For the vast majority of my life, where I lived was decided for me by one factor or another.Initially, wherever my parents lived, I lived.Then it was school. The colleges I went to (undergrad and grad) were in specific cities/areas I had to live in.And finally, there was my career. Of course I could choose who to work for, but if I picked the employers I did, then I … [Read more...]
How We House-Hacked Our Way into a Bigger Down Payment Fund
In my series How to Go from Zero to Millionaire I detailed what I would have done differently if I could go back in time and re-do some of my major money moves.One thing I forget to mention in that list was to do at least one (maybe more) house hack.That's why I loved the guest post Five Tips for Growing Wealth Through House Hacking! It gave all the details about how to … [Read more...]
Being Diligent with Home Security
If you belong to Next Door, the "private social network for your neighborhood community", you know two things...1. Very few humans can contain their pets.2. Your neighborhood is full of criminal activity.Let me elaborate a bit... Lost Dog/Cat/Whatever Almost daily there's a post on Next Door that someone has lost a pet in our neighborhood.We must live in … [Read more...]
Five Tips for Growing Wealth Through House Hacking
When I wrote How to Go from Zero to Millionaire I detailed what I would have done differently financially if I had to do it all over again.But after some time and thought, I realized there are a couple things missing even from that re-writing of history. One of them: I would have gotten into house hacking.Many of you have probably heard of house hacking, but for those … [Read more...]
Crowdfunding Real Estate Investment Options
As you might imagine, I get a lot of questions here at ESI Money.I can't possibly respond to them all (hey, I'm retired and want some free time!), but when I see the same question over and over again, I usually do one of two things...I either write a post about it if I'm familiar and/or experienced with the issue or ask someone who is familiar/experienced with it to … [Read more...]
10 Steps to Making Money in Mobile Home Investing
I love featuring authors and bloggers who have a special expertise I think ESI Money readers would be interested hearing about.As you know, I'm an investor in real estate but my places are more traditional -- homes and small apartment buildings.Today's guest poster is an expert in mobile home investing, something I find fascinating and might have investigated a bit more … [Read more...]
Recent Expensive Real Estate Costs
If you've read this blog for more than five seconds, you know I'm a big fan of real estate investing.Because of my real estate investments, I have been able to retire early (though I was financially independent before I had my properties).My 14 units provide the majority of the income that allows me to spend almost $100k annually without dipping into my assets.And … [Read more...]
The Most Important Lessons We Learned from Flipping a House
Most of you know that I am a real estate investor and that the income from my properties is a large part of my retirement budget.All of my properties are buy-and-hold rentals, but I've always wanted to try my hand at flipping homes.Well today we have a guest post from a friend of mine who did just that and shares all her ups and downs along the way. Amanda is … [Read more...]
Our Latest Timeshare Adventure
Has anyone ever taken a timeshare deal?It usually goes something like this:The timeshare company gives you some sort of great deal/offer In exchange you agree to listen to a pitch about their company and what it offersObviously this must work because companies keep doing it.And what's really the risk anyway? Often the offer is something that costs the … [Read more...]
Help a Reader: Buying a Rental Unit in a College Town
Here's another email from a reader asking for some suggestions on a financial situation.Please read below and give him your thoughts...I've been thinking about purchasing a 3BR condo in my daughter's college town and renting it for the long term. The college is tight for their on campus housing slots and actually have to resort to a lottery for housing each year since … [Read more...]
