Functional Obsolescence Unveiled: The Silent Value Killer in Real Estate Investments—and How to Defeat It! There's a often overlooked risk of investing in reale state: obsolescence. Whether we're focused on properties that are or will become functionally obsolete or drift directly into economic or physical obsolescence... these are real-world risks with real-world impact to your bottom line. Learn all about them including examples, how they show up and how to overcome them in this special class. In this class, James discusses: A George S Patton quote about fear, risks and making decisions. Ob ..read more

How to Analyze an All-Cash Rental Property Purchase Deal analysis is important. Learning how to analyze deals is a critical skill for all real estate investors, whether you're financing 100% of the purchase or buying a property without a loan at all and paying all cash. In this class, we will look at how deal analysis changes when you plan to buy a property for all cash, without a mortgage, using The World's Greatest Real Estate Deal Analysis Spreadsheet™. Or, check out the deal analysis example for Mobile, Alabama: Deal Analysis and Modeling for Mobile Free Real Estate Deal Analysis Spreadsh ..read more

How Return on Investment Changes Based on Credit Score With PMI Does your credit score really matter when you're buying rental properties? Sure, your credit score impacts the mortgage interest rate you can get with traditional mortgages. And yes, your credit score affects how much private mortgage insurance (PMI) will cost. Your credit score can also be a factor in the cost of insurance on your properties. But does it really make a significant difference? In a word: yes. Most people are surprised by just how much of an impact it has. In this class, James will walk you through the impact of you ..read more

So, are you stressing out over higher mortgage interest rates and properties not cash flowing as well as they used to, or in some markets, not having positive cash flow at all... even with 25% down? What's a real estate investor seeking financial independence to do? In this class, we will compare two strategies. In both strategies, you first buy an owner-occupant property with a 5% down payment to live in. Then, in the first strategy, you save up for a 25% down payment and buy a rental property. You repeat this process, stopping only when you own 9 rental properties. In the second strategy, yo ..read more

Deal Alchemy™ - Black Box Cash Flow Deal Alchemy™ is all about manipulating returns to get the returns you desire most. One variation of Deal Alchemy™ has you think about your rental property investment as a black box. You put money into the black box, some magical things happen over the next few years and out pops profit which you can spend like cash flow. That's what James will cover in this mini-class. In this class, James discusses: The definition of alchemy What is Deal Alchemy™ How to manipulate returns and move them between quadrants An example of thinking of your rental property inves ..read more

Warning - Risks of Rental Demand Declining When Investing in Real Estate Risk, risk, risk... Life is full of risks. To a limited degree, we get to choose which risks we voluntarily take on. For example, if you choose to invest in real estate, you choose to take on some additional risks that you might not—directly—face if you opt to invest in something else with its own set of risks. One risk when investing in real estate is the risk that the property you buy as a rental experiences a decline in rental demand, which often leads to a reduction in the rent you are getting. What are some things we ..read more

Private Mortgage Insurance Myths Reputation can be a challenging thing. I have found, through many conversations with clients over the years, that Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) has a questionable reputation with home buyers in general and investors in particular. However, much of its reputation is based on half-truths, bad information, lies, and myths. In this special class, James will discuss some of the more common myths about PMI and the truth about what PMI is, and why its reputation is misguided and/or misunderstood. In this class, James discusses: What is Private Mortgage Insurance ..read more

Warning - Risks of Neighborhood Decline When Investing in Real Estate Everything in life has risks. Not investing adds certain types of risks, while investing adds other risks. One risk that some real estate investors face is the possibility that the neighborhood they're investing in will decline, causing values and/or rents to drop. So, how do we prevent this, and what can we do about it if it happens to us? In this mini-class addressing the dangers and risks of investing in real estate, James discusses the risk of a decline in the neighborhood you're investing in and what to do to mitigate t ..read more

How to Analyze a Duplex Some real estate investors are sensitive to their ability to get ten 30-year fixed rate financing loans and would prefer to fill those loan spots with larger purchases than just single family rental homes. One way to do that is to buy more expensive properties like duplexes, triplexes or fourplexes. In this class, James will walk you through how to analyze a duplex using The World’s Greatest Real Estate Deal Analysis Spreadsheet™. Or, check out the deal analysis example for Mobile, Alabama: Deal Analysis and Modeling for Mobile Free Real Estate Deal Analysis Spreadshee ..read more

How to Calculate PMI If you're a house hacker, Nomad™, investor buying properties with less than 20% down, or buying creatively where the seller has PMI, you'll want to make sure you know how to analyze deals that have Private Mortgage Insurance. In this mini-class, James will cover how to analyze deals that have PMI, with an emphasis on doing it using The World's Greatest Real Estate Deal Analysis Spreadsheet™. In this class, James discusses: What is Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) and why does it exist? How to anaylze deals with a single up-front, lup-sum PMI payment How to anaylze deals w ..read more