Variations

The following are variations to the baseline  Scenarios of  Characters in the Real Estate Financial Planner™ Podcast.

Baseline Scenarios – The baseline scenario sets the story for what the  Character in the podcast is planning to do. It gives you all the background on the  Character, their situation and their original plan.

Here are some baselines:

More posts: Baseline

Variations are just that—variations to the baseline plan.

By comparing the original baseline  Scenario to a variation, they help answer questions like:

Variations to Baseline Scenario

Here are some of the common variations and some podcast episodes with that variation.

Save $X More Per Month – Answers the question: what if I save $X more per month? Usually we use it as what if they save $100 more per month. We accomplish this often by either increasing income enough so that they’re saving that amount more per month or reducing their expenses so they’re able to save that amount more per month.

More posts: Save $X More Per Month

Buy Owner-Occupant Home – Answers the question: what if I bought an owner-occupant home to live in? How will that impact my journey toward achieving financial independence?

More posts: Buy Owner-Occupant

Stop Working Early/Later – Answers the question: what if I decide to stop working on a specific date? We often model it as loss of income at that point and sometimes a change in expenses. Could also mean opting to delay taking retirement.

More posts: Stop Working Before FI

Pay For Large Future Expense – Answers questions like: what if I pay for my kid’s college education, wedding, down payment for a new house, drug/alcohol rehab. We model having these… often larger… expenses at some point in the future and see the impact on the plan.

Divorce – Answers the question: what happens if I get a divorce? Often associated with a large loss of assets, reduction in family income and change in expenses.

Married/Re-married – Answers the question: what happens if I get married or re-married? Sometime it includes the addition of an additional property and other assets, a change in income and expenses.

Pay Off Properties Early – Answers the question: what if I pay off my properties early? Can be done a variety of ways. Do you choose to pay off properties with extra cash flow each month? Do you pay them off but only when you have enough to pay the entire balance in full? Do you pay off the smallest balance mortgage? The highest interest rate? The best cap rate? Do you only pay off properties if by selling off other properties the free and clear cash flow will allow you to reach your goal of financial independence?

More posts: Pay Off Properties Early

Sell Properties – Answers the question: what if I sell a property (or several)?

Refinance Properties – Answers the question: what I refinance a property to improve cash flow? Or, what if I refinance a property to pull cash out?

Change Investing Strategy – Answers the question: what if I completely change the real estate investing strategy I am utilizing? How does buy-and-hold compare to Nomad™ or house hacking or BRRR?

More posts: Change Investing Strategy

Getting a Real Estate License – Answers the question: what if I get my real estate license? What does saving some money on commissions mean for my plan?

More posts: The Ultimate Real Estate Agent Retirement Plan

Job Change – Answers the question: what if I get a completely different job? How does making more or less money impact my plan?

Property Management – Answers the question: what if I manage my properties myself? Or, what if I hire a professional property manager? How does property management impact your plan.

More posts: Hires Property Manager

Social Security – Answers the question: what if I take social security early/later? What is the impact on your plan if you choose to take a smaller amount for social security early or a larger amount for social security later.

$X More Per Month In Rent – Answers the question: what if I am able to raise rents by $X more per month? Or, what if I can only get $X per month less in rent? Usually we use it as what if they get $100 more per month in rent.

More posts: $X More Per Month In Rent

Interest Rates – Answers the question: what happens to my plan if interest rates go up/down? What is the impact to your plan if interest rates go up while you’re acquiring properties?

Market Corrections – Answers the question: what happens if the market goes against me? What is the impact to your plan if we have a stock market correction or a real estate market correction early in your plan, mid-way through your plan or late in your plan?

Buy 15% Down Payment Rentals with PMI – Scenarios that include buying 15% down payment rental properties with Private Mortgage Insurance.

More posts: Buy 20% Down Payment Rentals

Buy 20% Down Payment Rentals – Scenarios that include buying 20% down payment rental properties.

More posts: Buy 20% Down Payment Rentals

Buy 25% Down Payment Rentals – Scenarios that include buying 25% down payment rental properties.

More posts: Buy 25% Down Payment Rentals

Buy Short-Term Rentals – Scenarios that include buying short-term rental properties.

More posts: Buy Short-Term Rentals

Lawsuits – Answers the question: what happens if I am involved in a devastating lawsuit with the loss of assets? What is the impact to your plan?

Investing in Other Markets – Answers the question: what if I choose to do my investing in another market with completely different market characteristics? For example, what is the impact of buying better cash flowing rentals in another market versus investing in your local market?

More Reserves – Scenarios that vary how much are kept in reserves before buying the next property.

More posts: More Reserves

Suggest Additional Variations

If you’d like to suggest any other variations that the  Characters in the Real Estate Financial Planner™ podcast might experience, please feel free to post a comment below describing the variation.

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