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Real Estate Investing For A Retirement Worth Having

By
Real Estate Agent with Ad Astra Realty BR00222587

Real Estate Invesing For A Retirement Worth Having 

Are you one of the millions of Americans trying to figure out how you are going to have a Retirement Worth Having? Why not think about small time real estate investing?

I'm not talking about committing hundreds of thousands of dollar and every weekend of your time. I'm talking about owning one, two, five or maybe as many as ten homes for investment purposes. Too hard? Well, start with one. If that does it for you move on to another. When you reach your limit, you'll know.
But here is what owning just one income property can do for you over the next fifteen years of your life. And if you think that is too long, how old are you and what is your life expectancy?

This example will not be all inclusive and I simply don't want to write 10,000 words showing how I arrived at all of this. You are welcome to call or email for details.

Buy $175,000 duplex with 25% down at 7.12% interest. Monthly rents at $1,475. Now, I'm going to take into account 5% vacancies and other expenses like insurance, taxes and general maintenance. Also, there will be 5% risers on the income and property value figured in. Here we go;

Year 1 - Income of $17,700 minus expenses of $6,800 minus debt service of $10,608 equals $292 yearly income. House value still $175,000. (To account for slow growth this year and as a cushion. - Hey, I'm being ultra conservative here to make a point.)

Year 5 - Income of $22,500 minus expenses of $8,315 minus debt service of $10,608 equals $3,577 yearly income. House value is now $210,000.

Year 15 - Income off $34,500 minus expenses of $13,750 minus debt service of $10,608 equals $10,142 yearly income. House value is now $319,500.

Note: There were a couple years in there I did not count or did not count in full 5% risers. Again, just being conservative.

 

So let's look carefully at this. And we are not going to discuss all the 4 Benefits that we know we have when investing in real estate. We are only going to consider the net equity of the house after 8% sales costs. (You know, the real estate agent, title company and the like.) We're not even considering the cash flow you had and can see for yourself. Because you probably spent that on your kids' education or a BMW or another rental property.
House value is now $319,500 minus the $25,560 in sales fees minus the remaining loan balance of $97,600 equals $196,340.

Chris, what about capital gains taxes? What about state capital gains taxes? What about, what about, what about?

To be fair, cap gains taxes are 15% for the feds and vary state to state. But you want to count those? Okay. But to get the details you also need to go back and adjust your yearly income by adding in depreciation. Ah, oh. Now we have depreciation recapture to worry about.

 Listen, there are a lot of things going on here. This is an overly simplistic way to get you to stop and think about your Retirement Worth Having and how real estate investing can be a valuable tool in the box. Obviously, you are going to need to work with a professional to counsel you through the landmines and pitfalls to maximize your benefits.

Just stop though, for a minute, and think about the retirement you want to have. How will it look? Where will it be? What amount of money do you need to make that happen? Would another $196,000 help?

Deb Short
TENNNESSEE REALTY & AUCTION LLC - Sparta, TN

This is a great article. It is true if you can do it. My goal was to own investment property like this.

I ended up with five rentals..let me say they were a pain in the a.....

I ended selling them. It feels great to have rid of them. But for investors this is awsome..

Although, I do invest in land. I really enjoy that!

 

Jun 30, 2007 04:21 AM
Chris Lengquist
Ad Astra Realty - Olathe, KS
Kansas City Real Estate Investing
Deb - thanks for the comment.  One of the expenses I build in is a property manager.  Why more people don't use them is beyond me.  That way I don't have to worry about them. 
Jun 30, 2007 05:39 AM
Ethan Dozeman
Realty Executives Platinum Group - Grand Rapids, MI
Real Estate in Grand Rapids

the more I read of your blogs the more I like your style...I can't wait to talk with you...

Sep 16, 2007 12:59 PM
Chris Lengquist
Ad Astra Realty - Olathe, KS
Kansas City Real Estate Investing
That's very kind of you to say.
Sep 16, 2007 01:17 PM