Share What You Know: Make Your Investment Property A Gift

Duplex Chick and Dad

On May 3, 2017, my father died following a 9 month battle with pancreatic cancer.

On the surface, that doesn’t seem to have much to do with duplexes, investment property, real estate, or this blog.

But this blog wouldn’t have been possible without my dad.

You see, throughout my childhood, my dad had a sign on his desk that read “Happiness is a positive cash flow”.

The terms “cash flow” and “cap rate” were heard as often when I was growing up as “eat your vegetables” or “good job”. They have, quite simply, been part of the soundtrack of my life.

While today I do speak the language of investment property, it is nonetheless daunting to suddenly be charged with understanding someone else’s real estate portfolio; especially when it involves larger commercial property that may share many of the principles of multi-family investing, but not all of the same language.

If you’re thinking about investing in real estate, or have already started, I’ve now come to realize how important it is to have all of the information someone would need to run your properties centralized; from a list of service people, to loan numbers, balloon payments, tenant contact information and leases.

The one gift of a terminal diagnosis is we got a little bit of time to prepare for this transition. Even so, it’s a challenge to understand it all.

Helping your loved ones by sharing as much information as you can is one of the easiest ways you can make sure your investment is the blessing for them you intended it to be. And it’s never too early, or too late to get started.