patrick.net

Oh, come on. Drawing cartoon is hardly profitable. ;-)

Peter,

Here are where most of my incomes are from

1) wife's W-2 :-)
2) rental income
3) real estate syndications
4) real estate referrals
5) LLC's (I'm one of the owners of 2 apartment bldgs in downtown SJ)
6) hard money loans
7) property management
8) dividends from mREITs and dividend stocks

Here are a couple of options I'm considering right now.

9) give money to a fund manager with 10% preferred returns. Anything above that will be split 50/50.
10) get back into flipping.
11) buying tax liens are a long shot right now.

E-man, how is the hard-money loan market right now?

Flipping may be difficult with such low inventory level.

BTW, be very careful with any fund manager. See if there can be some claw back arrangements with the incentive fees. 100% return this quarter and -100% next quarter will make him very rich and you quite a bit less rich. :-)

Not investment advice

for me, it's:

1. salary
2. stock gains
3. dividends
4. website subscription fees
5. interest
6. book royalties (2 books)

i'd really like to develop some cloud service that corporations will pay a subscription fee to use. that could be quite a cash cow.

1. salary

Basically that then, like most of us.

yes, like most people

book royalties (2 books)

I have only one: The Housing Trap. What's the other?

6. book royalties (2 books)

Ever thought of writing more?

I'm curious, because I know an Amazon author who made squat on her first 5 books, but wrote a few more. At some point, her writing clicked with enough of an audience that her earlier books began selling. It's not enough to replace her salary, but authorship seems to be a cumulative venture now.

(Not that volume guarantees success.)

HydroCabron says

I'm curious, because I know an Amazon author who made squat on her first 5 books, but wrote a few more. At some point, her writing clicked with enough of an audience that her earlier books began selling.

Fiction or non-fiction? Which genre?

Peter P says

Fiction or non-fiction? Which genre?

Fiction, with elements of fantasy, but not straight fantasy.

I have heard of this working for non-fiction authors, but it's apparently harder.

HydroCabron says

Peter P says

Fiction or non-fiction? Which genre?

Fiction, with elements of fantasy, but not straight fantasy.

I have heard of this working for non-fiction authors, but it's apparently harder.

Fantasy working for non-fiction? Huh? :-)

Fiction is a better platform anyway, because it has to make sense.

curious2 says

book royalties (2 books)

I have only one: The Housing Trap. What's the other?

I wrote a technical book. Did pretty well back in first dot-com bubble days.

I like the self-publishing model better tho, more control. I do plan to write more.

I do plan to write more.

The Medical Trap

The Good Nurse became a NYT best seller while telling only one story that was obviously only the tip of an iceberg. The same executives and corporations that enabled a serial killer remain in charge, with bigger bonuses than ever before.

I am writing an inspirational fiction. Hope that will inspire me.

Salary
Dividends
Interest

Some rental properties but planning on going ALL-IN for rental properties. Any advice NOT to put more hard earned money in rental properties for income and may be long term appreciation ?
So far doing OK as not much leveraged properties. Diversified in a few states in single family homes managed by property managers, most good but some greedy. But that's what you get when you are remote owner!

Why not city-center condos? Higher rent and potentially more appreciation in supply a constrained areas?

Peter P says

E-man, how is the hard-money loan market right now?

Flipping may be difficult with such low inventory level.

BTW, be very careful with any fund manager. See if there can be some claw back arrangements with the incentive fees. 100% return this quarter and -100% next quarter will make him very rich and you quite a bit less rich. :-)

Not investment advice

Hard money loan is slow due to the lack of inventory. A lot of money chasing less deals has been the case for months now.

Flipping is a job, and the competition for deals is fierce. There are no deals at the courthouse steps now. The money is being made in buying 2/1 houses and making them into 3/2 or 4/3 houses. This proves my point that it's a job.

I have been syndicating deals and making $15k to $25k/deal. That was the reason why I put everything else on the back burner. Therefore, I'm looking for something passive, and that is why I'm looking at a fund manager.

I have a friend, who is a fund manager. He has been doing it for a living for a long long time. He and some of his investors got burned during the downturn. Fortunately, they were able to recoup the money during this upturn. I haven't been investing with him because I was able to make much much higher returns elsewhere. Now that ship has sailed, I'm open to all options that can generate passive income.

Really appreciation for the warning. It's definitely not risk free.

E-man says

The money is being made in buying 2/1 houses and making them into 3/2 or 4/3 houses. This proves my point that it's a job.

Very true. There is a chasm of price difference between 2/1 houses and 3/2 houses. The 2/1's are so stigmatized you may as well call them 1/1+Den. :-)

How did people manage to have only one bathroom in the house. Just my wife, myself, and our cats require at least 2.5 baths.

E-man says

I have been syndicating deals and making $15k to $25k/deal.

May I ask how you got into that business? I always admire people who are able to make a switch and start building meaningful passive incomes.

Peter,

I'll have to get back to you later. I'm going to check out 655 Mariposa Ave in Mountain View now. They want $3M for 9 units. I just check out the location and try to make sense of this deal.

Good hunting!

Friend of mine used to donate semen. Great income generator... but the income is not generated passively.

Portal says

Friend of mine used to donate semen. Great income generator... but the income is not generated passively.

i think it was in Austalia where they ruled donators can be held liable for child support??

lostand confused says

Portal says

Friend of mine used to donate semen. Great income generator... but the income is not generated passively.

i think it was in Austalia where they ruled donators can be held liable for child support??

Kansas:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/kansas-sperm-donor-ordered-pay-child-support/story?id=21657212

Other states too:

http://family-law.freeadvice.com/family-law/child_support/artificial_insemination_donor_obligation.htm

Ya... He's not too big on details. Did you notice I just said he donates sperm for income.
lostand confused says

i think it was in Austalia where they ruled donators can be held liable for child support??

Peter P says

May I ask how you got into that business?

I'd say conviction. I have always had a passion for real estate since I graduated back in 1998. When I went to graduate school. My favorite professor said "if you let me look at your night stand, I will tell you what you should do with your life." I went home and looked at my night stand and saw 3 real estate books. The light bulb went off.

Unfortunately, the numbers didn't add up in 1999-2000. Prices were high and interest rate was around 8%. Even then, I kept on evaluating deals after deals and kept on plugging in numbers into my spreadsheet almost every day all the way up to 2006. It was massive negative cash-flow after negative cash-flow.

Summer 2008 was when the numbers started to make sense. The numbers were beautiful in 2009. I decided to quit my job to pursue RE full-time. Wife was the only one that was supportive. Every else said I was crazy. To make it memorial, I put in my notice, and my last day of work was on 9/11/2009.

I planned to establish my track record before going after people with money. Well, the track record was establish, and now people want to invest with me. I'm not quite a private fund manager, but I do manage mine and our investors' real estate assets.

Along the way, I was introduced to a deep pocket individual, who is now my partner. He has a lot of liquid cash in the bank so banks are bending over backward to earn his business. The old saying is so true. Banks lend money to people that don't need money. So far, we have been able to borrow millions in loans with 3% interest rate from First Republic Bank. The ironic thing is.....my partner doesn't have a job and so do I. They lend based purely on our net worth and the collateral assets.

Peter P says

How do you guys go about building multiple streams of income?

My night job...

E-man,
What variables do you follow in your spreadsheet to decide if a place is worth it? How do you factor in unknowns?
E-man says

plugging in numbers into my spreadsheet almost every day all the way up to 2006

Peter P says

how is the hard-money loan market right now?

Hard money is only for short-term use (12-24 months). People always have a need for it. An increasing or decreasing real estate market always creates opportunities, just like in the stock market. Fix and flippers can always find properties.