How would you advise this reader on her rent or buy question? I recently turned 50 and got divorced after almost 20 years of marriage. I have not worked for over 15 years so I will be living off of the alimony settlement, while I retrain for a new career. I know I want to […]
About five years ago, a finance friend of mine mentioned that his much wealthier colleague was buying property on a high elevation in Singapore as a climate change hedge. (This same climate change hedger was also stockpiling gold – not just shares of a gold ETF, but actual gold – and this was well before […]
When we got serious about real estate investing starting in 2013 as a way to propel our FIRE journey, we turned to turnkey real estate companies to accelerate our growth. Scott was working a big corporate job, and my business was in growth mode. We felt maxed out on how many cash-flowing rental properties we […]
The 2020 IMN Single Family Rental (SFR) Virtual Forum was a two-day event that featured 2,000 attendees and 80 speakers in keynotes and breakout sessions. I was only able to attend Day One, since the next day we were en-route to dropping off our youngest at college. There were many sessions to choose from. I […]
HELOC, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: Using a HELOC for investment property so you can look like a cash buyer even when you’re financing Smoothing out cash flow when you’re a small business with lumpy earnings Having money to tap for emergencies in lieu of a rainy day bank account […]
A good friend of mine had a rent-to-own agreement on the house she was living in, but her application for a mortgage was denied so she was unable to meet the purchase deadline. A rent-to-own agreement is what it sounds like – it looks like a typical lease, except at a specified date, the tenant […]
I recently finished a new personal finance book, Beyond The Basics, by Sammy Azzouz, a financial advisor out of Massachusetts, and one of his investment topics “beyond the basics” is real estate. Azzouz’ premise is that for most investors their basics will be three things: career, because that provides your earning potential; savings rate to […]
Costa Rica FIRE made a guest appearance on the Real Wealth podcast, which focuses on real estate investing. We were excited to be invited onto the show because we look to Real Wealth as a source for real estate news and ideas and even traveled to their income property showcase in Cleveland last summer. (It […]
We recently received a reader question asking if now is the time to buy real estate in Costa Rica: Do you think that based on everything that is happening right now, it may be a good time to buy? Are there more properties on the market now in light of the pandemic? I know that […]
I had written before about how the coronavirus pandemic has affected our FIRE plans, and this was before a continued spike in cases worldwide and Costa Rica closing its borders. Costa Rica indicated the border closings were through April 12, but the pandemic appears far from abating. Estimates for a vaccine are 12-18 months away. […]
