Why This Investor Paid More
September 14, 2026 | 5 Minute Read Back in June, I listed an as-is property for $155,000 in Roebuck Springs, one of Birmingham’s more affordable and desirable neighborhoods just north of downtown. A fellow investor had flipped the house next door earlier in the year for $280,000. The two houses were nearly identical. I had […]
Where Renters Are Moving
September 14, 2026 | 6 Minute Read Home prices are showing little indication that they are going to cool significantly, and that is keeping more potential buyers on the sidelines. At the same time, rents are beginning to move higher again, creating an interesting dynamic for both renters and real estate investors. When people cannot—or […]
Why I’m Building A Direct Booking Web Site
September 7, 2026 | 7 Minute Read Over the past few months, I’ve come to the conclusion that we need a direct booking website for our short-term rentals. After four and a half years of owning and operating short-term rentals, I’ve become pretty comfortable with our systems and processes. At one point, we had as […]
Two Biggest Mistakes to Owning Rentals
August 31, 2026 | 6 Minute Read I started buying rental properties here in Birmingham in 2015, when the market was still recovering from the 2008 crash. At the time, we were buying decent single-family homes around Birmingham for roughly $18,000 to $25,000. But here’s the interesting part. Back in September 2011, when I first […]
The Dangerous “Break-Even” Rental Strategy
August 31, 2026 | 6.5 Minute Read Last week, I sold a house in the very desirable area of Grayson Valley in Birmingham, Alabama. I listed the property in mid-June for $199,900. The property needed a significant amount of work. Having bought, owned, flipped, and sold hundreds of properties since 2002, I can usually estimate […]
The Financing Trick to Supercharge Your Rental Portfolio
August 24, 2026 | 6 Minute Read One of the biggest advantages of owning real estate is the equity you build over time. But equity sitting inside your primary residence doesn’t necessarily have to remain locked there. For some homeowners, a home equity line of credit, or HELOC, can turn that equity into capital that […]
Buying a Foreclosure at Auction? You Better Read This
August 24, 2026 | 5.5 Minute Read I read about a foreclosed house for sale in Colorado that racked up more than 4.3 million views on Zillow. That kind of attention would normally be reserved for an outrageous mansion, a bizarre floor plan, or a property filled with something you would never expect to find […]
The Appraisal Problem Investors Need to Know
August 17, 2026 | 4 Minute Read Last Thursday, I had another closing scheduled for the sale of an investment property owned by the hedge fund I represent. The appraisal came in earlier in the week exactly at the purchase price, so I thought we were all set to close. Then I read the appraiser’s […]
Are You Evaluating Properties Wrong?
August 3, 2026 | 8 Minute Read In this new era of real estate investing, many of the old rules of thumb no longer work. Back when homes were cheaper and rents were higher relative to purchase prices, I could use simple rent-to-price ratios to estimate potential cash flow. The 1% rule was the benchmark: […]
How to Profit When Other Investors Fail
July 27, 2026 | 2 Minute Read I’ve been studying the new housing bill designed to limit large institutional investors from buying too many single-family homes. The bill was primarily aimed at hedge funds and large investors that entered the housing market after the 2008 downturn. During the crisis, these investors helped stabilize neighborhoods by […]