I’m going to take my wife down to Austin, TX for a few days beginning tomorrow morning. No big exciting real estate deals though we will be meeting for lunch with Benn and Lani of AgentGenius. And I will be getting some docs signed by a client who currently lives in Austin but is closing on a house in Kansas City here in about three weeks. So I may not post for more than a couple days.
Watch the BawldGuy
Jeff Brown over at BawldGuy.com has promised to talk about figuring expenses. He did a teaser last evening that I commented on. Can’t wait to see what he comes up with. If you are a real estate investor you will definitely need to see what Jeff has to say. Jeff may root for the wrong baseball team. But he knows his numbers.
Calculate Your Principal Reduction
I’ve said many, many times before that my favorite of the 4 Benefits of Real Estate Investing is Principal Reduction. If you own rental property you need to know what this benefit is to you this year. It will cheer you up knowing that someone else is helping you to pay down your loan. Trust me. Just get out your amortization chart and figure out how much of each payment is going towards principal reduction. It’s free money! Or at least I like to think of it that way. 🙂
Smoke Some Ribs
Here’s what I like to do. Get some K&M Barbeque dry rub from the Kansas City BBQ Store and rub a healthy dose into a slab of ribs. Set up your grill/smoker to about 225-250 degrees of indirect heat with plenty of hickory chips or cherry chips for flavoring. Smoke for about 2 hours. Then pull the ribs, wrap in foil and continue to cook at 325-350 degrees for the next 3 hours…or so. You’ll have to check them to be sure they’re done. Usually by this time I’ve quit paying attention to the time and I’ve had a couple beers while shooting the breeze with friends and family or listening to the baseball game. When you can bend the slab in half while the meat begins to pull from the bone you’re done! Slather on your favorite bbq sauce ( I like to go with Zarada’s, Gates or whatever I’m experimenting with at the time) and smoke an additional 10-15 minutes or so uncovered. Now, it’s time to eat.
BBQ Capital | Kansas City Real Estate Investing 
What time is dinner?
I put all the monthly principal reduction payments in a spreadsheet so I can admire my progress toward the equity build-up goal. Even when the market declines, that equity build-up counteracts some of the decline. With a number of properties and some time into the mortgages, you may find your annual increase in equity to be equal to a large piece of your salary. The increase in your net worth is paid for by your tenants, not your employer, and your Uncle Sam is not a partner in the deal!