goals – One Dollar Allowance

Year in Review

January 2, 2025January 1, 2025mrsonedollarallowanceLeave a comment

This was a good year. We took a lot of trips, made some good memories, and purchased some fun things. While day to day life has been hard with 3 little kids and managing some of my own interests, it really was a fun and rewarding year when I look at the big picture.

PERSONAL: MY YEAR

I went through a lot of growth in this year. I started the year with a girls trip, which was really healing in my mom-of-3 world. After that trip, I hunkered down on my diet and exercise. Over 10 months, I lost 22 pounds. Each kid added about 10 pounds to my body’s desired size (where I just plateau unless I put a lot of effort in). It’s not something that I regularly discussed with people or mentioned, but it is something that I’m pretty proud of and took effort. I ran a 5k in August, where I beat my time from the year before, and it didn’t feel like it took any effort to beat that, which was nice.

But then my oldest started kindergarten, which was a surprisingly hard adjustment in my schedule. He was completely ready for school, and him going wasn’t the hard part. I welcome new phases of life and mostly don’t dwell on the losses that those mean. However, the schedule of the year took me two or three months to get used to. He gets on the bus at 7, #2 gets dropped off at 9, she gets picked up at 12, baby takes a nap from 1:30-3:15, oldest gets off the bus at 2:45. It was just a lot of broken up time in my day, and it took so much out of me each day. I finally feel like I’m used to it and can be productive in those short periods in between.

We were told that our preschool will be changing ownership next school year, which threw a wrench in my plans. Sure, things will work out. But it doesn’t change that I had a plan that didn’t need to be thought about. I had a financial expectation that didn’t need to be budgeted for or considered any further. It was another thing that took mental energy from me. I had originally thought I’d not send the 3rd kid to a 2s year like the other two kids. I spent some days mourning that alone time I was giving up by keeping him home. But I toured a preschool, and that’s my wish list for next year. If we don’t get into that preschool, I’ll likely just keep him home with me and try for the 3s year there. It’s just a socializing desire. I don’t work and need child care, so it’s a privilege to send him if it works out.

On top of all the parenting jobs I have, my job managing our rental properties is another job that takes a ton of time and mental energy, but no one really sees the fruit of that labor. May was the only month this past year where everyone paid rent on time. While I’m pretty lenient on that, that’s still time that I’m taking to manage and keep up with. I have one tenant who hasn’t put the water bill in her name yet. Supposedly it’s a city issue, and she always pays when I send her a picture of the bill, but it’s still a time sucker that I have. Then add in that we have several maintenance requests that come up, and a few big projects that were needed.

Related to the rentals, I made 44 posts on this blog. I set a goal to post once per week, preferably on Thursdays, for the year. I fell short by 8 weeks, and I wasn’t consistent with the Thursday post each week. I did well when I had inspiration, and I always did the monthly updates, but I didn’t meet my goal. I’ll keep the same goal of once per week, preferably on Thursdays, for this year. While my reach isn’t far, I do hope that someone will find this little corner and gain a new perspective on their finances. Plus, I appreciate being able to go back to our monthly updates to see how things have changed. It’s hard to see it when you’re looking month-to-month, but to see a drastic jump in numbers from a year ago is nice.

PERSONAL: THE FAMILY

We made it to 12 states this year, and that’s pretty cool. The kids got to see a lot, and they’re really interested in different states and their stats. I appreciate that curiosity and the ability to learn while traveling. Only one trip was on a plane, which was to Colorado. We did a 2-week long trip to New York and Michigan, with a few stops in there. We went to Chicago for a wedding and explored the area, took the kids to Gatlinburg for Fall Break, went to Ohio to watch the eclipse in totality, and tagged along on Mr. ODA’s work trip to South Carolina.

Mr. ODA sold his 15 year old vehicle, and we purchased a Tesla. I didn’t have a great experience with one in Colorado, but I think that was more related to the circumstances than actual electric vehicle ownership. I had a great experience with the test drive, and we picked one up by the end of that week. We took advantage of their 0% interest and 3 months of free charging. We also referred a friend of ours, so we received $1000 in Tesla credits that we’ll use for charging after the free period.

We bought a hot tub. That was a purchase that was about a year in the making, so it wasn’t made lightly. There hasn’t been two days in a row where someone didn’t get in it, until we just left for a week (hoping that the water is in good shape when I get back!). Our deck was crushed by a tree in July 2023, and it wasn’t rebuilt until May 2024. Then we had to take the time to make the decisions on what we wanted, get it ordered, and wait for delivery. It was delivered in November, and it’s been a great purchase thus far. We haven’t done such a splurge before, and it’s nice to give ourselves something that we can enjoy.

The kids are doing their activities. We’ve been in a nice lull, but I recently saw our March calendar from this past year and was reminded of all those hours! Our oldest is doing t-ball for a second year. Our second is regularly doing gymnastics, but we’re also letting her do t-ball this spring. Our oldest is also doing an after school activity for checkers, but supposedly it’s in a fun way, so that’ll be interesting to see pan out. He was accepted into an advanced program for his 99th percentile state testing scores, which was a really exciting moment as parents. Our second will finish out her preschool year and go to kindergarten next year. And we hope to have another fun season over the next two months with everyone on skis!

RENTAL PROPERTIES

Besides the management of late rent payments, I had to put a lot of hours into these houses this year. We took a trip to Richmond, VA to work on quite a few of these houses. On top of that, there were several other activities that were needed, management of tenant turnover, and management of rental income, but I’ll save that for a future post so this doesn’t grow too long.

FINANCES

Our net worth increased by $745,000. We started the year with a goal of hitting $4 million net worth, and that was achieved in a short time. Month to month feels like we’re barely moving the needle, but it’s amazing to see that number over the course of a year.

We paid off one 0% interest credit card from our carpet replacement in our personal home, and then we opened a new 0% interest credit card to pay for the hot tub. That new card gets 2% cash back, so it’s being used more than we usually use a 0% interest card. Typically, we just pay for the major purchase and then pay it down over the 0% interest period. This time around, it’s being used for every day purchases so the monthly payment I’m making is more than I’d usually see.

I have a separate post that goes into our extra income that we brought in over the last year, which is related to earned credit card rewards and interest on savings accounts and bonds. That’s even cooler to see the total ($14k!) because that was actual cash that went into our account and was used.

In the last year, I only officially worked 11 days, which is crazy to think about. But I’ve been doing random other jobs to help others out. I’m on our homeowners association board of directors, and I’ve been helping a new school get their financials up and running. I’m ready to take a step back from the finance work because my commitment to the HOA feels more pressing, but we’ll see how the next couple of months progress. It’s just really hard to get things done when I’m rarely without a toddler who wants my attention (unless I get up at 4:30 or 5 am).

SUMMARY

This year has felt like it took a lot more hours from me for work and management of things. But I also feel like I have more energy now that I’m two years from having our last baby. We have lots of other things planned for this coming year, and I hope to take some even bigger trips to see more of the country now that we have a bit less baggage coming out of the baby years. We have no plans to make any big purchases at this time (although there are new windows needed on our house in the next couple of years), and I really hope this year is lots of fun with the family more than anything else.

Hitting our Goals

May 2, 2024May 2, 2024mrsonedollarallowanceLeave a comment

I mentioned at the beginning of the year that our general financial goal is $4 million net worth. I acknowledge that this is not a specific goal that most people can relate to. But I also pointed out that we weren’t always sitting with nearly that amount in our accounts, and that made me start thinking about where we were. This is long, but I didn’t think it worth splitting into multiple posts. I’ve gone into the topic in general, but this is our actual story and the steps we experienced.

This is just meant to show you that you can grow each year and slowly chip away at a goal. Everyone makes fun of the “don’t buy Starbucks everyday” philosophy. It’s not that saving that $7 per day is literally going to make you a millionaire in itself. It’s saying that if you’re willing to spend that $7 daily, that’s likely indicative of other spending in your day, and you should be more deliberate with your spending. I saw a meme on Instagram that said something similar about buying decor for your home, and if you’re willing to spend “just $25 on this lamp,” those little expenses add up over the year. I’m a broken record in saying make every purchase a deliberate, thought-out action; I went into how much effort (and years) I put in to purchasing a $4 tape dispenser on this post.

The background here is to first show you how I had no money, but I’ve been diligent on my spending and working towards goals. Mr. ODA was more of a saver and more prepared for the big life expenses in your early 20s. The part where we work towards buying a house is where we really buckled up and made life decisions that kept us on that track. Our money philosophies have gotten us to where we are today – every dollar has a purpose.

MY FINANCIAL HISTORY: COLLEGE, WHERE I STARTED MY INDEPENDENCE

I never liked relying on other people, so I was interested in making my own way as fast possible. My parents gave me an ultimatum during my sophomore year of college – either become a resident assistant for free room and board, or take out loans to help pay for it in the next two years. I didn’t want to take out loans, so I started looking for off campus housing. I didn’t mind living on campus. I have no idea why I was so dead-set against taking out loans and how that would have been ingrained in me at that time. But living off campus would allow me to pay month to month, instead of living on campus where I’d have to pay each semester’s housing costs up front.

On top of that, my dad offered me to buy out his car. He had let me drive the car to college that year, but around Christmas time, it started acting funny. It turned out that second gear in the transmission needed to be replaced. He said I could pay for the fix, and then it could be my car. I didn’t like the idea of being 3.5 hours away from my family and having a car that appeared unreliable. So I went car shopping, and I leased a Honda Civic. My car payment was about $300/month. I leased it instead of buying it because I didn’t need to put any money down.

I worked three jobs that summer after my sophomore year of college. It was so hard. I was working 40 hour weekends, and then I’d put hours in during the week. I remember getting burnt out and being overwhelmed because I had to miss my sister’s graduation party. I was working at a catering hall, which meant late hours on Friday and Saturday, and early hours on Sunday. I was also working at a bagel shop (big on Long Island), which was a 5:45 am call time, but at least I’d be done by 10 am. Then I was working as a cashier at K-Mart, which was Monday through Thursday in the afternoon or evening, and sometimes on Friday.

Even though I was working all those jobs, I still struggled with paying my bills once I got to college for my junior year. I paid too much for rent because I wanted to live on my own. None of my friends were interested in living off campus, and I was too afraid to live with someone I didn’t know. My parents ended up giving me $100/month for 6 months so I could pay to run my heat. I remember it being October, and I told my mom that I hadn’t turned my heat on yet. So she sent me the money each month to cover the heating bill instead of trying to live in layers and blankets because I didn’t want to pay for it.

When I moved back up to college, I was working at JCPenney while going to school. I did pretty well. My grades didn’t suffer, and I still felt like I had a life so I didn’t get burnt out with only work and school. I took on extra shifts and stopped going home for the smaller holidays (e.g., Thanksgiving) so that I could work.

MY FINANCIAL HISTORY: MY BIG GIRL JOB

My guidance counselor told me that financial firms would be expecting internships on my resume. This was 2007; financial firms were fat and happy, so they weren’t paying interns. I kept my eye on the job boards (which were literal bulletin boards) in the financial building. I found an internship with the Federal government that was paying $13/hour! I applied in August. I heard nothing for weeks, so I gave up hope. Suddenly, I received a call asking me to come in for an interview on Halloween! I had never interviewed before, so this was scary. Then the guy told me that they didn’t even know if they were going to hire a mid-career hire or go the internship route, and they had never had an intern before. That was the second time I gave up hope. A month later, I received the job offer, and I started working in December 2007.

From the start, I put money into the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which is the government’s 401k equivalent. My parents told me to take each raise I got and put it right into there also. If I was used to living on the lower amount, then keep the rest in savings. I followed that advice until I maxed out the contributions. I didn’t have trouble paying my bills, but I wasn’t saving as much as I should have for rainy days.

MY FINANCIAL HISTORY: MEETING MR. ODA

Mr. ODA showed up in my office in October 2009. Shortly after meeting him, we were hanging out, and next thing I knew, he was asking me my social security number. He was signing me up for a rewards credit card, since I had a credit card through my bank that was getting me no incentives. By the time I met him, I was living comfortably, but I wasn’t saving with a goal in mind. Whatever was left over became savings, and it didn’t matter to me what that number was. I was maxing out my TSP and paying my bills comfortably, and that seemed good enough for me.

OUR FINANCIAL HISTORY: IN A RELATIONSHIP

Mr. ODA came with a lot more money than that into the relationship. He had always been planning to save for two big purchases: an engagement ring and a house. To me, buying a house was somewhere down the road, but I didn’t have the confidence to move forward on that. I hope to instill that confidence in my children because that would have made a big difference.

Mr. ODA designed my engagement ring at a little mom and pop jewelry store in Harrisburg, PA (long story on where we’ve lived, for how long, and why). He proposed in November 2011. In December, I moved to DC, and Mr. ODA joined me shortly after. We lived in an apartment. We lived halfway between where he and I worked, but I admit we paid way more for rent than we prudently should have. Even though I grew up in the shadows of New York City, actually living in a big city was scary to me. We went on a house hunting trip, and I struggled with anything that didn’t look really nice/new. We were able to get a reduced rent rate, but at about $800 per month for each of us, it was significantly more than the $450 per month I was paying in Albany, NY.

The goal was to rent for a year while we scoped out the area to find a house to buy. We didn’t know anything about Northern Virginia, and we wanted to go to open houses to learn how far our money would go. Newsflash: not far.

OUR FINANCIAL HISTORY: A WEDDING

While we explored the area for a house, we were also planning a wedding. We paid for more than half of our wedding. My parents gave us a chunk of money towards it. If I had been married in Kentucky, it would have covered most of the wedding. However, I grew up on Long Island, and a wedding is a very different kind of event there. I probably wouldn’t have known any different had I not attended several weddings in South Carolina, where weddings were low key. After looking at venues in both Kentucky and New York, I ended up breaking down one day that I had always dreamed of a specific type of wedding, and Kentucky just wasn’t it.

I saved as much as I could in all the other areas since the venue was so expensive. The venue cost included all the catering, staff, and cake. I went cheap on invitations, my dress, favors. I just didn’t have the cash on hand to do a lot, and I wish I had done more. I also wish that I had been married on site at that venue instead of in my hometown church, but it is what it is. I also went cheaper on the photographer, and the day was terrible because of him. I recommend to everyone to get a good photographer and really check their portfolio (and if they do crazy things for photos, don’t trust that they’ll not do crazy things when you ask them not to).

We got married in August, after our November engagement. We had to lay out over $12k for that. The unexpected part of that was that we found a house to buy earlier that summer.

OUR FINANCIAL HISTORY: OUR FIRST HOUSE

Mr. ODA was a good saver. The problem was that he didn’t expect to pay for a wedding, and he didn’t expect to live in Northern Virginia. He was expecting to buy a house around $150k. We were struggling to find a house with walls and floors (literally) at $350k.

We lived a meager state for that year. Our goal was to spend less than $5 per day on food. That meant we weren’t spending money at restaurants. We were packing our lunches for work days. We were living off of macaroni and cheese. We weren’t taking trips. And yes, we were literally tracking our expenses on food each day.

THIS IS IMPORTANT: We were preapproved to buy a house up to $750,000. THAT IS STUPID. We didn’t want to pay PMI, so our purchasing power was based on our down payment being 20% (if you don’t come to the table for a conventional loan with 20% of the purchase price, the bank tacks on PMI). Between loans we could take from each TSP, cash on hand that we projected to have with our savings over the year, and possible liquidation of investments, we projected we could have about $70,000 on hand. That means we were shooting for $350,000 as the purchase price.

Our Realtor knew we were approved for double that, but we held our ground on our price range. We considered several properties. We put an offer in on a house at $380k. It was a bank owned foreclosure that they had flipped for resale. The flip was bare bones, but the house looked ok. We wouldn’t need to put immediate work into it. Our offer was declined. Then later that day, the bank called and asked if we still wanted it. We were instructed that the previous bidder attempted to counter the bank, and that’s why we were given the offer. We weren’t willing to lose it and accepted. We were under contract for a $380,000 house. That meant we needed at least $76,000 by closing.

Mr. ODA and I each took out TSP loans, we were gifted money from our parents, and we used our savings. Our final closing costs were just over $78k. We got our 20% down, so no PMI. We then spent the next 3-5 years paying ourselves back in our TSP. The loan payment amounts were adjustable, so we paid more when we could, but we had the flexibility to back off some of the payment totals if we needed to.

OUR FINANCIAL HISTORY: SELLING OUR FIRST HOUSE

We bought our first house in July 2012. We sold the house in September 2015. In that time, the house appreciated by $70k. On top of that, we had the 20% equity we had put down, and we had the equity for the principal payments we made over the previous 3 years. We were moving from the DC area down to the Richmond, VA area. We ended up purchasing a new construction home for about $360k. After putting 20% down on that purchase and paying off some debt (I had a car payment, and even though it was 0.9% interest, I wanted to manage less payments per month), we needed to decide on what to do with the rest of the money from the sale. Mr. ODA convinced my to put that towards rentals.

OUR FINANCIAL HISTORY: RENTAL PURCHASES

With that extra equity we had sitting in our account (which we had in an interest earning account), we purchased 3 rental properties (all with at least 20% down). The leap of faith we took into a landlord role, while figuring out things we didn’t know as we went is why we’re where we are now. We created a semi-passive income stream with these rental properties. Our savings continued to grow, which we used to purchase several more rental properties (again, with at least 20% down each time).

OUR FINANCIAL HISTORY: MRS. ODA ‘RETIRED’

By 2017, we had several rental properties, had paid off all our debts (e.g., car, TSP loans, IVF cost), and the net from the rentals was enough to replace my six-figure income. At that time, we had no kids, so there was no ‘real’ reason for me to not be working. As I continued to work, we kept it in mind that we’d be losing my regular income in the near future. I kept working, drawing down my leave balances, until our son was 8 months old (May 2019). I’ve worked a few random jobs here and there since then, but that was for something to do and not because we needed money.

MAKING GOALS

Mr. ODA had a goal of $1 million by 30. He exceeded it. At no point did we say “reach $4 million by 40” or anything like that. However, we’ve regularly tracked our net worth and made smart moves with the money we have. We don’t keep money in a liquid state for long. We make sure our money is working for us as much as possible. We take calculated risks that allow for interest earnings.

We also keep our ears open for extra income opportunities. We’ve been secret shoppers before, and I’ve taken on different short term work roles. That extra income isn’t meant to be frivolously spent; it’s income that we still utilize to move our family’s goals forward. We don’t buy the latest gadgets, but it’s not like we don’t have nice things. We spend will intention within our means; we don’t take out personal loans (e.g., furniture loans, layaway loans).

A goal that keeps moving due to preference is that Mr. ODA will stop working a full time job as well. The lack of insurance options is keeping that from becoming a reality, but if we really wanted to push it, he could quit tomorrow because we’re in a good financial spot. Nearly a year ago, we set up a separate bank account to have his pay check go into. It’s nice to know that we can live without his income, all the while having that bank account as a safety net.

Year in Review: Part 1

February 28, 2022February 22, 2022mrsonedollarallowanceLeave a comment

Just over a year ago, I decided it was time to put more effort into sharing what we’ve been through. When I’m looking to learn something new, I like to find examples of how other people handle it. I want to know the places they struggled and how they learned. I find it a better way to form my opinion than by reading an article that doesn’t have any meat in it, only providing an outline.

In the last year, I learned that blogging wasn’t as easy to keep up with as I thought it would be. I have a list of topics still to cover, so it wasn’t a matter of content. But raising two kids hinders my ability for an uninterrupted thought process to write an article, unless I get to it before they wake up.

The blog was started by Mr. ODA in 2018. He wrote a few posts, and then it sat for two years. I decided to pick it back up in January 2021. During 2021, we published 65 posts. Each month, I wrote a post about our financial update; I included any major expenses, how management of rental properties was going, and how our personal spending may have changed month-to-month. I shared our purchase of 11 out of 13 of our properties, our sale of one property, refinancing mortgages, paying off mortgages, renting properties, maintaining properties, etc. I also shared just general life decision making along the way.

Part 1 for my year in review will address what happened with our rental properties. I’ll dive into our personal finances in Part 2.

As a quick recap, we have 12 rental properties. Nine of them are in Virginia, and three of them are in Kentucky. Two of the houses in Virginia are owned with a partner because we still had cash available to buy more houses, but at the time we had the maximum number of mortgages allowed by Fannie/Freddie (max is 10). The houses were purchased between February 2016 and September 2019. All 3 houses in Kentucky are managed by a property manager, who gets 10% of the monthly rent each month. I manage 5 of the Virginia houses personally, and then we have a property manager who manages the remaining 4, who also gets 10% for each house.

RENTAL PROPERTY MORTGAGES

In January 2021, we completed a refinance of one property, and then in December, we completed three cash-out refinances. The loan balances on these 4 properties increased; one increased because closing costs were rolled into the loan balance, and the other 3 included $190k worth of equity taken out from the houses and creating new loans.

We went from 11 mortgages (two of which are actually owned by a partner) down to 8. House 6 had a balance of $26,447 coming into 2021, and that was paid off by June. Two other houses had a total balance of $157,500 at the beginning of the year. Their balances dwindled through regular monthly payments and one lump sum payment right before we completed the cash-out-refis and completely paid them off.

We have been working on paying down another mortgage that is owned with a partner. Between the two of our families, we paid off about $44,000 additional principal for that mortgage. We’re matching each other’s additional principal payments so that the math is easier to follow, so we can only make additional payments in line with what he can do also. We each owe about $10k on this mortgage now.

Even though there were so many mortgage-related transactions in the year, our overall loan balance only decreased by $6,000.

The market has continued to rise due to the limited supply, and so our home values on the rentals actually increased over $500k over the last year.

RENTAL PROPERTY LEASES

We turned over 1 property the whole year! The tenant that was living there had already told us that they were renting until they found a place to buy, so we knew they wouldn’t be long term tenants. We had a relationship with them from a previous house, when they had moved out of the area and then back. They had a poor experience renting in another area and reached out to us since they appreciated us as landlords. They found a house towards the end of their first year, but we let them out of the lease early. Their lease was slated to end October 31, 2021. We don’t usually have leases that start/end in the Fall if we can help it, but we had let the previous tenant out of her lease early to purchase a house also. The tenant said she was able to be out at the end of August, and we preferred moving the lease closer to the summer months anyway.

We raised the rent on 6 properties.
– The one house that was turned over went from $1200 to $1350 per month. However, we added a property manager who gets 10%, so our cash flow only increased by $15 per month.
– Two of our properties have long term tenants; the rent is significantly below market value, but we value not having to turn over the house. These houses are on a cycle where we increase the rent $50 every two years.
– Our KY property manager tried to increase rent on the 3 properties she manages. One was increased by $25, another by $5, and the other one cried that she couldn’t afford an increase. That’s the one where we plan to increase by $75 next month, and if she doesn’t accept, we’ll turn it over and get $75-$100 more per month.
– We increased rent by $150/month for one of our properties that we have with a partner. It was a risk, but this is a house that claims 3 people live there, but they have 5 queen size beds in the house. We figured either they leave and we get several big things fixed up that have been deferred because of all their things in the way, or we make up for all the years that we didn’t manage their rent and didn’t increase it. They accepted the increase.

RENT COLLECTION

We were very grateful that we made it through those initial months of the pandemic without tenants not being able to pay rent. We had a few people let us know that they were laid off or unable to work (e.g., restaurant business), but we learned most of our tenants worked in the health care field. So while we made it through 2020 without many issues, 2021 brought more challenges. Nothing was insurmountable, and it wasn’t debilitating financially, but it was still something to manage.

We had some big struggles with non-payment of rent on one house. She was 31 days late paying August rent, then she didn’t pay September’s rent, and then she applied for rental assistance to cover September, October, and November, which we didn’t receive until February 2022. That was all on top of her generally being a week late in paying through the beginning of the year too. She doesn’t maintain employment, she doesn’t communicate, and we’ve just had something new and different pop up as an issue every few months. We eventually received January 2022’s rent, but we still haven’t received all of February’s rent – just in time for March rent to be due.

We have another property (the one that was raised $150 per month) that is perpetually late. They eventually pay, and they’re getting better about actually paying the late fee (when they pay rent 20+ days late…), but they were late for 10/12 months of the year.

Everyone else paid their rent on time. In general, we’re lenient with late fees and issues. If you reach out to us and mention that there was a hiccup and you’ll need one more pay check to pay rent, our response is typically: please pay what you can now, pay the rest next week, and don’t worry about the late fee. However, when you don’t communicate and/or you’re consistently weeks late and we’re having to carry the expenses, there needs to be a consequence to incentivize you getting back on track.

RENTAL EXPENSES

We replaced the flooring in House3 ($4,000), hot water heater in House9 ($1,500), HVAC in House10 ($3,300), washing machine in House10 ($250), and HVAC in House12 ($3,900). We also had various electrical and plumbing work that needed to be done in several houses. We also spend about $7k per year in property management fees.

Usually turn over is an area that requires us to put a lot of money into a house. Luckily, the one house that we turned over this year only required some paint work, and we didn’t have any other turnovers.

While it’s nice that our assessments have increased and our housing values have increased in our net worth calculation, it comes at a price. Our taxes have increased on all the properties. In total, they’ve increased over $2,500 in just the one year (meaning, that doesn’t include all the previous years worth of assessment increases that have occurred!).

GOALS

In this year, we hope to add one more rental property to our portfolio. We’ve been actively working on it, but this market is crazy! We’re not willing to overpay on a property and get into a bidding war just to be done with the search. It’s interesting to see that we haven’t bought a new rental property in almost 2.5 years, when we had purchased so many all at once. We had gone back and forth with saving for another down payment or just paying off more mortgages after we paid off House6 in June. Once the cash-out-refi was a possibility, we decided to go ahead with purchasing another property. We’ll self-manage whatever we acquire. We had been looking in Virginia and Kentucky, but have started to settle into a Kentucky property (I like the laws for tenant/landlord relationships better in Virginia) so that we can save the 10% management fee and the expensive leasing fee, since housing prices are significantly higher than what we’d prefer for the rent ratio we’d be getting.

We have 8 houses that still need negotiation and/or lease termination coming this year. Two houses have already agreed to their rent increase, and we just need to get the new lease signed. Five houses will be offered a new lease term with a rent increase (averaging about $50 per month on the increase). One tenant will be asked to leave at the end of her lease term.

We want to remove the tenant from House2 at the end of her lease term. She has been a concern in numerous legal ways, does not hold steady employment, and the house is well under market value rent. Turning over that property will require us to go to Virginia to work on it. It’ll need repainted, the carpet will probably have to be replaced, and I worry that she’ll do some damage when we tell her we’re not interested in renewing her lease.

SUMMARY

I like to look at the details of the rental properties all at once in this format. Sometimes, I get caught up in all the things that I need to get done, and I feel like it’s so much work. In those moments, I forget that there are most days of the year where I don’t even think about the properties. Even when expenses seem to be piling on top of themselves, to look back and see that our expenses totaled less than $15k over 12 houses is encouraging. We’ve also reached the point where we’ve replaced most HVACs and several roofs, which are areas that can create problems that compound on themselves, whereas a replacement is expensive, but then I don’t have to get all the calls that something went wrong.