Afford Anything

Tag: real estate investing

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#422: Ask Paula: We’re Saving 72 Percent Of Our Income…and It SUCKS

Emily is saving aggressively for financial independence, but it’s hard to enjoy the present. Is it time to increase spending?

Monroe wants to stop working. Forever. Which is more important: debt payoff or investing?

Another anonymous caller and his spouse dream of building a homestead on an expensive piece of land. How much is too much to spend on housing?

Given the high costs of moving, Sarah wonders if buying a starter home is the best decision. Should she and her fiance jump straight to buying their forever home?

Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these four questions in today’s episode.

Enjoy!

P.S. Got a question? Leave it here.

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#417: Ask Paula: Marriage and Money – What Are the Right Conversations?

Our first anonymous caller is getting married. What are the financial considerations the couple should be thinking through since there is a large income gap between them?

Our second anonymous caller is concerned about her ability to continue working due to major depression. Should she consider disability insurance?

Carly is an accidental landlord and would love […]

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#411: Invest Anywhere: Learn About a City Like an Expert

Welcome to Invest Anywhere, our monthly series on long-distance real estate investing.

Invest Anywhere airs on the First Friday of each month and is co-hosted by Paula Pant and Suni Rao.

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In the final installment of this two-part mini-series, we walk you through becoming a subject matter expert in your investment city of choice.

We discuss who you should talk to, where you can find them and what you should talk to them about.

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#409: Ask Paula: Should I Sell My Rentals to Buy More Stocks?

Liz and her husband are planning to retire in 5 to 10 years. They have rental income properties, but Liz is bored of managing these, and she’s intrigued by the idea of buying stocks at a discount when the market is low.  Should she sell her rental properties and use the money to buy stocks instead?

Rebecca is a high income earner and thinking about investing in a Roth 401k … but she’s scared of how much she’ll have to pay in taxes. Should she do it anyway?

Anonymous made big changes last year: she got a new career AND sold a house! Now she needs help figuring out capital gains and lowering how much she’ll have to pay in taxes … and she won’t have access to her company’s 401K for most of the year.

Kyle and his wife are moving into their dream home! What should they do with their current place?

Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these four questions in today’s episode.

Enjoy!

P.S. Got a question? Leave it here.

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#406: Invest Anywhere: I’ve chosen my city…now what?

Welcome to Invest Anywhere, our monthly series on long-distance real estate investing.

Invest Anywhere airs on the First Friday of each month and is co-hosted by Paula Pant and Suni Rao.

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In this two-part episode, we first tackle the data points needed to assess various investment locations within your city of choice.

We will […]

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#405: Ask Paula: WHOA – We Got a $750,000 Windfall; How Should We Spend It?

Daniel and his wife want to go on an extended vacation and leave their jobs next year…and still have money in case there’s a problem at their rental properties. Would a HELOC help them?

Anonymous and her husband have received a large commission and want to understand how to better plan for their future by optimizing for these inconsistent windfalls.

Brian has hit coast F.I.R.E and would like guidance on how to prioritize between tax advantaged accounts and retirement accounts.

Anonymous and his wife have been focused on getting short term rentals in a single location – is his portfolio too focused on this singular strategy??

Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these four questions in today’s episode.

Enjoy!

P.S. Got a question? Leave it here.

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#403: How I Reached Financial Independence, with Chad Carson

Chad Carson’s friends called him a “nerdjock.”

When former college football linebacker Chad Carson graduated from Clemson University, he decided to start a business. But he didn’t have any money.

He was a 235-pound athlete who attended college on a football scholarship. He graduated debt-free with $1,000 in savings from various odd jobs. He wanted to become an entrepreneur, and he knew he was starting from zero.

As Chad viewed it, starting from zero meant he had nothing to lose.

He started jogging around local neighborhoods near the university. Whenever he noticed a property in disrepair, he’d ask if it was for sale.

If he noticed a ‘For Sale by Owner’ sign in the yard, for example, he’d dial the number.

If he noticed a home with an overgrown lawn and no curtains in the windows, he’d leave a note on the door, or he’d knock on the neighbor’s doors to get the owner’s phone number.

By doing this, Chad started a real estate wholesaling business. He’d find off-market properties, enter into a sales contract with the owner, and then ‘flip’ the contract to an investor. He earned around $5,000 for each deal.

The benefit to a wholesaling business, Chad discovered, is that he could get a foothold inside the real estate industry without much access to capital. He was a recent college graduate without any official employment, so most banks weren’t interested in offering him loans. Wholesaling gave him a start in the industry.

But after awhile, he wanted to chase bigger deals. He and a business partner decided to start flipping houses themselves. They earned profits of around $20,000 to $30,000 for each deal.

While this was great, Chad wanted to transition into something that would provide a steady, stable income stream. He was running an active business; he wasn’t accumulating a portfolio of passive investments.

He and his business partner stopped flipping homes and began accumulating buy-and-hold rental properties. Today they have 90 units between the two of them.

A few years ago, Chad realized that the passive income from his investments made him financially independent. He and his wife decided to enjoy their newfound freedom by moving to Ecuador with their two children, ages 3 and 5.

They spent 17 months living in Ecuador, learning Spanish and enjoying a slower pace of life. They recently returned to the U.S. and are considering moving to either Spain or Germany — or maybe Colorado? — for their next adventure.

In today’s episode, Chad and I discuss real estate, financial independence, and international travel with children.

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#397: Ask Paula: Is the bank trying to scam my parents…?

Nick’s parents are forced to confront earlier than anticipated retirement…and they aren’t financially prepared. Now, a bank is offering to buy a part of their mortgage or a part of their house.  Is this a scam?!

Jon from Colorado is curious about after tax contributions to a Roth 401k, and would like us to talk about why we wouldn’t recommend it.

Anna is househacking, and she locked down an awesome interest rate. But, she’s still carrying PMI and is wondering if there’s a way to remove the PMI without refinancing.

Courtney from Denver is a real estate investor who wants to invest in new locations and wants tips on building out her network.

Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these four questions in today’s episode.

Enjoy!

P.S. Got a question? Leave it here.

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#392: Ask Paula: Did the Great Recession Lead to the FIRE Movement?

Colleen and her husband own SEVEN paid off rental homes. Now they’re heading into retirement and disagree on what to do with some of that equity.

Kevin wants to hit FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) and believes his motivation comes from witnessing the financial trauma of the Great Recession. He’s wondering if others are motivated to reach FIRE for similar reasons.

Anonymous wants to learn more about utilizing HSA accounts and Susan wants to learn more about investing in tax liens.

My friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer these questions on today’s episode. Enjoy!

Do you have a question on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing? Leave it here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.

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Afford Anything