episode by asking (singing in fact) "is the party over?"

If you're just seeking to get started in Rental #RealEstateInvesting here in 2020 - are you 5 to 10 years late to the party? Is the party over? In fact, did the party end in 2019?

Yea, I've got #2020Vision - in more than one way. So in this Episode #40 (the first of 2020) of the @andLandlord Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast - I'm engaging in the New Year / New Decade pastime that pretty much everyone else is as well... Goal Setting!

What's your 2020 Vision? For that matter, what's your Vision of 2023, 2025 and all the way out to the end of this / the next decade - 2030!? That's what we discuss in this episode of the... and #LandlordPodcast - We'll be setting grand goals and making plans to achieve them.

If you've already got a Rental Property (or few); or if you're trying to get your first - getting from where you are to where you seek to be will be aided greatly by a goal directed by a plan. So let's get to it and kill-it not only in 2020 but for the decade to come all the way out to 2030 (and beyond)!

OK, so there was a time in my life when I spent a LOT of time playing video games - which is then kind of ironic that it now annoys me that my 12 year old son does the same (even more so that I was the one who first introduced him to video games).

But for the most part I left that behavior in my teens; however, whenever I'd allow myself to get sucked back into a given game, I could easily blow 6+ hours before I even realized it. I really LOVE playing video games, but I have no time for playing games right now - haven't for years. Now I make an exception in playing with my son, but he now prefers playing online with his friends from school - so I'm currently retired in my video game career.

Now that said - this episode of the [... and Landlord!] Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast - is my excuse to express my love of video games, and how it relates to business and life. Level Up! That is the goal when playing video games, and the same is true when playing the games of Real Estate, Business and Life.

Here I wanted to make clear with the sub-title of "Problem? What Problem?" - that what a person at Level 1 perceives as a problem, may be no problem at all for a person at Level 2 or 3. And a Level 10 person would not even slow down when encountering a Level 1 speed bump - they wouldn't even see it as a problem.

Success in Rental Real Estate Investing requires that we Level Up. My first property was just over $60K - when I was just starting with Real Estate Investing. Whatever level I was at then could not relate to my current level where my latest project will have a value of over $600K. And I have no doubt that I'll soon be dealing with projects that are over $6M - because I'll Level Up!

So this... and Landord Podcast episode serves as an analogy between Leveling Up / improving your charter in a role-playing video game and improving yourself in life - so that in both cases you're able to handle ever greater challenges to win the game.

This is the final episode of 2019 - so let this be your start to an amazing 2020. Make it your goal to end the coming year at a higher level than you began. The... and Landlord Podcast itself began in 2019, and I'd like to think it has reached a new level and will continue to improve in the coming year.

Happy New Year!

The cover image for this episode shows your rental property flooded and infested with water fowl. So maybe you can't Tenant Proof against flood and fowl - but this exaggerated scenario (and birds) aside... You can certainly do somethings upfront (during the rehab) to protect your rental property against the more typical hazards - including pets (but hopefully not penguins).

So in this episode of the [... and Landlord!] Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast - I'm going over some of the things that I've done during my Rental Rehabs to Tenant Proof my properties. You can save yourself from headaches and keep money in your pocket by avoiding certain issues from the start.

Floors, Faucets and Fixtures - These are where I focus my Tenant Proofing efforts. These don't cover everything, but they go a long way towards your headache and hassle free Landlord life. They form the foundation - and built upon these, you must start with proper Tenant Screening, proceed with effective Tenant On-boarding, and continue with on-going Property Inspections.

So checkout this Episode #39 of the [... and Landlord!] Podcast to hear my insight into how I Tenant Proof Blue Chariot Properties.

Rehabbing distressed properties into rentals is a balancing act... You must watch your budget, because every dollar spent on the rehab lowers your ROI - and depending on how you choose to fund your rehabs, it can also lower your cash-flow (at least initially). And you want the resulting property to be nice, plus you also want everything to be durable - so that you're not likely having to replace everything all over again at each tenant turn.

Finding that right balance between price / cost, appearance and durability is critical to a successful outcome. And if you're like me, you want prospective tenants to think "WOW" (or even say it out-loud) - when they first see pictures or have a tour of your rental properties.

In this episode of the [... and Landlord!] Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast, I relate some of my thoughts on achieving this outcome and balance - so I ask the question "How Nice Is Too Nice?"

Here I relate that I cannot prove it, but anecdotally, I feel that the quality of my rental rehabs both make my properties more desirable (I definitely get that "WOW" effect); and results in an increased durability. But it does come at the price of an increased rehab cost. I put a bit extra into making my properties really nice (but "How Nice Is Too Nice?") - so at the same time, I must be careful not to take it too far.

Because at a certain point, things are durable enough and look good enough - so to go further or spend more gains little to nothing in return from increased rent or reduced vacancy. While I feel you can certainly attract a better tenant who may stay longer if you put a little extra into the rehab (like upgrading to Stainless Steel Appliances, LVP Flooring, Granite Counters, etc...) - creating a home they really love and have pride of residency... It has a limit beyond which you get drastically diminishing returns. And since measuring those returns are almost purely anecdotal anyway - you really must be careful when increasing rehab expenses to make a property nice. You can quickly end up with a property that is far nicer than it needs to be to get the same tenant at the same rent you'd have gotten anyway with a lower cost rehab to rental.

So where to draw the line? How nice is too nice?

Might there be a "Super" version of yourself inside - just waiting to get out? Or stated another way... Are you currently the best possible version of yourself? Might there be another possible version of YOU - who is capable of doing things that could make you RICH. Or do you think it more likely that you'll somehow develop super powers and fly before you'll ever become RICH?

The book Rich Dad Poor Dad puts forth the idea that being RICH is a choice. But the opposite is true as well... Being POOR is also a choice. Or actually, a life long series of daily choices - bad ones. But YOU CAN BE RICH. You just have to WANT IT. You have to WANT IT enough to DO SOMETHING to obtain it. And most people won't. In fact, they CHOOSE not to.

In this episode of the [... and Landlord!] Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast - I talk about how most people are not RICH because it has never occurred to them that they can be. And thus they make choices that ensure they won't be. At the basic level, all it takes to be rich is 4 things... 1) The belief that you can be; 2) The determination that you will be; 3) An idea as to how; 4) And effective execution of that idea.

The problem is that (outside of maybe winning the lottery) most people don't think that they can be rich. So they certainly don't have any determination to be rich. And most people are lacking ideas, such as for a business, product, service, etc... So they can't execution on what they don't have.

Ideas are infinite - but why would an idea come to you if you're just going to dismiss it as something you can't do anyway? So the first part of getting an idea to execute upon is believing that you can and then determining that you will.

So listen to this episode of the Landlord Podcast and let's stop being lessor versions of ourselves. We all have greatness within - LET IT OUT!

I was a one-man business machine. 16 hour days were nothing for me. I often worked to 3AM, slept to 7 or 8AM, and got back up to do it all over again - like it was nothing. If something needed to be done, of course I did it myself - as I wanted it to be done right. And surely no one else could do anything right, but me - right?

That worked well enough in my late 20's and early 30's... But not so much once I reached 40 or so. At 40+ if I'm up to 3AM, I'm not getting out of bed before 10AM - if not 11. And thankfully, I've long since learned that I'm not the only person who can do things right.

Having come to understand this, I'm no longer clocking 16 hour days. I can (and do) occasionally, if and when I must - but now I have a team in place that removes most of that burden from my shoulders. This episode of the [... and Landlord!] Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast is about VA's (#VirtualAssistants) and other members of your #RentalRealEstateInvesting Team.

I leverage VA's to get things done - because I can't (and shouldn't even try to) do everything myself. There is a highest and best use for my time, so in this episode of the #LandlordPodcast, I speak about my use of VA's and team building activity. My goal is to fire myself from any and every job that can possibly be done by someone else on my behalf. Even if that person is only 80% as good at the job as me, putting multiple VA's on several tasks at even 80% of my effectiveness still results in a LOT more work getting done than I could possible do on my own.

So would you rather a job done at 80% of your greatness or yet another job sitting un-done on your to-do list? I know my answer! Hear it in this episode, along with details that will help you do the same.