I have been posting to this site and previously on Rich Dad. My schedule had been hectic. I am in the Army and recently returned from Iraq.
Let me try to be brief but this could be a lengthy story. I grew up in the Philadelphia area. My parents didn’t have a lot of money. I got to see them lose their house in Philly when I was 11. My dad had lost his job about 2 years before that. I didn’t understand some things but knew I didn’t want to rely on my mom to support my brother and me, since I was the oldest. We moved a few miles outside of Philly and I started delivering newspapers every morning before school and also on Wednesday afternoon. Instead of asking my mom to buy me things I bought things myself. I went to college and spent some of my vacations working at McDonalds. I took the morning shift to open up the store and was paid a little more than people who came in later during the day. Sometimes I ended up working over 40 hours. I was supposed to leave at noon but with rush hour they couldn’t let me go since it so hectic. So I got overtime which I had no complaints at all. Well, after graduation I wanted to head to Korea and continue to learn the language as well as pay for my school loans. Not many jobs allowed that to happen so I joined the Army where they paid for my loans as long as I staying in three years. Also, back then not many people volunteered for Korea and I was able to get assigned there. My boss in Korea mentioned investing to me. Not sure what to do, I sent in mutual fund mailings and request their prospectus. I read through so many in about four months before I started my IRA. Since then I have invested in stocks, mutual funds, and a bond fund. It was only recently where I taught myself how to understand Wall Street and ventured into stocks.
While I went on my honeymoon to Hawaii, the tour guide mentioned investing in real estate. Also, since I knew very little about this area. I started devouring books on the subject and wanted to get started. After two years of living in Hawaii and paying rent, I finally said to my wife let’s buy a place. Why should we continue to pay someone else’s mortgage. We finally found a condo but then found out that we were getting deployed within a few months. My wife was in the military as well. I think we had barely lived in the condo for six months before we deployed. The propert has out first rental and still is to this day. It is not cash flowing but it has doubled in value since then. I read a book recently and the author mentioned to increase a property’s rent the best way was to make the property worth the value for the tenant who wanted to live there. For example, upgrade the kitchen, paint the place, give the bathroom an upgrade, and so on. With this you should be able to increase the rent and the tenant should have no problem paying the rent. We plan to make the upgrades in the next month when my wife and I take a business trip to Hawaii. Additionally, the name of the book was Trump Strategies for Real Estate. George Ross, one of Trump’s lawyers who you may have seen on the Apprentice wrote about some basic lessons small investors can do that Donald does in all of his real estate transactions. Well worth the price of the book.
Before I continue when I say “we” I mean my wife and I. We have a second rental in Arizona that is cashflowing and doing well. I am looking for a third home in Texas, most likely San Antonio and then another one in Philly. Just looking for the right deal.
Still work the “9 to 5” job but invest in my sparetime. In about 9 years or so I’ll see a retirement check and will continue on the road to the fastlane and learning as much as I can.
Let me try to be brief but this could be a lengthy story. I grew up in the Philadelphia area. My parents didn’t have a lot of money. I got to see them lose their house in Philly when I was 11. My dad had lost his job about 2 years before that. I didn’t understand some things but knew I didn’t want to rely on my mom to support my brother and me, since I was the oldest. We moved a few miles outside of Philly and I started delivering newspapers every morning before school and also on Wednesday afternoon. Instead of asking my mom to buy me things I bought things myself. I went to college and spent some of my vacations working at McDonalds. I took the morning shift to open up the store and was paid a little more than people who came in later during the day. Sometimes I ended up working over 40 hours. I was supposed to leave at noon but with rush hour they couldn’t let me go since it so hectic. So I got overtime which I had no complaints at all. Well, after graduation I wanted to head to Korea and continue to learn the language as well as pay for my school loans. Not many jobs allowed that to happen so I joined the Army where they paid for my loans as long as I staying in three years. Also, back then not many people volunteered for Korea and I was able to get assigned there. My boss in Korea mentioned investing to me. Not sure what to do, I sent in mutual fund mailings and request their prospectus. I read through so many in about four months before I started my IRA. Since then I have invested in stocks, mutual funds, and a bond fund. It was only recently where I taught myself how to understand Wall Street and ventured into stocks.
While I went on my honeymoon to Hawaii, the tour guide mentioned investing in real estate. Also, since I knew very little about this area. I started devouring books on the subject and wanted to get started. After two years of living in Hawaii and paying rent, I finally said to my wife let’s buy a place. Why should we continue to pay someone else’s mortgage. We finally found a condo but then found out that we were getting deployed within a few months. My wife was in the military as well. I think we had barely lived in the condo for six months before we deployed. The propert has out first rental and still is to this day. It is not cash flowing but it has doubled in value since then. I read a book recently and the author mentioned to increase a property’s rent the best way was to make the property worth the value for the tenant who wanted to live there. For example, upgrade the kitchen, paint the place, give the bathroom an upgrade, and so on. With this you should be able to increase the rent and the tenant should have no problem paying the rent. We plan to make the upgrades in the next month when my wife and I take a business trip to Hawaii. Additionally, the name of the book was Trump Strategies for Real Estate. George Ross, one of Trump’s lawyers who you may have seen on the Apprentice wrote about some basic lessons small investors can do that Donald does in all of his real estate transactions. Well worth the price of the book.
Before I continue when I say “we” I mean my wife and I. We have a second rental in Arizona that is cashflowing and doing well. I am looking for a third home in Texas, most likely San Antonio and then another one in Philly. Just looking for the right deal.
Still work the “9 to 5” job but invest in my sparetime. In about 9 years or so I’ll see a retirement check and will continue on the road to the fastlane and learning as much as I can.
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