First, happy New Year!
For 2018, I am reading the Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman’s The Daily Stoic… one reading a day, every day for the year.
So, fellow Nomads will likely see a little more stoicism in the content I put out this year than they have in previous years.
Today’s reading is about control and choice and this is very appropriate for Nomads.
Nomads need to realize what is within their control and what is outside their control.
For example, things that are largely within the control of Nomads include:
- Whether you buy a home this year as a Nomad or not
- Whether you decide to start 90 days before you current tenant’s lease expires to start finding your next next tenant (or 90 days before you plan to move out if it is a Nomad property you’re currently living in)
- Whether you properly and adequately screen your tenants
- Whether you implement all the Nomad best practices
There are things outside your control as a Nomad:
- Whether the lenders change their lending policies in the future forcing us to change how we need to adapt the Nomad model
- What interest rates are going to do
- What property values are going to do (especially in the short-term)
- Whether tenants will stay in your property or move out
Epictetus says we can control our choices right now. And, that’s what we really need to focus on.
I tell Nomads all the time: buy just one house. Then, go through all the classes for the first year. If what I am saying still makes sense to you towards the end of the first year, buy another house. If, on the other hand, you decide… that James guy was crazy… I don’t know what I was thinking with this Nomad stuff… you’re still better off owning a home than if you never bought a property. You can just keep living in the property, rent it out or sell it.
If you decide to continue to the Nomad path… that’s great. We’re here to serve you and assist you. Each year you get to decide whether you’ll recommit to the Nomad model and buy another house. Some years the market will be up and the properties you already own will have appreciated but you’ll be buying a property at a slightly higher price than you did the year before… that’s part of the plan. Other years, the market will see corrections and the properties you own will be down a little, but you’ll be able to get the next house at a slight discount. This is like dollar cost averaging or dollar value averaging.
One of the keys to Nomad is to just buy a house every year and 2018 is no different.
