How can Whole Life Insurance help me?

 The COVID-19 pandemic has caused volatility to come roaring back into the financial world. More than 20 million jobs have been lost, the economy is in a recession, and markets have been fluctuating wildly. With financial security foremost in many people’s minds, it seems like an ideal opportunity to highlight three benefits of cash value whole life insurance that are even more valuable in times like these.

Whole Life Insurance Provides Guaranteed Cash Value Growth

As Markian mentioned in this recent video, the magic of compounding returns is significantly less magical if you experience down years. During a recession, most asset classes will be dropping in value. Holding a portion of your wealth in products with guaranteed returns is an excellent method to help weather market downturns. This is the reason ADPI Insurance recommends traditional whole life insurance, which provides guaranteed cash value growth. On top of...

5 Key Steps to Conduct Proper Due Diligence in Real Estate Investing

Property investors and future homeowners have some things in common--mainly that they both shouldn't rush important decisions. The worst thing you can do when you’re shopping for a property is to convince yourself that you’ve found the home of your dreams without exploring other options in the market--or without doing your due diligence. There’s no telling what kind of problems might be hiding for unsuspecting or inexperienced buyers, and once these problems emerge, they can make your life, well, difficult--to put it mildly.

Still, real estate is one of the best investments you can make, but you need to know how to conduct thorough research and examine all options to find a property with the highest ROI potential according to your long-term goals. With that in mind, here are the five key tips you need to follow to conduct proper due diligence when shopping for...

What is Multifamily Syndication?

If you’ve ever considered how real estate investors can purchase huge multifamily deals, this topic is for you. Though there are people who can afford to buy a $3 million apartment complex, it’s not feasible for most investors. Multifamily syndication can help even the most beginner investor accomplish their goal of owning multifamily properties.

Put simply, multifamily syndication is a group investment. It allows sponsors to invest in properties that they otherwise would not be able to afford. The sponsor is responsible for researching and evaluating the property and raising the funds to purchase the property. Finding multiple investors to help fund a deal is essential in multifamily syndication. These syndicators share the risks and returns on the multifamily investment. (You can check out our podcast on syndication here)

The roles in multifamily syndication are important ones--General Partners (GPs) structure and manage the deal. This...

REITs vs Rental Property Investing

Getting into real estate in any form is a great way to build up solid passive income. Two great ways to get exposure to this sector are rental properties and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). For definitions of many terms I use in this article, please check out https://beginnerstockinvesting.com/2020/03/19/the-basic-definitions-of-stock-investing/.

A REIT is a company that finances, owns, or operates income-producing properties and is publicly traded on the stock market. These companies can operate in any real estate sector including hotels, single residences, apartment buildings, theme parks, commercial, federal, retail centers, warehouses, data centers, cell towers, medical facilities, etc. 

REIT Advantages

The cool thing about REITs is they're required by law to pay 90% of their profits back to the shareholders in the form of dividends. If you're familiar with dividends, these REITs usually pay a higher yield than...

Buying a Second Home with a VA Loan

You may be wondering if it’s possible to buy a second home with a VA Loan. If you’re looking to use it as an investment property or vacation home---the answer is no. This is because the VA requires borrowers to occupy the home to qualify for a VA loan. But what if selling your first home is not possible and you need to purchase at your new duty station. How does that work?

The VA Loan program features a “second-tier entitlement” or “bonus entitlement” for exactly this reason. You can’t buy a vacation home with your VA benefits, but you may be able to buy a second primary residence. To be able to qualify for another VA loan, you are required to live in the new residence for at least a year. In most cases, you’ll need to be moving to a new duty station, but there are exceptions—as long as you can prove a “net tangible benefit”:

• Purchasing a larger home because of a growing family.
• ...

Multifamily Deal Walkthrough

In a previous blog, How I House Hacked Into Multifamily, I announced that we’re under contract on a 55-unit multifamily (MF) deal in Spartanburg, SC. A few have asked about the process of purchasing multifamily properties from beginning to end, so here’s my path from beginning to present. I’ll note that a few months ago, I teamed up with a like-minded partner that I met through a forum similar to ADPI, and it’s been extremely beneficial. Multifamily begins and ends as a TEAM SPORT!

 Multifamily Deal Tips

Tip 1: Commitment 

Upfront, a key step in the process is actually committing to make MF investing work. I will retire in 2021 and am not making any other plans for a j-o-b afterward.  No plan B, just this. I also put some money where my mouth is and took $25k out of my financial freedom account and bought into a mentoring program through the Michael Blank network. Finally, to get the...

Real Estate Investor Marketing

Summary: Email may not have the cutting edge, high-tech appeal of some of the other marketing tactics. However, when done right, email marketing for real estate investors can be remarkably effective. To build a productive email campaign, investors should begin by examining the needs of their audience. A broad-based “spray and pray” approach is the quickest way to burn through your hard-earned email list. On the other hand, highly targeted value-add communications will help you build trust, drive referrals, and stay connected to your prospects and clients. Read on for best practices (by email type) and some common email marketing mistakes to avoid.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to participate in a lively discussion with a thought leadership group comprised of forwarding thinking, young marketers. The topic eventually turned to the effectiveness of email marketing for businesses. Although opinions differed greatly on the types of...

What is the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act?

As an active duty service member, it’s important to know your benefits. One of these important benefits is the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act. SCRA is a federal law that limits actions against service members while they serve on Active Duty. Some topics that SCRA covers are:

• Rental agreements
• Security Deposits
• Prepaid Rent
• Eviction
• Installment Contracts
• Credit Card Interest Rates
• Automobile Leases
• Mortgage Interest Rates
• Mortgage Foreclosure
• Civil Judicial Proceedings
• Income Tax Payments
• Small Business Owner Protections

 When am I Eligible for the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act?

Servicemembers’ SCRA benefits start on the date your active duty orders are received and typically ends within 30-90 days after your date of discharge from active duty. If you’re Reserve or National Guard, SCRA only applies when you’re serving on active duty...

How Can You Finance Multi-family Homes with a VA Loan?

The current Coronavirus pandemic leaves a lot of questions about the effect on the real estate market. But, one common opinion is that multi-family investing can offer a reprieve from economic disturbance for real estate investors. The reason is that multi-family properties offer less risk due to having more than one unit.

What most people don’t know—is that you can purchase multi-family properties with a VA Loan. It’s an incredible opportunity for seasoned investors or even first-time homebuyers, so make sure you don’t pass it up!

Multi-family Homes Research and Analysis

When you’re researching properties to purchase, know your costs! Your mortgage payments include principal, interest, taxes, and insurance, but that’s not all you need to consider. It’s important to also include factors like utilities, estimated maintenance costs, vacancy, capital expenses, and property management....

Financial freedom means having enough investments, savings, and cash to go through life without stress about your financial situation.

Financial freedom allows you to afford the lifestyle you want for yourself and your family. It allows you to minimize the time you spend working as much as you want without minimizing your earning potential. You’ll be able to retire earlier and turn to your hobbies and professional passions without the fear that you’ll live out your old age struggling to make ends meet. 

And, most importantly, it allows you to earn enough money to invest into real estate — a move which can help you establish a regular passive income to help you sustain and enjoy your financial freedom in the years to come.

So, financial freedom is something worth aiming for. 

But, how do you achieve it?

Well, by making several finance-related goals in your life, and then pursuing them. 

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