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MONEY & INVESTING
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:12:00 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

Who handles the household checkbook in your family?
The Wife | 74%
The Husband | 26%

Which of the following ethnic groups attaches the most importance to making money?
Chinese Americans | 51%
Vietnamese Americans | 14%
Japanese Americans | 1%
Corean Americans | 30%
Filipino Americans | 4%

Which of the following do you consider to be your most important investment method currently?
Buy/Upgrade Own Home | 39%
Other real estate | 4%
Stocks/Options/Futures | 31%
Mutual Funds | 10%
Bank Deposits | 16%

This poll is closed to new input.
Comments posted during the past year remain available for browsing.

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WHAT YOU SAY

[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
Rentals are good. Rentals are what will let you retire, just make sure the numbers work and you get at least a $150 positive cash flow per month. In my opinion, no novice "investors" should be dealing with rentals in the beginning.

The best thing would be to start with quick flips. You should aim at getting about 10K per "flip", although if you're a beginner even 1K is good... Pretty soon you'll become a pro. After you get some flips under your belt, you might want to start rehabbing homes to make more money (although it will take longer). After you have about 30K set aside in case anything goes wrong... THEN you can start doing rentals.

Best thing to "get started" might be to learn as much about real estate as you possibly can. Look at websites, read books, go to REI meetings, whatever it is. I'm sure it will seem so confusing at first but within a few months, you should be able to have a good understanding of the different investing techniques and terminology.

Have fun guys.

PS: Does anyone here actually trade stocks for a living and make in excess of 250K/year?
LA Korean    Wednesday, July 03, 2002 at 00:11:14 (PDT)
Repost,

What's wrong with a Miata? It's a really cute car. And didn't you say you were around 30 or 35 or something? That's not old at all. You're in the prime of your life.

Thanks for all that advice. I'll do some more research and see what I can come up with. It just sounds so complicated and a lot of hassle to get into.

You sound like a real estate agent (one that writes really well...you missed your calling...should have been a lawyer or a writer or a politician or something like that). You also sound as if you live in the bay area as well since you are familiar with all the areas around here. And you're right about the fact that real estate is very expensive in this area. Where I am, in the south bay, it's about 1K to 1200K for a 1 bedroom. A starter home can't be bought for under half a million and a townhouse or condo is hanging right at around 380K to 450K. The house next door to me just sold last week for 590K, and that was because the owner lost his job and had to have a quickie fire sale to avoid foreclosure. It could have easily gone for at least 600K.

I wonder if the homes here are going to go down in price once all the folks who used to work for Worldcom leave the area.
MLK    Tuesday, July 02, 2002 at 23:15:49 (PDT)
MLK,

Well if it makes you feel better. I'm that improbable monkey that typed out the bible on a typewriter.

The color of my belt is faded dark grey with some pink on the edges. I'm terrible with laudry.

The boards I break are made with tooth picks glued together with natural adhesives (snot, sweat, and toe jam). Sometime after training I might try break a balsa wood board. Balsa wood (aka corkwood) is the toughest wood in the world to break ^_^.

"you suggesting that your essence (or presence) will drive women to sign up for the padded pink room?"

You mean with a mirror on the ceiling and a bathtub shaped like a champange glass. I thought those only existed in Japan.

Oh silly, I have cable, so of course I have ESP and ESP2. Are you into sports also? :)

Oh my, perhaps you should consider a part time career as a bikini waxer to vent some of that frustration. Just reading the post makes me want to get some Baby Powder and lotion.
AC Dropout    Tuesday, July 02, 2002 at 11:36:26 (PDT)
Repost,

My only other suggestion in tenant screening is a simple $25 credit check, just to make sure they are a okay. Usually nothing turns up. But if you happen to see he's been missing credit card or car payments....
AC Dropout    Tuesday, July 02, 2002 at 11:23:28 (PDT)
To: MLK

Your old age? You drive a Miata for crying out loud. Old age? What the heck does that make me? ;)

Rental properties are really a lot simpler to manage than you think. You just have to make sure you get the right tenants - and you're 90% there. That means a good area. Not too good an area that you pay 15x gross (and go negative on your cash flow). In the Bay Area, it’s tough to get anything under 8x gross unless you’re willing to collect rent with a shotgun. I don’t know where you are in the South Bay. I really don’t know the pockets down that direction.

Just do the numbers. What do working-class neighborhoods with white-collar tenants pay for rent? $1k/month for a 1 bedroom? From what I’ve seen, and let’s take away San Francisco (rent control), Palo Alto, Burlingame, etc., it’ll take about 8 units or more in solid but not too expensive neighborhood with 30% down to break even. I’d highly recommend against going negative. When I bought my first rental, I went in with seller-financing and only had 15% down. While it worked out really well later on, it was a real bear until I broke even.

Don’t get in to a property because you want to get in. Just be prepared. If you have a bunch of equity in your house, best that you get a large equity line, maybe $100-200k. That’s immediate buying power when a good deal comes up. While you’re waiting, the equity line is usually only $75-100 per year just to hold the line open. Brokers will flock to you because they smell the honey (your down payment). And let them keep coming to show you properties. Then find one you can work with, one you can trust. Don’t ever let them “sell” you on a good deal. Great deals are made before they even hit the market, much less the MLS (not MLK). ;) So when they show you the MLS, they’re either rookies or they view you as another quick sell. Good brokers always have their “pocket buyers.” You want to be a “pocket buyer.” These are the brokers who want to earn your repeat business.

Just remember – the area will attract the tenants. Good area, good tenants; ghetto area, ghetto tenants. Besides that, your plumber will likely wear the electrician, handyman, etc. hats. Never trust management companies. You select your tenants yourself. Manage the properties yourself. One exception - your real estate broker. Many of them handle management for their clients to assure that they get the listing when their clients are ready to sell. So there's a motivation not to screw you over.

The main criteria for tenant selection (my experience, others please chime in): first, their jobs; second their personal references. References, you ask? You’d like to know if their pharmacy friend works for Kaiser or are just street-side pharmacists.

I’ve posted as Repost ever since the second post when I reposted a post. I think the Gender Divide is where we primarily, if not exclusively, posted to each other.

Repost    Monday, July 01, 2002 at 23:18:52 (PDT)
to AC Dropout

You're right about one thing...it doesn't matter at all if you have a few more extra bucks in the bank compared to the average Joe. On Goldsea, you're elevated (or dare I say demoted) to an equal footing with all other men here (as far as actual male desirability is concerned). After all, I only have your word that you know TKD (here's a couple of trick questions...what color's your belt, and what's the chemical composition of the wooden plank that you break with your hand?). And besides, you could tell me that you have ESP(N?) and I would have to take your word at face value too.

Exciting things? I'm assuming you're talking about getting even...hmmmm, I'd make sure that the man who got me mad would receive an upclose and very personal bikini waxing from me, very very slowly and very very painfully. In fact, he'd be smooth, pink, and bald by the time I finish with him if he really pissed me off! ;)

"...they will lose their heart, their identity, and even perhaps their sanity" OK...Losing the heart is something that, although painful, could possibly be lived through. The identity would go anyway, to the same pile as such nomenclature generally go at the records office (for missing persons and maiden names)...it's the sanity that I question with some alacrity. Are you suggesting that your essence (or presence) will drive women to sign up for the padded pink room, or at the very least, commit identity suicide?

And how could I possibly be delusional? I haven't gotten close enough to your presence to have gotten a dose of your insanity yet. Last I checked, my name is safely cleared of the records for the loony bin as well as the hall of records.
I'm sorry...I did mean to say Marley...that's what happens when I close my eyes and touch-type in the dark, with barely any spark of electricity firing off through my exhausted dendrites. It was a long, long week, Mr. AC Dropout.
MLK    Monday, July 01, 2002 at 19:50:23 (PDT)
1\2 lost soul

If you read my previous post, I clearly stated psychological prepartion is one of the most important aspects of investing. I dont belive fundamental analysis is good for every one, certainly not for the layman. If you had followed fundamental analysis, you would have missed some extraordinary gains form stocks in the late 90's. Although the internet stocks flew very high based on speculation and not fundamentals never the less profit was to be made. Similarly you would have lost significant amount of money as is with most people in the recent bear market. A combiniation that hurts a lot. Not making money in the boom and losing money in the bust.

I have studied all of the best traders and mutual fund managers of this centuray and the best rely on technical analysis. With a few using fundamental analysis to help. As stated before, i was a fundamental investor before, it just dont help people be objective. It is virtually impossiable to coordinate a fairly specific point the stock will be in 6 months time purly on fundamental analysis. However it is possiable with technical analysis. Charts give a clear buy and sell signals which if followed can bring a lot of profit.

AC
ok dude. Its your money.
SOG    Monday, July 01, 2002 at 10:08:57 (PDT)

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