Month of July , 2007

As a Minnesota Realtor AND an Investor I've seen a lot of people do a lot of different things to make money with real estate. Some buy property to fix it up, then "flip" it (and hopefully make a profit) and others (like me) practice the "Buy and Hold" method of purchasing investment property, holding onto it, and renting it out as my tenants pay down the mortgage for me.

Of my 4 properties total, I have 2 single family homes here in Minnesota that I manage myself. Just this last month, the lease was up on one of my properties and I needed to find new tenants to rent it again. So I did everything that I cover in my Minnesota Investment Property Guide and sure enough, I've got new tenants to cover the mortgage for me again for at least a whole 'nother year!

This didn't just happen though, I honestly had to run across town SEVERAL times to show the place and juggle the logistics of running the ads (as covered in my guide), taking the phone calls, running across town to meet with prospective renters (several of which were no-shows), and making sure I had the cash to pay back the last tenant's deposit. In other words, it was WORK!

As I was feeling a little flustered and stressed having to do this, I took a few minutes to calculate what the long term benefits will be for having done this with just the 4 properties that I know own. In addition to the well needed tax breaks I get each and every year NOW, in 25 years or so (when the mortgages on my properties are paid off by the tenants) I will STILL get the tax benefits in addition to a tasty $72,000 in passive income that will come in EVERY year till I die!  read more »