Gregmal

It all depends but Ill typically look at 15-20% LTV. My objective is to maintain a reasonable(and stable, meaning I keep buying semi regularly) allocation to this stuff but not allocate too much of my cash to it. So maybe in one instance I'll do 15% with a 15 year mortgage and after 12 months the PMI falls off and I get a favorable tax reassessment and year two my numbers look much better. Or in another I'll just do a traditional 30 yr knowing my payments will be nothing and eventually Ill get the taxes dropped 15% and a tenant in there on a 2-3 yr term and just throw the extra cash back against the principal. My first one I bought in my mid/late 20s was as follows $140K purchase price 20% down @4.875 rate, total nut about $1100 + $335 HOA 2 weeks to find tenant @1575 per month(first year I own the unit I try to stay 1yr or less on term so I can feel things out better and line up future tenants) appealed taxes and dropped assessed value from $165k to $145k 5 years or so later they're selling maybe mid $160s, rents are ~$1700, monthly mortgage is a hair under $1100 and HOA is $344. Typically Ive been able to find tenants within 7-14 days. Longest it ever took was about a month, but my pricing was aggressive. Ive found lowballing your ask on the rent is useful because it creates a rush of demand. You can then instruct your agent to either have a bidding war or negotiate a longer term multi year lease at the ask with higher quality prospects. But that is also out of the gate after taking ownership. As bizaro said, once someone is in there, its easy to show the place once you have 30-60 days notice. What I'd point out, as a born and raised Bergen County guy and life long NJ/NY area fellow, is that what Bronx/Brooklyn/Queens etc benefit from on a hyper growth scale, the suburbs do too in a much more subdued fashion. I remember playing hockey up by the Pallisades in the mid 90s and driving through Mahwah NJ. It was basically farmland and considered the boondocks. Today its multi million dollar homes. Oakland and Hawthorne were for poor people. Now they're $600K for a 3/2 1500 sq ft home. Its the NYC worker drift. That band of commuters to Bergen County and NYC keeps getting pushed out. Further down 80 and 287. I know people who commute to NYC from Hackettstown and even parts of PA. So the area I live/invest benefits from that and also having a great school system. Always buy the lowest cost admission ticket to the best show in town. People will always need a place to live, people will always aspire to live in nice neighborhoods, parents will always want the best schools for their kids, and old people will always want to hang around but downsize. I want nothing to do with traditional single family. The cost, whether financial or time wise of having to do something as simple as mow a lawn once a week is a major pain in the ass. Let alone the real shit. Roofing is a nightmare. So are many other major things that as a homeowner I dread and dont want any part of when managing my properties(Plus a good HOA manager will get community discounts for those services as well). Again, I dont try to do anything heroic; I started simply figuring I'd throw low 5 figures into something and hope it paid for one of my kids college tuition. But like anything else where theres money to be made I got addicted when I saw it work.

From that, I'll just point out the following.... 100% of the outcome will be determined by these few things. 1. What boxes are checked on your investment objective profile you filled out? 2. How long did you hold the investments in question? 3. What type of trading arrangements(if any) do you have for the account? Did you consent to purchasing those securities? If you've been with this advisor for a while, had lets say "speculation" as your IO, held the stocks in question for several months or more, and gave the OK to purchase them, Im sorry to say, but you're wasting your time pursuing this. If you have Income/preservation of capital checked for IO, bought the securities a few weeks/maybe months ago, had a discretionary arrangement, and no knowledge of the purchases, then you've got a pretty good case. Usually things are somewhere in between. I'd also add, go to the firms compliance first. Dont go to FINRA. The reason is simple. The firm is 1000% required to disclose any written customer complaint to FINRA. And you can always go to FINRA later. But should they rebuff you, and then later on it is disclosed that they never disclosed the complaint to FINRA, thats just another instance of wrongdoing and negotiating chip in your corner. Quanitify the amount of alleged damages as well. Anything over $5000 they must update on their BrokerCheck profiles.

As follows 1br $1600-1700(towards the lower end you can take your pick of high quality tenants with 700+ credit scores), HOA $330-$350, taxes ~$4700, market value currently ~$160K per(pre 2008 sales where mid 200s) 2br $2200-2400(same as above wrt tenant quality) HOA $400 or so, taxes $6500, market value currently around $250-270k (pre 2008 300s) Here's the reason those numbers work though.. theres ZERO market for $3000 per month and up rentals here. So under $2500 and especially $2000 per month is super competitive. This is just a specific community I have multiple properties in, but by and large those numbers are in the ballpark for what I look for. Again I would reiterate that the way I am investing in the stock market, I need to be consumed by it and its heavily taxing mentally. So with these, Im not looking to have ridiculous returns, but simply have something simple that takes care of itself and does better than the passive 3-5% I'd get elsewhere putting in no effort. I also try to stay disciplined and avoid concentration risk. I'd like to get a few mil face value of properties; ie something that spits off a decent chunk of cashflow, but also something that is reasonable enough in size to offload to a local HNW investor if I ever wanted liquidity and found selling more attractive than the alternatives.

Gregmal, can you elaborate at all on this? Do you tend to buy homes, townhouses or apartment style condos? Do you rent the whole unit out or split it up? I tend to stick to condos. Its incredibly useful x-ing out many of the traditional home owner problems. Roof, siding, decks...not my issue. Everyone pays in and then you also get the added property manager benefit. It also helps when you have relationships within the community(for instance I had the old, underperforming property manager fired and brought in my choice for a replacement). For me, it is a must to have knowledge of the area and reliable vendors. Good HVAC people are money in the bank. A sub $50 an hour handyman; gold. Perhaps I'm just biased because of where I live, but Ive found the sweet spot for renting in being in an area that is fringe. Closer to big cities you have rower rents relative to purchase price. Too rural and your rents are a tad higher(on a % basis) but you won't ever really get appreciation. So stay in between. Sweet spot IMO is 1-2br floor units in good areas. Good for old people with accessibility issues(ie stairs), great for divorced people in transition, and good for small families looking to get into a good school system.

No I have never been a part of one, but as an advisor, I can tell you how to get it going. The easiest step would be to email compliance@ the firm with your complaint. They MUST document these when received in writing. What is the nature of your alleged complaint? In many cases, the firms will offer to settle if there is any wrong doing. If you can not agree to settle, then the arbitration process will be next. Although often arbitration is a pain and there s a lot of grey areas where you may think you were harmed but nothing happened that technically broke the rules. You also end up paying lawyers quite a bit of money. So it s important to make sure your case is valid, and that its worth pursuing from a time and money perspective. And like I said, often, the firms will just look to settle it. I know several dudes who own firms that describe paying fines as just another cost of being in the biz. Sad but true.

Sold small PLCE position from yesterday. Not looking to make anything retail a core position, so Ill just take 6% in 24 hours and call it a day.

Which will then become the crescendo; the blow off top; the euphoric rally that signals the end is near!

Started a small position in PLCE under 55. May write it up later... Interesting company in an interesting space. Yes...retail

closed for $1.5 in a half hour

shorted some EVER

Exited BLUE trade from Friday and trimmed a bit more CLF

PureCycle Now derisked with Phase I concluding in the next year, phase II overlap starting in the summer, almost $2B in eventual asset value, a debt free balance sheet, no question about profitability, and earnings that should compound impressively for the next decade at least...all taking place in a top MSA, 4 miles from DIA...

Yea I'd say if history is any indication, we're due for a little turbulence. Its rather easy to see where he is coming from when you have remarks describing the market gains as "house money" and "room to play"...and he still has other people to blame as well, in fact more than ever currently...so I'd be surprised if there isn't a modest temper tantrum on the horizon.

I’m no expert but I do know and consider friends, several very prominent people in the NYC restaurant space. 10% is the consensus but that’s apparently a number my guy says is low because the minimum wage increase is a torpedo that most haven’t yet accounted for. I would think Detroit is a very different market though.

They’re not.

Bought a few shares of BLUE after hours. Not sure why the company would post great news Friday after the close, but its an opportunity for me to make money, so I'll take it.

Property managers IMO arent worth much unless they are versatile. Its a low barrier to entry, low skill job. Really, the best property managers are just really good with relationships and very organized. But for rentals its hard because of the model. Everyone takes % of rent when really you'd see much more value if it was done on an hourly or per job rate. But they need to get paid when they're not doing anything..... Its like the handyman thing. My GC/friend will swing by and replace a valve on his way home. He'll charge me cost for parts plus like $30 an hour...Whereas any plumber/HVAC company will charge minimum $125 to show up and then labor plus part markup. Whereas a property manager, would get the notification a valve needs to be replaced on the water heater and hire a company(which btw you have no idea if theyre worth THEIR rates either), and on a pass through basis, you are double paying for every problem to be fixed. The above example cost me $40 vs probably north of $300 with the property manager/HVAC pro scenario. Shit like this almost always happens in one form or another. I agree 100% if you're mortgaging and renting you shouldn't be looking to make money right now. Ive even made offers where I would be losing a few bucks for a while, just depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Something else hugely helpful in my scenario(although definitely be careful) is condo/townhouse HOA communities. I can offer to buy a property without even viewing it, knowing that the only big material cost in a unit is the HVAC. Tell me the age of the furnace and condenser and I'm able to make an offer on the spot. Everything outside, from the roof to the decks is an HOA responsibility. So if you're in a good area your HOA fees act as a barrier to entry, and you also kind of get the pass through property manager benefit. In a simple way...just buy good properties and try to match up costs of carry with rental income. +/- a few bucks isn't a big deal just make sure the mortgage gets paid every month. If you do it long enough you're guaranteed to own the asset eventually. You also have the add on(non monetary benefit) of building relationships with the people you rent to, and often get to know you're helping someone out. Providing them a place to live and make memories. The returns are much lower than playing the stock market, but it's much safer, less time consuming, and many times you actually feel like you're creating something positive in the community vs just flipping pieces of paper to other money whores.

I actually just got through Halt and Catch Fire after your recommendation. Me getting through a TV series is a feat in and of itself. Overall I liked this show. Seasons 1 and 3 were great. Season 1 in particular was amazing. Season 2 was terrible IMO. Basically a frat house with daytime drama and relationship bs. Season 4 kinda sucked as well IMO. After a while, you also kind of just roll your eyes at how the story continues to push ahead. First these guys stole the IBM product, and would've/could've/should've been the ones to create the Mac. Then, they basically developed Ebay. Next they invent Google. Like I wasn't around that environment and dont know what it was like in that space; maybe everyone in SV was really all on the cusp of creating the same things...but I dont buy it. Keep it grounded in reality. You dont need to have Joe McMillan stare off into the distance, and dramatically deliver a "what if...we took.......(insert major tech them that emerged half a decade later)" in EVERY SEASON. Glad you (partially) enjoyed it. I still haven't finished season 1, but so far I like it. Got side-tracked with other things (Barry, Succession, Killing Eve -- all enjoyable so far). Yea my critique reading what I wrote sounds harsher than it is meant to be. I did enjoy this series quite a bit. I thought season one was terrific. It really, and genuinely, did a good job of portraying the corporate roller coaster, the trials and tribulations of people trying to make it, then need to be fearless and relentless in your pursuit and even the necessity to operate in some grey areas. The small fish trying to make it in a big pond. It also really showed how far IBM has fallen but also how people during that era saw the writing on the wall with them before everyone else did. Similar to what people in the 80's thought of GM.

Greg, are these properties in the same area that you live? If not, how do you manage landlord-related duties (fixing or replacing something etc.)? Yes(mostly) they have to be within a distance in which I can manage them. I've tried a million times(for the purposes of a vacation home) to go out of area. Maybe others can do it, but I cant get there otherwise. Too many variables if you arent immersed in the area yourself. I have a good friend Ive known since grade school who is a GC; there's my handyman work. I have a couple realtors who Ive done a lot of business with. Same with the mortgage folks; there's your market feelers. I lucked into a great lawyer at a mid tier regional firm who charges $250 for partner level work and in terms of everything management wise, provides a paralegal at a $140 a hour rate. I also know all the HOA board people and the property manager at one of the communities I have several properties. All of these things exist because of familiarity with the area and relationships. It's where I get the value add. So I hope to ride these things until to portfolio is largely paid down mortgage wise, and hopefully my kids dont end up being idiots, but even if they do, I would think it pretty hard to screw up a steady stream of passive income. If anything, as my value add levers phase out, my mortgages are paid down, and worst case can just use the increased cash flow to outsource the property manager for 5-10% of monthly revenue. Only times I will consider going out of area is if I have friends or family in the area. Then you can lean on those people a little to fill in the things above. But its harder.

I am building a business, kind of. And I try to keep it simple. A percentage of my savings and retirement I steer into single family residences. There's a special formula and area of expertise I believe I possess with regard to how I select the property, but the objective is simple. Invest today at 10-20% of the property value. I always take a mortgage. Then pull a few levers, and perhaps reduce your carrying costs, but regardless, lease it up. Take slightly below market rent in exchange for high quality tenants. Treat them well and they stay and pay your mortgage down for you. In 15 years I own the asset outright and have recurring cash flows. In 20-30 years I have a portfolio of properties I can have my kids manage, which will allow them not to ever have to worry about money. Only an idiot, and maybe the Sitestar guys, can screw up small scale residential.

I actually just got through Halt and Catch Fire after your recommendation. Me getting through a TV series is a feat in and of itself. Overall I liked this show. Seasons 1 and 3 were great. Season 1 in particular was amazing. Season 2 was terrible IMO. Basically a frat house with daytime drama and relationship bs. Season 4 kinda sucked as well IMO. After a while, you also kind of just roll your eyes at how the story continues to push ahead. First these guys stole the IBM product, and would've/could've/should've been the ones to create the Mac. Then, they basically developed Ebay. Next they invent Google. Like I wasn't around that environment and dont know what it was like in that space; maybe everyone in SV was really all on the cusp of creating the same things...but I dont buy it. Keep it grounded in reality. You dont need to have Joe McMillan stare off into the distance, and dramatically deliver a "what if...we took.......(insert major tech them that emerged half a decade later)" in EVERY SEASON.

I'd been scanning and flipping and fumbling through watch lists starting a few weeks ago cuz it's that time of the year again. It's one(albeit a smaller input into the equation) of the reasons I thought CLXT was a decent trade candidate. I got my pound of flesh there quickly and sold, but wouldn't be shocked to see it get back into mid single digits. Intrexon as well, if you can stomach the absurd biotech volatility. I've definitely noticed a seasonal strength for biotech between November and February. One of my favorite hunting grounds for seasonal swing/momo trades. Sinclair Broadcasting kind of fits the bill too. And actually, TAST, in terms of a January effect, fits the bill to a T as well. And, what was supposed to be a big winner that turned into a dud, Reading International. That said, please dont expect me to explain WTF they are doing buying cinemas in Tasmania... Disclaimer- outside of Sinclair, I dont really think any of the above are great investments, but a dollar is a dollar.

As someone who is pretty willing to buy just about anything, including stuff I believe to ultimately be worthless, if there s a trade setup there- coal is probably one of the few things that makes me cringe. You need to have real balls to be in that space. Its like the ugliest, hairiest, turdiest bunch in an ugly, hairy turd universe. I see so many commodity/material plays out of favor right now and coal IMO is the hardest to work. I followed for a while and almost bought some Peabody bonds some years back. Well BTU went bankrupt, then reissued new company equity, and now is going to 0 again like 2 years later...Thats coal right now. WITH a republican president! Good luck to you brave men who dare venture into that space.

Added a little DD under 62. Sold some CLF to fund it and pay down a bit of margin. Still like CLF but I dont totally care to play the acquisition game in an overweigh fashion.

No, but that is only because there is still a consensus that consists of cult followers who believe Buffett still has magical power. I think the opportunity would present itself a wee bit after, once all the super talented people currently underneath him get bigger pieces of the pie and can get back to doing what they do best without the fear of Grampa looking over their shoulder.