This is my official February 2017 Net Worth Update. Below are my actual numbers for ALL my investments and liabilities as of 03/01/2017. Detailed explanations and a quick summary can be found below. If you would like to see my previous months net worth posts, please visit my Net Worth Tracker. I have been tracking my net worth monthly since May 2015. If you want to learn how to track your net worth then check out how I am doing it.
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TOTAL NET WORTH: $501,003
Quick Summary and comments: -$4,172
Last month I officially became a half a millionaire which was huge news for me! And now for this month I went negative. 🙁 However, its only negative on paper because if you notice, my stock options decreased by $11k. This was because I cashed some out and just haven’t received the check for it yet. If I would have received the check before I wrote this post, my balance would have been in the positive. So in my book it’s not really a loss, just super bad timing! Oh well. For more details on why I cashed out some more stock options you can scroll down to my stock options section.
My credit card debt also sky rocketed because I spent a lot of money this past month booking future trips for my wife and I. I love booking future vacation because it gives me incentive to start working out. I always say to myself how I need to look good for this next trip!! Hehe. Other than that everything is pretty normal, nothing else happened that really affects my net worth. My cash went up a lot but that was only because I received a bonus from my day job which was nice.
On a bright side, now that my Amazon FBA side hustle is officially over (see more on that below), I am now ready my next business endeavor. I am ready to begin my next real estate investment. I have begun strategizing about how and what I will do for my next investment property. Obviously I am no longer buying turnkey rental properties because I now live in Indy and can find my own deals. My last 2 rentals I bought via wholesale which worked out well for me. For this next property Im not quite sure yet how and from where I will purchase it. I am actually considering becoming my own wholesaler so I can score my own deals and not have to pay other wholesalers for a fixer upper. Another strategy I am thinking about involves using a government assisted program that I found here in Indy offering to sell abandoned houses for dirt cheap. I only discovered this a few days ago and need to read up a lot more on it but it’s very intriguing to me. Hopefully by my next net worth update, I will have purchased a new investment to work on or at least be very close to buying one. I love the hunt!!!
Amazon FBA Update – Well if you guys did not already read my last post I published last week, my amazon FBA business is officially over. As far as I am concerned, it was a huge failure. I didn’t even come close to the amount of money or returns I thought I would see. I did however actually make a little bit of profit. It wasn’t a complete loss. If you want to check out all the actual numbers including income and expenses be sure to check out the post. And I also decided that because I will no longer be selling my private label product on amazon, that it’s okay to reveal to you what I was selling. So here is the product I was selling on Amazon FBA.
Okay enough about that, lets jump into my net worth categories.
Assets: Explanations of each of my assets.
Cash:=+$10,925
My cash is finally going back up!! I love having cash because the more it grows, the faster I can buy rental properties!! This month it went up a lot only because I received a hefty bonus check from my job. I hate having a day job so much and really do not like what I do but they pay me a lot of money and let me work from home so as far as I am concerned, i’m trapped working a day job for now. If I ever get to the point though where my passive income is a lot higher or I am able to figure out another awesome way to make income, then you can say bye bye to my day job. 🙂
My cash as noted above in the spreadsheet consists of my wife and I’s checking account. My REI (Real Estate Investing) checking account as well as my separate Amazon business checking account which I will probably be closing out soon now that I am done with that business. Very Satisfied!
HSA account: +$131
Slight increase in my HSA account from my paycheck contributions. Nothing crazy.
My HSA deductible is $1300 for the year and I have close over $5k in this account so with that being said, since I am maxed out already with my yearly deductible, I don’t see a need right now for depositing more funds. 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: -$11,754
My stock options hit an all time high last week and I just had to sell some of it. I can’t believe how it continues to grow and it’s really exciting. Too bad im running out now. I don’t have very many left. Well not as many as I want!! All in all with the sale I just did last week for about $12k, I think I have cashed out over $30k total since I have had them. Im grateful that my company gave me these for sure. I still have over $30k (as of now) in these left and that is enough for a nice down payment on house. May need to cash out again if this stock continues to rise.
These are stock options from my day job. I am fully vested. Satisfied!
Stock Portfolio: –$685
My stock portfolio is built of precious metal mining stocks. It has been a roller coaster ride with these as expected. Lately they have been going up it seems although this shows a loss, I guess it had a bad month. I’m not too worried about what these do in the short-term. I’m in it for the long haul on these as I think it’s just a matter of time before the precious metal sector takes off. Overall I am still profiting from these stocks as I bought them for dirt cheap.
I bought all my shares using tradeKing. Satisfied!
401K: +$168
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. Any movement you see in this asset is only from market fluctuations. I am not able to withdraw the remaining amount in here until I quit my job. I really don’t like the idea of having an account that punishes me to take money out because of age. Satisfied!
Property # 1 (Indianapolis, IN)
My primary residence in Indianapolis. This was originally a turnkey property I bought back when I lived in Austin. After the rehab I put into this house when I first moved to Indy I am happy to report that the appreciation has been nice on this. With the sold comps I reviewed I priced the house to be worth now $130k. Could be more actually but I am a bit conservative with this one. I bought this house for $67k. I moved into this rental because I love the location, the size of the house and because my mortgage on it is less than half of what I was paying when I was living in Austin, TX. Super Satisfied! Here are more details on when I originally bought this one as a rental property.
Property # 2 (Austin, TX)
Rent paid on time (early actually) and no repair requests. The perfect tenants as far as I’m concerned. I screened them myself and I am proud. 🙂 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. So far everything is going great. I have not heard a peep out of them and they locked in for a 2 year lease so I’m hoping this one is a cash cow for a long time.
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! Satisfied!
Property # 3 (Indianapolis, IN)
Rent paid on time, no repairs. Good month for this one. This tenant is super picky and likes to submit repair request for really small stuff.
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 (Indianapolis, IN)
Rent paid on time, they submitted a repair for a leaky faucet which I approved. This was only a few days ago so it hasn’t even been fixed yet. This tenant also decided to renew another year. That will be the 3rd year with this same tenant. Talk about awesome!! This property was the one that I fired my property manager from originally when I first bought it as a turnkey rental properly. Since I switched PMs, the tenant is happy, the PM is happy and I am happy. Everything is great with this one.
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 (Austin, TX)
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 (Independence, MO (KC))
Rent paid on time and no repairs on this one either. This is the last turnkey rental property I purchased located in the Kansas City area. I 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!
Property # 7 (Indianapolis, IN)
Rent paid on time and no repairs on this one. The lease on this one is set to expire in June 2017, so 3 months from now however the tenant has already reached out to my PM about extending another year. This one was the one I wanted to convert to an airBnb but if the tenant wants to stay I am going to have to let him. The tenant has been great so far and I don’t want to ruin that. Easy cash flow baby!!
I bought this rental property from a wholesaler here in Indy after I moved here. I paid this one in cash and it came with a properly screened and paying tenant which was great. The property needs some fixing up however I won’t mess with it until after the tenant moves out or submits repairs. This is the one I really want to convert to an AirBnB.
Property # 8
Rent paid on time and no repair requests. Life is good!
I bought this house from a wholesaler here in Indy for $65k in a very popular Indy neighborhood back in late October 2016. I finished the rehab on this one in late November/early December 2016 and got it rented out for $950 just in time for Christmas. December is not easy to find a qualified tenant. Not only did my property manager find a qualified tenant but the tenant signed an 18 month lease so that we both don’t have to deal with a vacancy/move in December again. Talk about a Christmas miracle!!!
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 FINALLY PAID OFF THIS CAR LOAN!! WoooHooo! Im excited about this. I always had the cash to pay this off but never wanted to because my rate was so low. This loan was for my Jeep Wrangler which I replaced with a minivan. Since I sold the Jeep, I had to pay off the lien. Good riddance!! On the loan that is, not my poor Jeep!! 🙁
Last 30 days net worth graph from Personal Capital
I really do love this chart, it looks great and its nice and big. This month is pretty stagnant except at the end there when I sold some stock options. I haven’t received the check yet for that sale so it looks like I lost money. 😐 Good stuff!
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.
You should list the outstanding check under “Accounts Receivable” and include it in your Net Worth!
Yeah I definitely should have done that!! 🙂 Oh well, i dont like going back and changing posts after I write them. It just means I should have a nice increase for next month.
Looks like a great month overall, and the checks in the mail. 🙂 Just went back and read you Amazon FBA post. I would have never guessed a shaving kit. Very cool. You’ve got to throw some stuff at the wall to see what sticks. Valuable experience, which failed and you still made a bit of profit. Not to shabby.
Thanks Brian! Ha yep a good ol shaving kit!!
Yeah, sorry to hear the FBA didn’t work out. What a bummer. :/ Dang, way to go on those rental properties! I love all that side income that’s coming through. Have you had a good experience with property managers?
And congrats on that car loan. 🙂 It sounds like February was a fantastic month!
Oh yeah I have had a great experience with my property manager. They are awesome and I am glad I found them.
Awesome month! Also nice to see you disciplined and taking some company stock option gains off the table. I think the Months should read January/February, but love this blog. Keep it up!
-TDM
Great. Keep up the great work.
That abandoned houses program is intriguing, but sounds risky. I guess it depends on how long the properties have been vacant. They probably wouldn’t be giving them away cheap unless they have been around a while?
Sounds like more work! I would personally probably stop at buying from wholesalers rather than trying to do their job too. There are always more costs you can cut, but you don’t make your own ketchup or sew your own clothes do you? What is optimal for you?
I dont think that program is risky but it does come with its challenges. They dont just sell to anyone and you have to be an approved buyer. I was able to find that the HGTV show (Good Bones) is one of the people buying those so its legit. Just has some red tape around it and the properties for sale look to be in high crime areas which I dont like.
As for finding deals, I do think it would be in my best interest to find my own deals instead of dealing with middlemen (wholesalers) in this case. I see what youre saying and that is typically the case with most things. I just have my heart set on getting the best possible deal I can find and its not going to happen buying from others as they are already taking the best deals for themselves.
Thanks for inspiring me to track my own net worth!
I’ll also be following your “How to start a blog” guidelines for starting my own…here goes nothing!
Awesome! Thanks Justin
Nice work here Alex! Although I know your number went backwards the narrative you told in the explanations shows it was a reasonably positive month for you there..
I’d be interested to know what an update on the monthly cashflow the rentals are making you? Not sure if you’re comfortable sharing although seems like you’re going great with it all!
Have a great March
Hey Jef! Whats up bud!! You know I think my next post is going to be a breakdown of my monthly cash flow for last month. I have actually been meaning to do this so thanks for reminding me. 🙂
Unfortunately I may not get to reading those posts although I will get round to it eventually 😉
I’m well man, heading off to Africa for 5 months next Tuesday, you’ll see a few updates from me on Facebook!
Love reading the property updates every month. It’s great to see the ups and downs and the perspective you can give with 10 different properties in different cities.
Thanks Jack!
Great job on your progress!
Thanks XYZ!
Thanks for sharing the detailed update.
Also, congratulations on reaching half a millionaire status! Looks like you’re making progress across the board. I noticed in your reply to Jef that you might share your cashflow for your next post. Looking forward!
Nice work Alex!
Congrats on your success! You’re such an inspiration! I’m curious if you have a net worth goal you’re working toward, and if so does that change your investing strategy?
Hey good gains this month. Tracking net worth is the only real way to grow it. I’ve been tracking mine for over 4 years now. Looking forward to next month with all the big dividend payments coming in.