Well the pundits & such are saying what crappy year it was. For those who experienced some of the disasters, natural and man made, certainly it was. But it was a good year for the US economy by the numbers, despite what the nattering nabobs of negativity had to say.
For the apartment building industry, it was a year of low mortgage rates, although they’ve creeped up. I refinanced two properties this year and although I missed nailing the bottom by 50 basis points (1/2%) I still did well locking in 5 ¾% for 7 years. It was a year where rents just started to rebound and occupancy ticked up. It was a great year to sell, but a rough one to buy. If you bought anything in 2005, chances are you paid too much.
For 2006 I would like to start posting some educational stuff here to help people learn how to get into the business. But for now, I’m feeling lazy, so I’m going to continue posting letters to and from tenants which I find humorous and hopefully you will find informative. You can learn a lot from these letters, i.e., how to address a problem -- in writing -- to your tenants.
Don’t be scared off by anything you read here, you can make a lot of money in this business, but it does take work. I’ve never experienced the sensationalized hardships landlords face on TV or in the movies, and you won’t either as long as you follow a system, stay educated and act decisively when problems arise. I have yet to find a way to make money (short of inheriting or being born rich) that doesn’t take work. When I worked for the man, I made good money my last few years , but paid with my soul.
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