Reginald C. Fenton - 38 Years in Apartment Real Estate

38 Years In
Apartment Real
Estate

Reginald C. Fenton

Copyright 2002 Reginald C. Fenton. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

Fenton, Reginald C., 1932

38 years in apartment real estate / Reginald C. Fenton.

ISBN 1-55395-305-3

ISBN 9-78141-225-093-1 (ebook)

I. Title. II. Title: Thirty-eight years in apartment real estate.

HD1394.F45 2002 333.3385068 C2002-905329-3

This book was published on-demand in cooperation with Trafford Publishing.

On-demand publishing is a unique process and service of making a book available for retail sale to the public taking advantage of on-demand manufacturing and Internet marketing. On-demand publishing includes promotions, retail sales, manufacturing, order fulfilment, accounting and collecting royalties on behalf of the author.

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Contents

I quit my job at 43 to write my own paychecks and maintain and manage my rental properties.

This book describes how I started with almost nothing and reached my goal in 11 years, which was to be financially independent. I did this by investing in older style apartment buildings and stores in Seattle, Washington.

You will see many pictures of buildings I bought, how I operated, maintained, improved, and sold some. Many anecdotes and examples are presented. Also pictures of my rewards along the way. You will learn what I think money makers are: why, where they are, and how I bought them.

Many tips, maintenance and repair techniques are described. You will learn the same opportunities are here today in every city in the United States if you buy right.

Its been my life for 38 years and its been fun and rewarding.

This book is dedicated to those people who are dissatisfied with their jobs, living from paycheck to pay check. To those that want to be their own boss, become financially independent, and control their investments themselves. To those that overcome the negative thinking and remarks from others. To those that are willing to put there hard earned money up to buy an apartment building after careful though analysis and inspection. Hopefully this book will help guide you along the way.

I thanked my wife, Charlene, a year or so before she passed away in 1984, for helping me fulfill my dream. After our first building she had confidence in me and would sign any deal I asked. Her interest was medicine and patient care. She went back to school and got her degree in nursing and took the State of Washington exam for Registered nurses and passed in the top 10% that year 1968. The apartment business was not her style but she was always supportive and helped me with many decisions involving decorating, paint colors, tenant selection, deposit refunds, rent raises, etc. It was just nice to talk with her at the end of the day over a cup of coffee. She was very bright and had a good sense of what was the right thing to do.

I thank my four children who all went with me at times to help out at the apartments. They each started helping me when they were 5 or 6 years old but at 14 or 15 they had other interests. I thank my 2 sons John and Jim, my 2 daughters Lori and Karon. John is in his last year of Criminal Justice at Seattle U. Jim sells Real Estate and has rentals in Everett, WA. Lori is a mental health counselor at the Monroe Prison. Karen is a consultant to several insurance companies and is President of the University Rotary Club this year, 2002.

I thank Al Chapman of Pioneer Realty who helped get me started and was a source of good advice for many years.

I thank my many tenants who helped me pay-off the buildings.

I thank my girl friend Jan Nielsen who encouraged me to write this book

I thank Trafford in Victoria B.C., for the printing, promotion and advertising on the Internet.

In 1964 I got one idea from a book that changed my life for the next 38 years. This book is my way of giving something back to a life Ive enjoyed: being my own boss, owning my own money, and the freedom to do things my way.

Ive been a hands on apartment operator as opposed to a passive part time investor. I did the work myself or was always there when contracting work. What Ive learned might be lost or forgotten if I did not write it down. I want to pass on to my family and anyone else interested in how I did it. I dont mean to give advise, others are more qualified, this is just how I did it.

Probably most people write books to make money. Ive already made the money, profits if any will go to charity.

How I Started With Almost Nothing

In 1963 I worked at Boeing, had a wife and three children, a house at the south end overlooking Lake Washington, 10417 76th Ave So. I felt very insecure, afraid of losing my job at Boeing. I was hired from California in January of 1960 and six months later when we got our drawings in the shop for the Minuteman Ground Support Equipment Boeing started laying people off. I wanted a part time job or investment to supplement my income and be able to save for my families future but all I was doing was living paycheck to pay check.

In October of 1963 Boeing sent me to Melbourne, Florida on a subcontract for the Minuteman Program. We rented our house and Boeing moved us to Florida for a one-year assignment. My wife was irritable all the time we were in Florida. She hated the hot, humid weather and the bugs. One morning the lady next door opened her front door to get the milk and paper and found a small rattlesnake coiled up on the porch. She just happened to have a piece of plywood inside next to the front door so she through the plywood on top of the snake and then jumped up and down on the plywood until the snake was crushed. She had a small child crawling on the floor nearby. Now my wife was afraid of snakes and fearful our 3 children would run into one. Consequently, to get away from my wifes irritability I spent many hours at the beach with the kids. Then we started going to the library, the kids and I. At the library I found a book that changed my life. The book was by Nickerson titled How I turned $1000. Into a million in Real Estate. When I read this book I thought, WOW I CAN DO THIS. Real Estate seemed to fit me like a hand in a glove. It seemed the perfect road toward financial independence someday.

The author and his first son James. Just back from Florida 1964

Stuart, Florida 1963-fishing was great!

Now how was I going to get started with very little money? I didnt know anyone I could borrow a down payment from. As it turned out Boeing gave me a one-months salary going to Florida as the Engineering Representative on a four-man team, and one months salary bonus upon my return. When the job ended we took a few days vacation and drove up the East Coast to show the kids some of the historical sites they would soon learn about in history. In North Carolina a problem developed with the car that took one-half months salary to repair it and a week to fix. Florida water will even rust the fillings out of your teeth and a tiny hole had rusted through the timing chain cover on our 1959 Buick causing water to run down into the oil pan which burned out the bearings. This was found after twice tearing down the engine and replacing the bearings, heads and all gaskets and oil. We finally arrived home, got settled in our house and I started reading the Seattle Times every Sunday looking for a small apartment building for sale. With the salary bonuses and by selling an inexpensive second car I had $2,500 saved. My wife was moaning and groaning how we would probably lose it all.