June 20, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I definitely dodged a financial bullet the last few weeks. Not a financial bullet meant for me, but for this blog’s readership. I was chatting with my property manager yesterday and catching up on the little details of two of our newer rentals. There were some minor issues about a window and a fridge, and since we are expecting them to be long-term tenants I told him to go ahead and fix those things for them with the higher end options. But then one of the tenants was being somewhat demanding and unreasonable, and I said no to something else. Tenants are not that different than patients, but with tenants I don’t have to worry about tenant satisfaction scores. I just deal with them how I think I should ethically and legally but also being fiscally responsible. They can move on if they are not happy. Most if not all our tenants are long term and reliable, so I think I’m doing the right thing. Here is my blogpost on real estate investing advice for MDs https://drplasticpicker.com/dr-plastic-picker-shares-real-estate-investing-advice-for-mds/. I’ve stated in the past that usually we buy single family homes and nice condos as rental properties, and mostly increase our networth through property appreciation and equity. We are not looking to replace our Two Assistant Boss Two MD income with real estate, but rather to diversify and build our net worth.

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April 11, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I’ll be blunt here. Physicians are not for the large part good stewards of their own money. Physicians often think other fields are easier than our own work. I hear this a lot. Some of my colleagues think there is easy money in real estate investing, yet rarely do those same people have actual real estate outside of their primary home. It’s kind of a minor insult to true real estate professionals, just like a parent telling you they could drain an abscess better than you could with a sewing needle and exacto knife.

To actually support a middle-class or upper-middle-class family solely through the real estate boom and bust cycles of the market is not easy. Like performinig surgery, real estate investing requires a very specific skill set. It requires negotiating, managerial skills interacting with skilled laborers and tenants, having good accounting skills and being able to take on financial risks. You need to know about the specific tax laws, termite inspections, cost by the square footage of decking material and on and on. It also requires time and focus and attention to detail.

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