Real Estate Investing Articles
I write about how to achieve financial freedom through real estate investing. The central question I explore through my work is: “How can I help busy professionals use real estate to become financially independent and live life on their terms?”
In other words, I want to find ideas, strategies and tactics and explain them in a way that makes them easy to understand and execute. My writing focuses on topics like mindset shifts for real estate investors, how to build and scale your real estate portfolio, strategies to create retirement income through real estate, financial planning using real estate as the principal asset, investing tactics and how to leave a lasting legacy while achieving financial freedom.
Most of all, I write about how to put these ideas into a comprehensive plan of action that takes you from where you are to where you want to be.
Should I sell my house or turn it into a rental property?
You’ve made the decision to move. Maybe it’s because you were bursting at the seams and your family needed more space. Or you wanted to get the kids into that excellent school district. Or perhaps it’s time to enjoy the good things in life and you really wanted a backyard paradise with a great swimming pool. Whatever your reasons for moving, now you face a critical decision that could have
Should you use a property management company for your rentals?
Should you manage your investment properties yourself or hire a professional property management company? It’s one of the stickiest decisions real estate investors face. While there is not a one-size-fits-all answer there are a few advantages and disadvantages of each method. If you decide to go the self-management route, the biggest and most obvious advantage is that you can save money on management fees each month. You can also save
Real Estate Investing Rules of Thumb are Dumb
You can’t escape it. Everywhere you look – in online forums, blog posts even books – you will run into real estate investing rules of thumb that promise you an escape from doing boring, old-fashioned analysis. There’s the “world famous” 2% rule: The monthly rent on a good investment property should be at least 2% of the purchase price. As long as the rent is 2% of the purchase price,
How to assemble a “judgment proof” asset protection strategy – A comprehensive guide
Note: Today I have the honor of welcoming Scott Smith as an expert guest contributor to Investing Architect. Scott is an Attorney that specializes in asset protection strategies for long-term real estate investors. He is a real estate investor himself and uses the same strategies he will share with us to protect himself and his portfolio. What I admire most about Scott’s writing is that it is all substance and
Capital, Income and Net Worth are not the Goal
Have you ever had that experience where you set an important goal for yourself, get intense about achieving it, work hard and grit your teeth to push it over the finish line and when you arrive there’s absolutely no joy? Just a whimper. I have – and it feels like you just ran a whole marathon only to find out that the actual marathon isn’t until next week. And you
Why property taxes rise on your investment properties (and what to do about it)
Sometime in March, county appraisal districts across Texas have an epic party. There’s loud music, dancing, cake, party hats and party horns. Oh and they send out the new property tax appraisals to property owners. Coincidentally, around the same time of the year, I receive numerous calls and text messages from clients. “Ouch”, “Getting killed over here” and “This is out of control” are some sentences that may be uttered.
The Freedom Formula: How to turn $244,000 into $1.4M in 14 years
Today’s post is exciting for me to write primarily because of what it can do for investors that actually heed the advice. Since the beginning of Investing Architect, I’ve argued that quality real estate purchased in the context of and according to a sound overarching long term strategy can alter an investor’s life in fundamental ways. Surely, it can have an impact in that investors financial life – namely her
Forget the Nest Egg Approach: How to create retirement income, grow your net worth and leave a legacy
Take a good hard look at the Net Worth Timeline Comparison graph below: It’s a colorful, damning indictment of the Nest Egg approach to retirement that an overwhelming majority of investors in the developed world follow. Let me set the scene for you so the meaning of the graph can come into better focus: A very disciplined high net worth individual (over $1MM) with a six figure job income maxes out