What Does Financially Independent Mean?

Wikipedia defines financial independence as: Financial independence is the status of having enough income or wealth sufficient to pay one’s living expenses for the rest of one’s life without having to be employed or dependent on others. But, what does that mean more mathematically? And, practically? And, specifically, how does that look different for real estate investors than investors in more traditional stocks, bonds and other asset classes? How I Define Financial Independence My definition of financial independence is a little different. I define it as when the following 3 major sources exceed your personal expenses: 1. Passive Income I … Read more

The Ultimate FIRE Budget

The Ultimate FIRE Budget™

This workshop style class was taught by James Orr on March 31, 2022. Run time is about 1 hour and 13 minutes. Download a copy of the spreadsheet (below) and follow along. What is your current budget? How much do you need to achieve lean FIRE (or the minimum to be financially independent)? How much do you need to achieve fat FIRE (or your ideal lifestyle and true financial independence)? Use The Ultimate Financial Independence Retire Early Budget™ for Excel to determine all these numbers for yourself quickly and easily. Download What Does Financially Independent Mean? For more information, you … Read more

How to Buy a Rental Property

Buying Process Overview

In this special class, James will walk you through how to buy a rental property from the first meeting with your real estate agent through post-closing. About This Class This class is intended to be an OVERVIEW of the process to buy a rental property with the help of a real estate agent/broker. We have separate classes on finding off-market deals and creative financing. It is impossible to cover EVERYTHING in-depth in a single class. Instead, we have detailed classes covering just about EVERY step in this process. Please check the list of classes for more detailed information. Buying Process … Read more

The Ultimate Guide to CapEx on Rental Property

Maintenance and CapEx Estimator for Rental Property - Advanced

CapEx on rental property (also called Capital Expenses) are expenses to replace parts of the property that wear out over time. What’s the difference between CapEx and maintenance? From a tax perspective, capex of less than the “safe harbor” limit of $2,500 per invoice or item can be written off as maintenance on the property in the year they were taken. Some expenses over the $2,500 safe harbor amount will need to be capitalized over the lifespan of the item. Talk to your CPA or read the Internal Revenue Code for more detailed information on the tax treatment of capex. … Read more

The Ultimate Guide to Rent Comps

How do you know what a property will rent for? Rent comps… that’s how. Find out how to determine rent comps and interpret them to determine what a property is likely to rent for in this special one-time-only class taught by James on February 3, 2021. Below you’ll find an outline of what was taught in the class. But, first… Warning I don’t do my own property management I do not typically do my own rent comps… I typically call my property manager Rent is not an exact number and determining fair market rent is NOT an exact science We … Read more

Go to College or Skip It to Invest in Real Estate

College or real estate investing? That’s a great question. What if you earn $30,000 more per year after you get your degree than the person who doesn’t go to college and you decide to invest the full $30,000 per year extra? We tackle the age-old question: Go to College or Skip It to Invest in Real Estate in this special class by James. This class was taught on January 13, 2021 via webinar. Tammy had sent over an article, Is This The End of College As We Know It, and James decided to do some math to see if the … Read more

The Ultimate Guide to House Hacking

Real estate investing can be daunting, but what if you could benefit from a long-term investment with lower interest rates and immediate rental income? We introduce to you: house hacking. Dive in to learn more about how it works and how Real Estate Financial Planner™ can help you get started. House Hacking versus Nomad™ The Real Estate Financial Planner™ tool is made for buy-and-hold investors, including Nomads™ and house hackers. Learn the differences between our two favorite investment strategies with this two-hour class, and decide for yourself what kind of investor you want to be! Buying 10 Rental Properties In … Read more