Should You Buy a Vacation Rental?
Renting out a vacation home is one step away from running a hotel.
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Want to Buy a Rental Property? Read This First.
Want answers to some real estate questions? Here’s the latest edition of Readers Ask. One reader asks: I have a long list of repairs and upgrades which my house needs, and I would like to find an impartial source for ballpark price estimates. What do you recommend? Those estimates will vary, depending on what part…
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Real Readers Ask: Traveling & Tenant Screening
Want to know more about world travel and tenants? Welcome to the latest installment of Readers Ask. Today I want to share two questions that AA readers posed last week.
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Home Renovating: The “During” Stage
Four months ago I declared that we’re renovating a 3-bed, 2-bath rental unit. You can see the “before” photos here. For the past 120+ days, contractors have torn out load-bearing walls, reinforced the foundation, fought water damage, ripped out floors, torn away drywall and filled several 30-yard dumpsters to the brim. Now we’re rounding the…
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Know Your Buyers: My $2,700 Mistake
One of my rentals is back on the market. Last time, it took me three months to find a tenant. That’s because I made a crucial error which cost me $2,700 in lost revenue. You see, if I needed to rent a home, I’d check Craigslist. It’s the only place I’d search. I wouldn’t squint…
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Readers Ask: What If I Can’t Hit One Percent?
Many of my readers are rental property investors (or aspiring investors). But not all of them live in “cheap locations.” Several readers have asked what how to invest if they live in a place where houses don’t meet the One Percent Rule. Let’s answer this question by featuring Brian and Kristin, a couple in Arlington, Virginia,…
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How I Collect $3,000 Per Year in Passive Income from One Rental Property — with No Money Down
My former partner and I bought our third rental property in May. We paid $0 down. We collect $15,000 per year in revenue. After expenses, including the financing, we pocket $3,000 per year in passive income from this rental property. Not bad, eh? NOTE: This article was last updated in July 2016 (and all numbers reflect…
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I’m Trying Something Insane: My $30,000 Experiment
You know that expression: “Whatever your renovation budget … double it?” That happened a few months ago. I predicted that renovating one of my rental units would cost about $5,500 and would raise the rent by an extra $150 per month. I was waaayy off base. In reality, the remodel cost $17,021 (boo!), but I…
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Why I Spent $17,021 (on Home Upgrades) in the Past Three Months
You know that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, when you decide to remodel your kitchen … … and you think it’ll cost $5,000 …. … and it ends up costing triple your estimate? Yeah.
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House #2 is Rented! How Good of a Deal Was It?
House #2 is officially rented! NOTE: This article was last updated in 2012 (and all numbers reflect that year). Last week I showed the house to a man who liked it so much, he grabbed his checkbook and handed me a deposit on the spot. I ran the necessary screening – credit check, criminal background…
