Tentmaking Tips

Over the years, I’ve found this comment to be so true.

This week was no exception.

A seller called us a few months ago telling us about her need to sell her house. There was just one problem. A tenant still lived in it and they hadn’t been paying rent.

As we got closer to the closing date, the tenant told the seller they weren’t going to move out unless the seller paid them money. She knew the eviction process would be long and expensive, so she offered them a few thousand dollars to leave the property.

Turns out, after taking the money, the tenant still said they wouldn’t leave. We started to help her walk through the eviction process and a notice was posted on the tenant’s door to vacate.

The tenant eventually said they would leave but not before sending a fake invoice to the Title Company saying the seller owed them thousands of dollars

Then we got an email from the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek in Colorado. We’ve gone skiing there over Christmas the last 2 years. We hadn’t planned to go again this year but they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. :)

They emailed saying if we booked again by May 15th, they’d give us 10,000 points off per night! For our 4 night stay, that’d be an extra 40,000 points saved. Sign me up!

The rooms are typically 45,000 Hyatt points per night because the cash price is so high. Right now, the cash price is $1,026/night. The reason for this is that the resort is ski-in/ski-out right on the slopes.

I then booked 2 American flights to the nearby airport using our AA points and 2 more flights through British Airways (a partner with American) so I could use my Chase points.

This is a great hack to taking more American flights on points. Transfer points from Chase to British

And most of them would like to be financially independent before retirement age.

They just wonder if that’s even possible.

Financial Independence (FI) is simply where your investments will cover your living expenses in perpetuity.

JL Collins is one of the bloggers who first started writing about FI.

His Stock Series became so popular that he eventually turned it into a book, along with other financial principles that have contributed to his financial independence.

This is a book I often recommend to people as a good place to start in learning about FI.

It’s called The Simple Path to Wealth (JL Collins).

This book helps to simplify the process of becoming financially independent.

Late last year he released another book with 100 stories of people who have gone on a similar FI journey.

I just finished it, and thought it was great, so I wanted to recommend it to you as well.

It’s called Pathfinders (JL Collins).

The welcome bonus is typically 60,000 points after $4,000 in spend in the first 3 months of the card.

They just increased the bonus to 75,000 points.

Those extra 15,000 points could be worth an additional ~$300 in free travel for a total of over $1,000 in free travel through that one welcome bonus.

This card has a $95 annual fee with the following perks:

• 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel

• $50 annual hotel credit

• 3x points on restaurants

• 2x points on other travel purchases

Just the hotel credit & your restaurant spend will likely make this card worth keeping.

Also, this card gives you the ability to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Chase’s travel partners. This is often the best way to maximize the value of each point.

If you don’t have the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, now would be a good time to take a look!

And if you decide to get it, her

This is an important metric to track on your journey toward financial independence.

Your freedom number is the amount of money you need in investments in order for the return on investments to equal your living expenses.

Once you hit this number, your investments will pay your monthly expenses and you’ll become work optional.

Work optional just means that you can choose whether or not you want to continue generating more income since you don’t need it to sustain your lifestyle.

Many people think the best way to calculate your freedom number is to multiply your yearly expenses by 25. This is based on the 4% withdrawal rule in early retirement.

For example, if your annual expenses are $60,000, then $60,000 x 25 = $1,500,000 becomes your freedom number. Once you accumulate $1.5MM in investments, you can likely retire financially and live off your investments.

By reducing your annual expenses, your freedom number gets smaller, and you can “retire

And it probably won’t surprise you to find that your taxable value went up… again.

Sometimes it makes sense as to why it went up. You’re aware that home prices have risen in your area. Other times you’re confused as to why it went up because sale prices have stagnated or gone down in your area.

Remember, in either scenario, your value is subject to negotiation.

That’s why I protest every year.

Here are a few tips for protesting this year:

1. Submit your protest right when you receive your notice.

I received my notice recently and immediately went online to protest. Thousands of other people will be doing the same thing, but because I did it quickly (literally the day of), I was able to get an appointment the next day to see an appraiser.

2. Negotiate with one of city appraisers first

In Texas, both the local appraiser and the appraisal review b

The annual fee is $695.

Am I crazy?

Maybe a little - haha!

For me, as I calculated the benefits I’d receive from the card, I found that I would receive far more in benefits from the card than the $695 fee I would pay this year.

Here are a few of the benefits that are valuable to me:

• 100,000 welcome bonus = ~$2,000 in free travel

• 30,000 referral bonus (from my wife referring to me) = ~$600 in free travel

• $200 in statement credits for hotels = $200 in value

• $200 airline fee credit for incidental fees = $200 in value

• $12.95/mo Walmart+ Credit ($0.10 reduction in gas at certain stations + free grocery/online delivery) = $155 in value (not including gas savings)

• $20/mo Entertainment Credit (can be used toward my Hulu subscription) = $240 in value

• $15/mo Uber cash + $20 in December (which we’ll use to cover some of our regular eating out budget each month) = $200 in value

• $189
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That’s simply not true.

In fact, new cards add new accounts to your credit which can improve your credit score.

And new cards, and new credit limits, actually reduce your overall credit utilization which also helps your credit score.

Because of the “hard” credit pull when a credit card issuer pulls your credit, you may notice a few point temporary drop in your credit score, but it shouldn’t be long before it comes right back up again. So, don’t apply for a credit card the day before you go & apply for a mortgage (that’s two “hard” credit pulls back to back).

Again, long-term, more accounts help your credit score.

What keeps your credit score high is:

• Making all of your payments on time

• Not getting derogatory marks (from other types of bills going to collections)

• Keeping your credit card utilization low

Don’t believe the myth that applying for new cards lowers your score long-

And the answer is really simple.

It doesn’t matter.

Huh?

I tell people this all the time. How you get started in real estate really doesn’t matter. The key is just getting started doing something.

Why?

Because once you get into the real estate world, you’ll find out over time what interests you the most. Just get involved somewhere.

Sometimes people overthink where & how to get started and I remind them that the where & how don’t matter that much.

Here are ways people might get started:

• Landlord

• Multi-family

• Development

• House Hacking

• Flipping Houses

• Real Estate Agent

• Short-term Rentals

• Commercial Brokerage

The list could go on.

Perhaps a great way to choose is to find someone you know & respect that is involved in real estate. Take them out to lunch & ask them to tell you more about what they do. Maybe they’ll offer you the opportunity to tag along & learn from them. That could be a

Here’s a quick guide:

1. Employer’s Match - if your employer matches your retirement contributions up to a certain amount, invest at least enough to meet the match. This is free money. Make sure you take it.

2. Health Savings Account (HSA) - if you’re on a high deductible insurance plan, you may have an HSA plan option. Max this out next. You can contribute tax free, it grows tax free, and you can pull it out tax free for medical expenses (a triple dip). You can invest up to $8,300 in 2024 for families.

3. Roth IRAs - both you and your spouse can contribute $7,000 in 2024 for a total of $14,000. You can use a Traditional IRA if you are above the income limit for a Roth.

4. Max Out Employer’s Plan Above the Match - for 2024 this could be up to $23,000 per person.

5. Taxable Brokerage Account - once all of your r
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