This is my official July 2016 Net Worth Update. Below are my actual numbers for ALL my investments and liabilities as of 07/31/2016. Explanations and quick summary below chart. If you would like to see my previous months net worth posts, please visit my Net Worth Tracker.
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TOTAL NET WORTH: $424,888
Quick Summary and comments: +$30,648
Holy cow this past month has been one of the busiest, most stressful and yet exciting months I have had well since the wedding which was only just a few months ago. 😐 That just goes to show you how crazy my life has been this year. As I am writing this, I AM OFFICIALLY LIVING IN INDIANAPOLIS! I am now living in one of the rentals I owned in Indy and am trying to get settled into my new life. It has been a wild ride to get to this point and it’s already paying off as you can see my net worth jumped up $30k this month which is just unbelievably ridiculous to me. For those of you who never read my post about why I moved to Indianapolis, it was basically to help me reach financial freedom faster.
There was a ton of stuff in motion this past month which helped me increase my net worth so much and make some big changes in my overall statement. My assets for example dropped over $80k while my liabilities went down over $111k. It truly is amazing and be sure to read the captions below on each asset to get the full picture of how this happened.
I still can’t believe that I left Austin for Indy and I am not used to living in the midwest yet but I am super excited about starting my hunt for my next rental property. I’m hoping within the next few weeks I can check a few out. I’ll be sure to keep you updated if I make any purchases. Should be very interesting!!
Okay so for all you wondering about my amazon business, here is the latest update.
Amazon FBA Update – My shipment is finally on the way to the united states via a sea cargo freight ship. It should be here any day now, I am just waiting on final confirmation email from my shipping contact. With that being said, unless any unforeseen events happen, I should be having my product for sale on amazon in a week or two. I’m getting excited about but this also means I need to put in a bunch of effort to make sure I get this thing listed properly. I will probably be writing more specific individual posts about all this once I have the product listed so I can break down the details of how I did every step which should be very helpful to the readers. I just need to make sure I have a profitable product first though. 🙂
Okay enough about my personal life. Now let’s get to the breakdown of each asset.
Assets: Explanations of each of my assets.
Cash: +$128,902
Uh yes I now have $176k in cash right now. I have never in my life had this kind of money before and it just feels weird. So how did I get so much cash? Well if you read my last net worth post and read my line item for Property #1 in the spreadsheet above then you will see that I sold one of my houses. I sold my Austin Primary house via FSBO for $255k!! I originally had it listed on my net worth as being worth $250k so I was very happy to see that I sold it for more than what I thought it was worth and not to mention, NO REALTOR FEES! I sold this bad boy for sale by owner and my buyer did not have a realtor either. I saved about $14k cash because of this. Stay tuned in the near future for a post about how I did this including all the steps.
My cash as noted above in the spreadsheet consists of two different checking accounts. My normal checking account and my REI (Real Estate Investing) checking account. Satisfied!
HSA account: +$92
Slight increase in my HSA account from my paycheck contributions. Nothing crazy.
My HSA deductible is $1300 for the year and I have close to $5k in this account so with that being said, since I am maxed out already I am only taking a very small amount out from my day job paycheck to fund this account. Any money after that deductible will just sit in that account not making me money. I know I can use the money that I don’t put in there to get better returns as long as I invest it in more real estate. This number should increase each month a tiny bit. Satisfied!
Company Stock Options: +$3,880
Okay I have been getting super lucky with these company stocks, they just keep going up and up lately. I am literally really close to selling some of these. They are right on the verge of crossing the price mark that I told myself I would sell. I’m still in a black out period though so I wouldn’t be able to sell any of these I think for another month or so. Once I’m able to make a transaction, I very well could be dumping some of these for more cash. If I do that, I will use that money to help fund some more rental property rehabs that I will be doing here in my new Indy life.
These are stock options from my day job. I am fully vested. I may end up selling a bunch of these in the future if it hits a certain price. If I do sell, I would like to use the money to buy another rental property. I’m not in a hurry to sell it so I will play along with the market and see what happens. Satisfied!
Stock Portfolio: +$2,570
Ahh it feels amazing to have jumped on the gold rush train in December. It has literally gone nowhere but up since I bought it and right now its the highest I have seen it. Its great!! To think, I bought all these for $6k and now its worth over $18k in just 7 months. Pretty awesome!! It is making my mini stock portfolio look to have amazing returns. Satisfied!
401K: +$262
I made an executive decision awhile back to take money out of my 401k and no longer contribute any more money to it. Mainly because I do not get matched contributions from the dreadful day job. But also because I KNOW I can make better returns using that money on rental properties. I really don’t like the idea of having an account that punishes me to take money out because of age. Satisfied!
Property # 1
This was my primary house just a few days ago in Austin, TX. I have now cashed out on this bad boy and will be using my $137k profit to fix up my new primary in Indy and the rest to buy more rental properties. I originally bought this house for $130k almost 3 years ago and put in about 20k fixing it up. I just sold it via FSBO and profited over $130,000 cash. No taxes either by the way. 🙂 Super Satisfied! Here are more details on when I originally bought this one.
Property # 2
This is the property I self manage in Austin. Even now that I live in Indy, I will continue self managing this one. I think I can do it from afar and if in the future I realize that I can not continue being my own property manager, then I will probably just find a PM to handle it. The new tenants I personally placed in here about 4 months ago have been nothing but stellar. So far everything is going great. I have not heard a peep out of them and they are locked in for 2 years so I’m hoping this one is a cash cow for the next few years.
This is my first rental property. It used to be my primary residence at one point. I expect gradual appreciation from this property because it is in the suburbs Austin which has been growing tremendously. Love me some HOT markets! 150K is about what its worth now based on MLS comparisons. Satisfied!
Property # 3
This rental in Indy is doing well. The new tenants have been in there for 2 months now and they have been paying on time. The only problem so far is that they were not satisfied with some of the stuff in the house and put in a request for some unexpected items. For example, they wanted a dehumidfier put in the basement and they wanted new carpet put in one of the rooms because they said it smelled like cat urine. Well the last tenants were not supposed to have any animals so im guessing they snuck one in. I ended up paying for these unexpected repairs and it cost me about $700. The new family is now happy though which I am pleased about and I think they will be good tenants for the next year. Hopefully they will renew the lease a year from now.
This is my first turnkey rental property I purchased out-of-state in Indianapolis. I do not expect much appreciation on this property. I purchased this for CASH FLOW purposes only. Satisfied!
Property # 4
This is the property in which I fired my property manager from. At this point everything is still fine. The tenant is happy, the PM is happy and I am happy. Hopefully I will continue to not have anymore problems with this one now that we have resolved all the issues we had before with the plumbing and the horrible PM.
This my 2nd turnkey rental property in Indianapolis I do not expect much appreciation on this property. I purchased this for CASH FLOW purposes only. Satisfied!
Property # 5
Mortgage paid on time. No issues. This is a note that I own from a house that I sold via owner finance in the Austin area. If you notice though, the reason why this asset will continue to go down from the spreadsheet above is because it is a note and the principal balance on it goes down each month as the buyer pays me. Remember, I’m the lender on this one. Satisfied!
Property # 6
HUGE NEWS!! This is the rental I had that I am now living in and am typing this post out of right now! It’s in an up and coming neighborhood near downtown indy that is in the process of gentrifying. The property values are already going up and there are some houses going for $200k which is unprecedented for this area. Well as you can tell that is why I moved into this house because it has some killer potential and not to mention there has already been appreciation on this house. I am just finishing up a $25k upgrade to the house which has now valued this house at least $100k!! My realtor friend in Indy actually thinks its worth over $120k but I am just going to keep it conservative at $100k for now. I am excited to be living here and will keep you posted with how it goes.
This was my 3rd turnkey rental property in Indianapolis. I purchased it in early June 2015 and I absolutely love this house. I ended up moving into this house when I moved to Indy and am living in it to this day. My plan however is to turn this back into a rental unless I see some huge appreciation gains on it in which I will consider selling. But of course this is way down the road, like 5 or 10 years from now. Satisfied!
Property # 7
Rent paid on time, no issues, no repairs. This is my most recent turnkey rental property located in the Kansas City area. I just bought this in late October 2015. I purchased this property also for CASH FLOW purposes only. I am not expecting appreciation gains on this one. Satisfied!
Liabilities: These are self-explanatory so I wont dive too deep into these however I would like to include the items below for informational purposes.
Credit Card
I only use one credit card (rewards card) that I use to purchase my everyday expenses. I pay this off in full every month. I am receiving 1.5% cash back on this card and am very pleased with it. Satisfied!
Car Loan
I purchased this vehicle before I had the proper knowledge on how to be totally awesome with finance and investments so that is the only reason why I have this loan. If I knew then what I knew now, i would have purchased a used vehicle all cash. It is not worth it to me to pay this loan off because the interest rate on this loan is 2% and I would rather use that money to buy more rentals where I will make a much greater return. I will continue to pay it down slowly. Satisfied!
Last 30 days net worth graph from Personal Capital
Check out my HUGE jump in the graph from this past week. Its super cool!! 🙂 I really do love this chart, it looks great and its nice and big. As long as it keeps going up, im happy! 😉
If you want to set up and track your net worth online like I do, create a FREE account at Personal Capital.
There you have it folks! How was your month? Subscribe here if you would like to receive emails on future posts including more net worth updates.
Congrats on the successful move to Indianapolis and sale of your house! Sounds like the transition is going well so far. That’s some real savings on the home sale by avoiding realtor fees! Very impressive. Thanks for sharing the update.
Thanks GS!! The transition is going as good as it can so far but I have only been here a few days and we are still getting adjusted the new life and not to mention, we are living out of luggage right now as our pod hasnt arrived yet with all our stuff. 🙁
And yes I am so happy that I was able to pull off the sale of my last home with no realtor fees! Saved a ton of money!
Wow, sounds like a crazy month, but good one. That’s a chunk of cash! Good luck settling in and finding new properties.
Thanks Brian! I appreciate it! Today is also my first day back on the job working remotely which is awesome that im working remotely, but not awesome that I have to work already!! Good stuff though.
Awesome gains Alex! Crazy to see a 30k net worth gain in less than a month!
Cool to see that you’re already in the Midwest. I’m actually moving South from the Midwest now which is the complete opposite of what you did.
Hoping to see the same gains as you eventually. 🙂
Cheers!
Hi Ilya! Yep that is the beauty of owning properties, the values can really make a big impact however it could also go negative just as fast!! 🙂
Yeah it seems most people from the north end up moving south. I wouldnt be surprised if I end up somewhere south again in the future. But for now, Indy is my home.
Great spike in net worth and congrats on the move!
The first thing I noticed was the jump in cash when I saw the spreadsheet. Then I read the explanation and found out you sold one of your properties and got more than you expected. Congrats again. Sounds like an insanely busy, but exciting month. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Graham! My life has been crazy all year but I think once im settled down here it should slow back down. Hopefully! Im tired!
Wow! what an increase! I haven’t posted in a while, but I can certainly relate. I had a rental in San Francisco that I sold several years ago. I lived there for 5 years since I bought it in 2005, and then moved out and rented in another part of the bay area closer to work. My numbers were awful; even though rent was high, I bought the place in 2005, with no money down, and refinanced once. All told, with property taxes and the ever increasing HOA dues, I was down close to 4 figures every month! (I haven’t heard of Bigger Pockets yet btw…)
I sold the condo a few years ago, and since I lived there 2 out of the previous 5 years, all the profits were tax free!! That’s what I used to invest in a couple of turnkeys in Memphis and Dallas. It certainly feels good to have money come in every month instead of the latter. The equity gains year after year when I had the SF condo were great; but they weren’t tangible. I couldn’t realize it unless I refinanced or sold the property. I thought about refinancing, but the rents were crazy already, and there was an increase in property taxes. I also knew that there was no guarantee that I could sell this at a higher price in the future. I thought about moving back in and then living in it 2 out of the next 5 years and then moving out, but that wouldn’t have been practical as I have since moved to southern California.
So I took the profits a few years ago, tax free and then went on and purchased the turnkey rentals. In retrospect, I occasionally check my former condo’s value on Zillow and Redfin, and there’s a tinge of regret, because it has eclipsed the 7-figure mark. However, I also realized that with the ever increasing HOA dues, and property taxes along with the 2 out of the last 5 years tax free profit window closing; I feel confident that I made the right decision. Equity in a property is just that. Meaning it’s not really tangible unless you either use it to refinance either by taking it out or selling the property.
Glad to see the bump in your net worth. It’s very inspiring, and it leads me to believe that I made the right decision in selling the condo.
Oh yeah that is a crazy story and I think you ended up making the right decision as well. Its hard to hold onto a property that is just eating away at you plus the fact that you got your tax free money and used it to invest is HUGE!! Exactly what im doing and I wouldnt think twice about it. Thanks for the awesome comment!
That’s really cool to hear you moved into one of your rentals. Is it your plan to stay there for the 5 to 10 years or turn it back into a rental sooner?
Hey Brian!! Oh yeah man this move and living out here in Indy is just a temporary plan. Ill probably be here for about 3 years. Just enough time to finish building my empire! 😉
Awesome month, Alex! I hope you guys love it in Indianapolis and that you’re able to find some nice rentals soon.
Looking forward to your upcoming posts on FSBO and Amazon FBA.
Thank you so much! So far we like it but it will be much better once my house is furnished!! 😛
Congrats on the sale of your house! Are you planning to take over the management of your Indy houses now that you’re in the area?
Thanks Kirk! I actually am not planning on taking over the PM. I could but at the end of the day, I want to make these as passive as possible and in the long run, a PM will be what I want. So for now at least, sticking with my PM.
Awesome work Alex! I hope I can catch up to you one day 🙂
Hey Ivan! Thanks bud! Im sure you will someday, just have to keep at it. 🙂
What’s your thoughts on buying all cash vs taking out a mortgage on your next rentals? Looks like you could afford to buy a couple of rentals with cash at this point.
Well now that I am living in Indy I want to find and buy houses via wholesalers, fix them up myself then rent them out. With that being said, yes I plan on purchasing my next 2 properties cash. Not sure if I will refinance them yet after all said and done. Will just need to figure it out a little later.
Congrats buddy! Hopefully you’re settling in well in Indy (not sure if you guys call it that 😉 haha)
Awesome to see your growth & looking forward to keep on watching you continuing to grow
I’m good, back down under & into the swing of things, love going on holidays & good to be back though
Hey Jef! Yeah it seemed you were in Europe for a long time. I loved your pics on facebook. Glad to hear it all went well and you are back home now. For now we are still trying to get settled in. Could be a few more weeks before we are officially settled. But so far so good.
Congrats on the move & prepping for the future. I just heard somebody two weeks ago at a seminar talk about finding a container full of goodies and selling on FBA. Sounds awesome and hope you get all the details ready for the launch.
Thanks Josh! Yep I have read a lot of good things about selling on amazon. I will definitely write something up once its all up and running as well as keep track of my numbers for all of you to see. Success or failure!
Congrats on making the move and selling your house! Glad to see it wasn’t too difficult to sell it FSBO! But I’m guessing a hot real estate market in Austin didn’t hurt that!
Do you have the option to invest part of your HSA money instead of letting it sit there? My bank allows me to invest part of my HSA dollars in index funds so I normally only keep my deductible for the year in cash and then transfer over the excess so it can grow quicker while enjoying the tax benefits.
Thanks Thias!! Well the FSBO wasnt without its obstacles, I wouldnt say it was easy but it definitely made it easier in the Austin market. It was a pain dealing with the buyer so much though but for saving the money I did, totally worth it!!
My HSA wont allow me to do that because of my employer rules. If it was a self directed HSA then I would be able to do that. Someday when I quit my job I will look more into that.
Dude great job. Incredible!
haha thanks dude!
Everything is going so well for you! Congratulations on all fronts.
Thank you Aliyyah!
That’s an awesome report and love that you were able to FSBO your house in Texas! I’m sure it was some work but wow it saved you some cash! My step-daughter lives in Indy and loves it there. She said there is a ton to do and she has no interest in moving back to the Northeast. Looking forward to the next report!
Thanks Vicki, oh yeah its totally worth it to sell FSBO. I couldnt imagine giving up $14k just to do what I had to do. That is great your step daughter lives in Indy and loves it. There really is a ton to do here especially right now in the summer. So far we are enjoying it.
Awesome post Alex and Congratulations on your new life!! Hope this transition brings you many more real estate rental opportunities. We would really like to see your FSBO story how did you pull it off. When it comes to selling home, I am still stuck with using realtor mindset and I know somewhere in the future when I am ready to sell my primary, doing FSBO would save significant amount. question is how to do it.
Hey Mayank, I dont think you will have a problem at all selling FSBO and it would greatly benefit you. I am really looking forward to some more rental opportunities as well and hopefully I can find one soon.
Hey congrats on the big move and the NW jump. I’m curious how you avoided paying taxes on the sale, if you didn’t buy a property with the proceeds of the Austin sale? Anyways good luck and have fun in the new city.
Hey EL! There is a tax law that states if you lived in a house at least 2 out of the last 5 years, then its a tax free profit when you sell. The home that I sold was my primary home so I lived in it the last 3 years. 100% profit!! 🙂
I may be moving to Indy…such a small world. Be on the lookout…I could reaching out for a rental soon. 😉
That is so awesome! Let me know if you do move here. Would be cool!
Good luck in Indianapolis! And man you are killing it financially.. 180k in cash, that must feel absolutely amazing to see your hard work pay off in the end!
A 2% loan on your car loan.. That sounds like a fantastic leverage rate. Keep up the great work!
Thanks FS! I feel pretty good and am definitely in the best financial state I have ever been in my life. I hope it just keeps getting better and better. That is the plan!
Congrats on the move to Indy and the huge jump in your net worth! It sounds like everything is going precisely (or better) than planned.
Thanks ZJ! So far everything is working out pretty good for me. Only time will tell how it turns out in the long run but I think ill be okay. Just need to stay sharp and make the right decisions.
I love these posts! It’s great to have like-minded individuals to keep me motivated. 🙂 Just curious…do you hold your properties in individual LLCs? I’m debating going this route, but am taking the pros/cons of this decision into account.
Thanks Kim!! I actually keep them all under my name. My lender told me they do not allow putting it under an LLC otherwise the loan could be called due with the due on sale clause being activated. . I think the risk is greater to have the loan called due then to get sued.
As I pay off the mortgages, I will definitely be putting them under an LLC and in the meantime, I am thinking about opening up an umbrella insurance policy to cover me some more. I hear an umbrella policy can be used as an alternative to an LLC but I am still researching this.
Great job! wishing you the best for August!
Thanks xyz!!
Wow, you’ve been a busy man! So now that you’re living in Indy, are you going to self-manage the properties there or you’ll continue to let the PM do that?
Thanks Andrew!! Im not quite sure yet on self managing to be honest. Im leaning that I do want to have my PM manage my new rentals that I will acquire but I may not transfer them to the PM until I start thinking about leaving Indy. We’ll see. It depends on a bunch of stuff right now, too early to tell.