After making the comment in my last post that I was selling shares to have additional cash on hand for rehab of the property I’m buying, it might seem a little odd that I’m making a purchase a day later. In my defense I did make a comment that I would continue to fund my Roth IRA for this year and would make additional investments in that account. That is what happened today. I transferred some cash over to the Roth and picked up a few shares of Realty Income Corp. (O) Continue reading
Month: June 2013
Recent Sell
Wow! Looks like I’m going to start my first real estate investment soon. My realtor called late in the afternoon and notified me of a closing date for next week. I’m not going to lie, I’m really excited about this! I think this is going to work out well and I’ve done enough homework to make me feel comfortable with the project I’ve decided to undertake. Continue reading
Acknowledging The Risk Of Buying A Foreclosure
Back in November I wrote a post about due diligence when contemplating real estate investing, focusing on how I attempt to mitigate the risks of purchasing a foreclosure. Besides looking at single family residences instead of multi-family ones not much has changed since then. I’ve looked at dozens of additional properties since that time and feel like my skill of evaluating a home for potential purchase has improved. Since my due diligence phase is over, a contract has been signed, and a closing date is just around the corner I thought it would be a good idea to consider the risk of actually purchasing a foreclosure. The risks are real, but just as in stock investing there are ways of limiting those risks. Continue reading
Why I Find Real Estate Investing Appealing
For several years I have been intrigued with real estate as an investment. I can remember watching shows on T.V. (back when I owned one) of people flipping houses that honestly didn’t need much work. It seemed like a way of making decent money and since I had not found my way to stock market investing (not that I had any money even if I had found my way) real estate offered and investment vehicle in which I felt comfortable with and not intimidated by. Sure, there are plenty of ways to lose money in real estate just like there is in stocks and the past few years have exposed the folly of those who overextended themselves and made purchases of properties at exaggerated values only to watch the wealth they believed themselves to be creating vanish. Continue reading
A Letter To My Former Self
I have a post-it note on my microwave that reads, practice gratitude daily!! 🙂 (yes it even has the little smiley face). It is one of the first things I read when I start my day and often I read it several times a day. It is a constant reminder of how fortunate I am at this time in my life. Despite working in a job I’m not overly excited about, everything else is going well. I have good health, a network of friends that I’m working on becoming closer with, deeper family ties, financial security, and the gift of merely existing. Life is good.
Most of what I’m enjoying today is the result of some heavy financial lifting I did a few years ago. I’ve been thinking of how grateful I am to my former self and thought I would write him a letter letting him know how much I appreciate what he did and how the choices he made have allowed me to get closer and closer to my conception of the good life. What you read below is that letter. Continue reading
The Stoic Investor 