Real Estate Archives - Making Sense Of Cents

Pay off our mortgage or not? A glimpse into a couple’s final decision

Last Updated: December 3, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 19 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Here is a guest post from Melissa Brock about her decision on whether or not to pay off her mortgage. Melissa Brock is a 12-year veteran of college admission, founder of College Money Tips and Money editor at Benzinga. She loves helping families navigate their finances and the college search process. Check out her essential timeline and checklist for the college search!

Enjoy!

My husband and I like to make excellent financial decisions. He says I’m obsessed with our finances — which is kind of true. I mean, I listen to the “Afford Anything” podcast and read every personal finance related piece of content I can get my scroll-happy finger on. I’m also the Money editor at Benzinga for my full-time job. (Okay, okay, he’s right.)

Our mortgage is a source of well… pain, for me, if you want to know the truth. All the reading I do probably contributes to that. One day, I’ll read an expert post about how so-and-so plans to invest like crazy, pay the minimum on his mortgage, then run, giggling, toward retirement (early!) and revel in the spoils of compound interest.

This person might say, “Why would you pump money into a non-liquid asset?”

And so my mind goes, “Yeah! That makes sense.” [Read more…]

A 31 Year Old’s Journey to $5,000,000 in Rental Property Value

Last Updated: November 21, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 5 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Today, I have a great article to share with you from Kyle Kroeger on how to invest in real estate. He has a goal of reaching $5,000,000 in rental property value, and is sharing his plan today.

The prospect of retiring early on real estate is highly intriguing to me. It should be for a number of people and I’ll highlight a bit more below.

For millennials, like me, we don’t have it easy. Despite the mainstream media’s thoughts, millennials have faced a Great Recession, massive student loans and a global pandemic already at a young age.

We’ve seen a lot but that can be used to our advantage for financial planning and life goals.

That’s okay if things are a bit harder for millennials financially. It’s a bit more fun when things are hard.

Here I’m ready to show you why real estate investing can be a great asset class.

Related content:

[Read more…]

How We Reached Financial Independence Using Airbnb & Real Estate – Plus Strategies During The Pandemic

Last Updated: December 30, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 1 Comment

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Today, I have a great guest post from Boris and Susan. They purchased their first real estate property in 2017, and became Airbnb hosts. This was a 4-bedroom home that ended up generating them $120,000 in revenue in the first 12 months. They now host close to 10,000 guests per year across all of their properties and do all of this remotely. Below is their story, enjoy!

A foreword given the current state of the world

We wrote this post back in February to describe and share our experience using real estate and Airbnb over the past 3 years to build additional sources of (semi-passive) income. As everyone else, we had no idea that the world would change so dramatically in less than a month after that.

However, although it certainly did change – especially given that the travel and hospitality industry came to a grinding halt and caused a few heartburn-filled weeks – the fundamentals remained valid.

As we’ll discuss towards the end of the article, we’ve been able to make adjustments and pivot in a way that kept our properties occupied, covering costs, and still generating a profit (albeit a smaller one than usually).

The truth is that if we’re looking at a 3-9 months horizon, things will remain challenging and uncertain. However, this was never a short-term strategy for us, as we try to plan for the next 3-10 years and make decisions based on that sort of a timeline. But first, let’s start in the beginning.

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Here’s how it all got started as Airbnb hosts.

For many years, real estate was not really on my radar.

I was happily renting, enjoying the flexibility that it offered, and generally thought of real estate in the context of owning your own home – mainly that it limited your options and didn’t really bring too many positives, other than the hassle of maintenance and doing your own lawn every Saturday.

When I met my wife, Susan, on the other hand, she grew up with a completely different mindset.

When she was growing up in China, the common wisdom was that you should always strive to own your own place as soon as you can afford it.

When she moved to the U.S., she maintained the same viewpoint that owning real estate is a key to becoming financially secure. [Read more…]

Buying a House at Age 25 and How I Did It

Last Updated: February 22, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 5 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Today, I have a great guest post from Mama Bear Finance. She bought a house at 25, and just 8 years later, it is now fully paid off. She will share with you a story of why she bought a house at age 25 and what steps she took to get there. Her story recounts the sentiments during the previous financial crisis also known as the Great Recession. As the stock market changes in recent news, hopefully this experience could provide insights during times of financial unrest and inspiration to stay the course with your financial goals despite uncertainty.

Buying a house is by far the largest purchase for most people regardless of age. But when you buy one at the tender age of 25, it really raises some eyebrows.

“You must be rich or came from a rich family,” one might assume.

“Either that or you robbed a bank,” one might even joke.

Nope and nope.

While this became one of my major personal milestones, the beginning of homeownership gave me unspeakable anxiety.

You see, it was back in 2011 when the mortgage crisis was at full speed. [Read more…]

How Our Family of 5 Went from House Poor to Debt Free in 3 Years

Last Updated: January 22, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 29 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Today, I have a great success story that I want to share with you all. Enjoy.

I’m Renee, mom to a crazy, beautiful, blended family of 4 kids. As a practicing minimalist and debt-free enthusiast, I’ve dedicated my blog, The Fun Sized Life, to helping others learn to simplify their lives while simultaneously increasing their wealth.

I focus on helping others because just a few years ago, I had life all wrong.

Three years ago my marriage was on the rocks, I felt aimless in my career, our family life was messy, and we were officially smack dab in the middle of being crazy house poor.

We got to a point where we knew it was either cut our losses and walk away from our marriage, or take a hit and sell the house that was breaking us.

We knew what we had to do.

Related content:

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How This 34 Year Old Owns 7 Rental Homes

Last Updated: March 4, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 29 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

My monthly Extraordinary Lives series is something that I’m really loving, and I’m back with another great interview. First up was JP Livingston, who retired with a net worth over $2,000,000 at the age of 28. Today’s interview is with Paula Pant, a 34-year-old who owns seven rental homes, which last year grossed $125,000 and netted $43,000 after expenses!

You probably know her from the super informative blog Afford Anything. I’ve been a big fan of Paula for a long time, so I’m so happy that I was able to interview her.

In this interview, you’ll learn:

How she got into real estate investing.
How she was able to afford so many rental units.
What she looks for in a rental unit.
The types of property she invests in.
How much time and money it takes to invest.
How she manages rentals in a different part of the country.
Her worst renter.
The sacrifices she had to make to make this all possible.

And more! This interview is packed full of valuable information!

She also created a freebie for my readers – download her free step-by-step guide! [Read more…]

How I Paid Off My $400,000 Mortgage In 7.5 Years, Before I Was 32

Last Updated: February 22, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 60 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Today, I have a great article from a reader, Rob from Mustard Seed Money. Rob was able to pay off his $400,000 mortgage in just 7.5 years, all before he was 32 years old. Below is his story, enjoy!

I was one of those weird kids that couldn’t wait to graduate from college. I’ve always had a long-term focus and viewed college as a stepping stone. One day during my freshman year, I remember walking to class with a friend saying that I couldn’t wait to graduate and start making some money.

My friend turned to me with an incredulous look and confessed he planned to live it up while he could.

Needless to say, I probably didn’t enjoy college as much as others did.

I had too strong of a focus on life after college to ensure that I’d reach the life goals that I had set up for myself. I wanted to obtain a good job, get married, buy a house and fill it up with some kiddos.

Of course, what actually ended up happening did not follow the order that I had envisioned. But, I can honestly say I love the way things turned out. [Read more…]

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