... and Landlord! Real Estate Podcast: Recent Episodes
Jonathan Taylor Smith
Husband, Father, Entrepreneur, Realtor... a long list of other titles and descriptions... and Landlord!
Welcome to the "... and Landlord" Podcast - with Jonathan Taylor ("J.T.") Smith... Following a roadmap to financial Freedom through residential rental real estate. Here you'll learn how adding "... and Landlord" to the litany of titles and descriptions that speak to who you are and what you do may be the greatest opportunity to achieve financial freedom available to the average person today. Where someone else pays the bills (the Tenant) and someone else provides 80% or more of the money (the Bank) and where you get 100% of the cash-flow, all future appreciation and the tax benefits. All on an asset that's insured against loss, and that cannot be worth ZERO short of an Alien Invasion or the Zombie Apocalypse, ultimately resulting in a FREE HOUSE for YOU (the Landlord) - that will kick out cash-flow for the rest of your life and beyond! You try getting any of that from the stock market or your 401K. So be all that you are... and Landlord!
No? Scared? Name for me another asset where you can get a low interest 30-year loan for 80% (or more) of the purchase price of that asset, but still get the benefits of being 100% owner. And for which you can get cheap insurance on that asset protecting against losses, including fire, theft, natural disasters, etc... Yet you get 100% of future value appreciation and all of the tax benefits, including mortgage interest deduction, and deduction of rehab / repair and operating expenses, plus phantom deductions like depreciation. All while having everything paid by the Tenant!?
But when many people think of Landlords, they may think "Slum-Lord", so it seems Landlords have an image problem. Worse still, many who have considered becoming a Landlord think they'll get calls from Tenants at 2AM reporting their toilet overflowing; or they'll have to fight to collect rent each month... Well, if you're getting calls from Tenants at 2AM or you're fighting to collect rent - YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!
So I'm here to tell you WHY you should be and HOW to become and SUCCEED as a Landlord - how to do it right, so that it builds your wealth and enhances your life (not the other way around). Done right, you'll avoid the stereotypes and problem Tenants while acquiring great cash-flow positive / appreciating properties and have systems, policies and a team in place that will make it all run smoothly - as a business.
Real Estate has made more millionaires than any other asset class (by far), and especially in the USA, it provides an opportunity to build wealth and create passive income that should not be dismissed because of misinformation, doubts and fears.
I remember when I first started telling people that I wanted to be a Landlord (I would joke saying I wanted to be a "Slum-Lord", but that's just my warped sense of humor) - and inevitably the person would vomit their Landlord Horror Story all over me (or that of a friend or family member). But in listening to such stories for only a few minutes, I would quickly hear the thing that person did wrong (or failed to do right) that was a critical mistake I was convinced I wouldn't have made... I could do it better. And I was right!
Being a Landlord is simple, if done right... If operated as a business, with rules and policies never broken, procedures always followed with systems properly utilized and when surrounded by a reliable team. Listening to the "... and Landlord" Podcast will give you insight into these things, and so much more regarding WHY and HOW to become a Landlord running a rental property business that builds your wealth now and for generations to come, while greatly enriching your life with passive income that allows you to pursue your dreams.
So again, be all that you are... and Landlord!
CHANGE OF SCHEDULE DUE TO COVID-19... That's not just the title of this episode, but also an announcement. Because I'd rather not talk about Corona-virus week after week (and some other reasons) - I'm temporarily changing the schedule of the show from a weekly Tuesday release, to be a little more flexible and random. For the next month (or few), I'll still be releasing episodes, but maybe not weekly (at least once per month) - and not always on a Tuesday.
In this episode I talk about the home, and how it has become the center of our universe. And what that may mean for the future. What does it mean to be a Landlord in a time when it seems the government has positioned itself to start covering the expenses (including RENT) for those who now cannot work due to no fault of their own? And what will this mean for the future once this concept takes hold? Well, that's a bit political...
April Fools Day is a little more than a week from now. But what that day means to me, is the same as any 1st of the month... It's the day RENT is due. But on this April 1st - the joke may truly be on me (and all Landlords)... Because there may be no rent coming in due to COVID-19.
But this episode is about how half of my rental units are occupied by Tenants who have Section 8 Vouchers. Thus, a portion of my monthly rents come directly from the Government. This means the joke won't be completely on me.
Fortunes are often made when there's fear, panic or even blood in the streets. And there is a quote that says "Observe the masses, and do the opposite." - well the masses appear to be focused on buying things like toilet paper. When they should be looking to buy the discounted assets that are certain to result from an economic downturn or recession.
The Stock Market is down big-time - but another way of looking at it, is that stocks are on sale. Real Estate may be soon as well. What are you buying?
Do you believe your local market to be "Too Hot" to start investing in Real Estate? No deals to be had where you live? If only you lived "there" - where deals are plentiful, because prices are low and rents are high - there. But where you live... Nope! Sucks to be you... Your Real Estate investing dream will have to wait for another day - when it's not such a "seller's market". Or at least, that's what I hear...
Let's Talk... Business, Finances & Wealth. But not just in this 49th Episode of the... and Landlord Podcast. I'm now ready (and now have the location) for an in-person local meet-up. So here I announce that starting on April 6th (and the 1st Monday of each month thereafter) - we'll have a monthly meet-up to talk about (among other things)... Business, Finances, Wealth Creation, Mindset - and so much more about MONEY.
The location? It will be at Rivals Barbershop in Downtown Durham, NC (727 N. Mangum St).
Owner's Property Insurance is not the only type of Insurance that you need to consider... Another is Renter's Insurance. And do you / should you require your Tenants to obtain Renter's Insurance? Here I go into details as to some of the ways you're protected by having Tenant's obtain their own coverage in the form of Renter's Insurance. Renter's Insurance is a protection not just for your Tenant, but for your property, for YOU and your LLC - paid for by your Tenant.
Scott Carson joins us for an episode of the... and Landlord Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast - to discuss both Performing and non-Performing Note Investing. So what is Note Investing? What is a "Performing" versus "non-Performing" Note? Well listen to Scott answer these questions - and many more about Real Estate Note Investing in this 47th episode of the... and Landlord Podcast.
To be successful in the business of Residential Rental Real Estate Investing, you must be able to find an ample number of distressed properties that can then be obtained for below there typical value - even after accounting for the rehab required. And to do that, you must be good (if not great) at Marketing for Deals. And that's what this episode of the... and Landlord Podcast is all about. Marketing for Deals and creating your Marketing for Deals Machine.
If you're a Landlord you've certainly expressed concerns and fear of ending up in court. And so you certainly want to have the best protections in place, such as having your business established as and properties held within an LLC. But is this valid protection for legitimate concerns or just unfounded paranoia?
That's what we discuss in this episode of the... and Landlord Podcast. I think people become obsessed with getting an LLC as Step #1 and the first line of protection, when it's really like #4.
In this episode I speak about RENT increases here in Durham, NC. And one example I give is my own... The 2BR Duplex that I lived in for 4 years when I was last a renter (1998 to 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!
This episode of the show 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.
Are you an Optimist or a Pessimist?
I've got #2020Vision - in more than one way. In this Episode of the [... and Landlord!] 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 - We'll be setting grand goals and making plans to achieve them.
This episode is my excuse to talk about video games, and how they relate to Real Estate, Business and Life. Level Up! That's the goal when playing certain video games. And here I want 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. And a Level 3 person may not even slow down when encountering a Level 1 speed bump - they wouldn't even see it as a problem. Success requires that we Level Up.
I'm going over some of the things that I've done during my Rehabs to Tenant Proof. Save yourself headaches and keep money in your pocket by avoiding 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 are Tenant Screening, Tenant On-boarding, and Property Inspections.
Rehabbing distressed houses into rentals is a balancing act... You must watch your budget, because every dollar spent on the rehab lowers your ROI - and maybe your cash-flow. 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.