If you had a hundred grand cash in your pocket...

[MadImmortalMan]

...And you were looking for something to invest it in, what would you do?



Assume getting additional financing is not a problem.

[jimmy olsen]

You win the lottery? 

[Richard Hakluyt]

That is an awkward amount for me as I'm tied down with family and it's not really a game changer for us 

I'd probably just buy some more shares with it.

[MadImmortalMan]

No, I've been saving for years. Investing here and there in the market and stuff. My original plan looks less good, so...

This is my not-to-be-in-stocks money. I have another sizable chunk in that already that I trade with. This was supposed to go in some rental property or something like that. At this point I'm tired of chasing real estate that isn't coming on the market and I want to do something.

Any of you assholes starting a business? Feel a super awesome creative desire to make sausage? Does real estate in your three-horse town just happen to be at a promising juncture? Do you have a great idea for a new microbrew?

Life does not reward work. It rewards risk. Brainstorm.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Typically for rental properties $100,000 buys you around $400,000 worth of real estate. I think I've mentioned my wife and I started building a portfolio of rental properties a few years ago, so I have some familiarity.

A really simple example, with $400k in property you should generate around $4,000/mo in rental income (1% rent rule.) That's assuming full occupancy (which you typically won't have), if your local market can't support that level of rent then I would not enter the business as there are good reasons you need about that much (you have to pay the mortgage on the property, property taxes, maintenance and repairs etc.)

At 50% occupancy then you should make $2,000/mo which is still enough to cover the est $1500/mo in mortgage payments on the $300,000 loan(s) you'll have. More properties is usually better than fewer for granularity reasons because if you say, buy 4 $100k properties then even one being vacant is a big hit. If you buy 8 $50k properties it's different. We haven't gone the lower income route, but when we were researching we definitely saw opportunities to buy at $50k/unit or lower. You can find smaller apartment buildings built many years ago in lower income neighborhoods that might have 4-15 units where total buying price can be as low as $35k here in Virginia (not Northern Virginia.) You can also find duplexes for around $120-130k, so could buy a couple of those, that sort of thing.

[CountDeMoney]

MiM, you want to start a bail bonds business, I'm your front office nigga. 
You can be Mr. Big in the back office, whom I reference when I tell clients "Mr. Big will only accept XXX down for this bail", and you can glower at them through the venetian blinds accordingly.

[Camerus]

Typically for rental properties $100,000 buys you around $400,000 worth of real estate. I think I've mentioned my wife and I started building a portfolio of rental properties a few years ago, so I have some familiarity.

A really simple example, with $400k in property you should generate around $4,000/mo in rental income (1% rent rule.) That's assuming full occupancy (which you typically won't have), if your local market can't support that level of rent then I would not enter the business as there are good reasons you need about that much (you have to pay the mortgage on the property, property taxes, maintenance and repairs etc.)

At 50% occupancy then you should make $2,000/mo which is still enough to cover the est $1500/mo in mortgage payments on the $300,000 loan(s) you'll have. More properties is usually better than fewer for granularity reasons because if you say, buy 4 $100k properties then even one being vacant is a big hit. If you buy 8 $50k properties it's different. We haven't gone the lower income route, but when we were researching we definitely saw opportunities to buy at $50k/unit or lower. You can find smaller apartment buildings built many years ago in lower income neighborhoods that might have 4-15 units where total buying price can be as low as $35k here in Virginia (not Northern Virginia.) You can also find duplexes for around $120-130k, so could buy a couple of those, that sort of thing.

Otto, do you know what's the skinny on property management companies?

[MadImmortalMan]

I have actually considered starting a property management company, FWIW. LOTS of homes here and everywhere have been bought by Blackstone and the associated LLCs. Somebody has to mow their shit and screen the renters. Hell, my mom did that for my uncles in the 80s.

If somebody comes out here, right now, and says fuck MIM I want to do this property management shit too, I might actually start up something.

I just have too much cash and not enough experience.

[mongers]

MiM, you want to start a bail bonds business, I'm your front office nigga. 
You can be Mr. Big in the back office, whom I reference when I tell clients "Mr. Big will only accept XXX down for this bail", and you can glower at them through the venetian blinds accordingly.

This. 

Throw in Gangster Kitty and Katmai could film it as a independent documentary(comedy) 

[CountDeMoney]

MiM, you want to start a bail bonds business, I'm your front office nigga. 
You can be Mr. Big in the back office, whom I reference when I tell clients "Mr. Big will only accept XXX down for this bail", and you can glower at them through the venetian blinds accordingly.

This. 

Through in Gangster Kitty and Katmai could film it as a independent documentary(comedy) 

There's money to be made in it, if you're willing to spend the money starting it up.

[mongers]

MiM, you want to start a bail bonds business, I'm your front office nigga. 
You can be Mr. Big in the back office, whom I reference when I tell clients "Mr. Big will only accept XXX down for this bail", and you can glower at them through the venetian blinds accordingly.

This. 

Through in Gangster Kitty and Katmai could film it as a independent documentary(comedy) 

There's money to be made in it, if you're willing to spend the money starting it up.

No doubt, but judging by some of our connurbations, the real money in 'servicing' the urban poor is payday loan shops and Fixed odds betting terminal in bookmakers.

[MadImmortalMan]

Honestly, if this is enough to get going, I would go ahead now. Seriously Seedy--I'd bankroll you to the hilt any day. What do the numbers look like?

I think most are stopping there.

[CountDeMoney]

Honestly, if this is enough to get going, I would go ahead now. Seriously Seedy--I'd bankroll you to the hilt any day. What do the numbers look like?

I think most are stopping there.

Depends on the amount of liability you want to assume with the insurance company.

Say the bail is $100K.  You charge 10% of the bail as a non-refundable fee, so that's $10K.  A portion of that goes to the insurance company, so say you go 50-50 with the company;  the first $5K of the premium goes to the insurance company, and you keep the other $5K.  Now, not everybody's working with $5K, so you take down, say, $2,500 and that and the first $5K winds up going to the insurance company (or split it with them right out, depending on the agreement) and you're responsible for the rest of the collections, which you take seriously because that's your money.  Then it turns into as much of a collections business as it is a bail business.  But, you're dealing with a clientele that recycles itself, so it's in their best interests to keep the accounts good.  But, if they stop paying, you've got an iron clad promissory note, and you take it to the courts.  Also, you don't always have to deal in cash.  I've accepted Rolexes, Kawasakis and BMWs.

You find yourself a nice location down in the 'hood that's pretty accessible for a wide swath of residents with cheap rent from an Asian landlord, and you slowly build out a clientele that way; location, location, location.  Of course, being a new company, you'll wind up getting the crap bails that everybody else turns down because they're too small, not worth the effort or they've burned their credit with other bail bonds and are grasping for straws in the phone book, but over time it can become very liquid if you're smart, willing to take a chance on shit bails, and willing to dump money into advertising.  I'd say the ROI wouldn't be in the black until the 2nd or even year of establishing a storefront operation, so it would be pretty tight in the beginning.  But, if you play your cards right, and don't fuck them over, you can definitely build out a client base with drug lords.  Contrary to popular belief, there is honor among thieves.  They like to get their people back out on the street as soon as possible, and it's a reciprocal relationship.

I worked for (and more importantly, left on good terms with) the largest bail insurance company in Maryland, and the 5th largest in the country, with hooks in about 30 states.  Working up a bail in Florida is not an issue.  They're very flexible with their agents, and they will process the collections for you in Circuit Court.

As far as jumpers are concerned, Maryland is still a bail-friendly state.  You've got 90 days after forfeiture to produce the defendant, and can petition for a 90 day extension; so that's 6 months to find a knucklehead who's idea of skipping town is going from the East side to the West side, if he isn't already locked up.  Also, if you have to pay out a forfeiture, you can still petition for remission on a sliding scale up to 10 years;  if you have to pay out a $5K bail forfeiture, for instance, you can petition for 90% of the money back after year 1, 80% after year 2, etc.

It's a business that, if you're smart, the right combination of brains and balls can make some real money.  But by its very nature it's a liquid business, and not everybody's got the chops for that.

[The Larch]

I hear CdM telling that and I picture this:

[CountDeMoney]

MAH CLIENT