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Ask HN: How to make an extra $2000 monthly?

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Re: Ask HN: How to make an extra $2000 monthly?

#21

Post by davismwfl »

CoffeePython wrote: post #6
AwesomeFaic wrote: post #4

Depends how much money you can invest right now, how much time you have to spend, and how quickly you need to start hitting that $2000 mark. Need it now? Check out Craigslist gigs (help with moving, quick jobs, website help), or try flipping thrift store and eBay stuff. Pros: Quick, no skills needed. Cons: Unreliable and more time consuming. Need it reliably? Work on a business and work your ass off in your spare tim…

It might take a while to make $2k/mo in cash from rental properties. We own two rentals and don’t even clear $1k/mo with both.

Depends on a lot of factors, I have made that on a single property (short term vacation rentals) but more typical is like what you say where it can take 10+ properties to clear $2k/month for long term rentals. Right now my best property is clearing two hundred (or so) a month, which isn't horrid but far from great. I only have long term rentals right now though, so that's ok.

IMO: Rental property is best looked at as a long game, not a short term income stream. It is a solid way to gain wealth, just won't happen overnight.

Re: Ask HN: How to make an extra $2000 monthly?

#23

Post by batt4good »

corporate_shi11 wrote: post #2

If you just care about hitting the $2000 mark, optimizing for time and effort, I'd say just find a product to sell on Amazon and market the hell out of it on Facebook and Instagram. Run paid ads and make up for small margins with high volume. Try to offer your product at the lowest price among your competitors.

I've always been curious what avenues you use for advertising / how much you spend on advertising to see results in sales?

Most of my side-businesses have been marketed entirely on forums or by word of mouth.

Overclock.net back in the early 2010's had an insanely deep customer base and industry contacts!

Re: Ask HN: How to make an extra $2000 monthly?

#24

Post by WheelsAtLarge »

icedchai wrote: post #3

Open an investment account and sell option spreads. You will need a margin account to do this. Note you can also lose money.

Tried this for 2 years and broke even at best. It takes a bit of effort to understand the system and as a techie I found it interesting. It's easy to get the option's premium, that you get to keep , and it even seems like you're going to make a killing but then things turn against you and you lose. The down side is fast and hard so it's easy to lose your gains in no time. Then you're just trying to get even. It not worth the time and money. I don't recommend it to any one.

Re: Ask HN: How to make an extra $2000 monthly?

#25

Post by pxhb »

davismwfl wrote: post #21
CoffeePython wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might take a while to make $2k/mo in cash from rental properties. We own two rentals and don’t even clear $1k/mo with both.

Depends on a lot of factors, I have made that on a single property (short term vacation rentals) but more typical is like what you say where it can take 10+ properties to clear $2k/month for long term rentals. Right now my best property is clearing two hundred (or so) a month, which isn't horrid but far from great. I only have long term rentals right now though, so that's ok. IMO: Rental property is best looked at as…

Somewhat of a tangent, but do you have any advice/resources on how to price in repairs and maintenance?

I am moving soonish, and trying to figure out what to do with my house. A back of the envelope calculation of Expected_Rent - Mortgage - Insurance - Property_management_fees gives an appealing number, but I am not too sure how to price in all of the long and short term repairs/maintenance and any other potential liabilities.

Re: Ask HN: How to make an extra $2000 monthly?

#26

Post by WheelsAtLarge »

neuroticfish wrote: post #10
CoffeePython wrote: post #5

Find 20 hours of freelance work at $100/hr. Sounds reductive but I’ve had good success with this when looking for additional income. Probably the easiest and most likely to work path if you are already a developer.

How? In the freelance developer space you're either competing with people in developing countries who work for peanuts, or your potential clients have have the money to throw at high quality work which means you're competing with the top 1-5% of freelance developers.

There are plenty of companies that just want results. They don't want to deal with the hassle of online developers they don't and can't trust. Start as a consultant and get a great reputation and you'll have more work than you want. Also get advice on the best practices. It's easy to get locked into contracts that are just not worth doing.

Re: Ask HN: How to make an extra $2000 monthly?

#27

Post by aguyfromnb »

davismwfl wrote: post #21
CoffeePython wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might take a while to make $2k/mo in cash from rental properties. We own two rentals and don’t even clear $1k/mo with both.

Depends on a lot of factors, I have made that on a single property (short term vacation rentals) but more typical is like what you say where it can take 10+ properties to clear $2k/month for long term rentals. Right now my best property is clearing two hundred (or so) a month, which isn't horrid but far from great. I only have long term rentals right now though, so that's ok. IMO: Rental property is best looked at as…

>I have made that on a single property (short term vacation rentals)

Not going to make assumptions about your specific case, but many people using AirBnB are breaking the law and/or are vastly under-insured to be renting out property short-term. One lawsuit or accident and any "profits" (and much more) will be wiped out.

Real-estate is an old, mature business. There's no magic in how to make money in it, nor are their outsized benefits.

Re: Ask HN: How to make an extra $2000 monthly?

#28

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

pxhb wrote: post #25
davismwfl wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on a lot of factors, I have made that on a single property (short term vacation rentals) but more typical is like what you say where it can take 10+ properties to clear $2k/month for long term rentals. Right now my best property is clearing two hundred (or so) a month, which isn't horrid but far from great. I only have long term rentals right now though, so that's ok. IMO: Rental property is best looked at as…

Somewhat of a tangent, but do you have any advice/resources on how to price in repairs and maintenance? I am moving soonish, and trying to figure out what to do with my house. A back of the envelope calculation of Expected_Rent - Mortgage - Insurance - Property_management_fees gives an appealing number, but I am not too sure how to price in all of the long and short term repairs/maintenance and any other potential li…

When I did this (rented out the suburban single-family house I used to live in), if something needed repairing, I'd just drop by after work and fix it myself since I only lived half an hour away. I set my rent based on the market rate.

It turned out that insurance on a rental property was less than on an owner-occupied one, which made no sense to me, but I wasn't going to argue with MetLife :-)

Basically, the floor of your monthly rent should be your existing costs: mortgage, insurance, property taxes, average annual repair costs, etc. In markets I was familiar with, this was always well under what rent would cost. Also, bear in mind that repairs and other expenses like property taxes and mortgage interest are now deductible since the rental is a business.

IIRC I had around $1,000/mo in cashflow from the rental before factoring in savings from the additional deductible items. I sold the property after three years since I didn't really want to be a landlord, but it was free money.

Re: Ask HN: How to make an extra $2000 monthly?

#29

Post by codegeek »

icedchai wrote: post #3

Open an investment account and sell option spreads. You will need a margin account to do this. Note you can also lose money.

Doesn't work for the Average Joe. You casually added that you can lose money but most people lose money or break even at best especially in Option trading. For someone like OP, I wouldn't recommend this.

Re: Ask HN: How to make an extra $2000 monthly?

#30

Post by theFeller00 »

Too overworked at my day job to do much side programming work. I decided to mainly focus on generating passive income through investing. I don't see many things that I think scream out "cheap" but the MLP sector has still not seen much of a recovery from the very steep declines from several years ago. You could look into $EPD, $ET, $MMP. Distributions given off of the units are tax-deferred, so it shouldn't cause much of a tax issue until you would unload the shares. These companies also try and raise distributions quarterly (yes, $ET has not raised in a while, but they took a worse beating than any of the others. When they do raise them, and they will, share price should recover nicely).

You could also look at some CEFs. PIMCO would be the main one I'd consider for bonds. $PDI / $PCI / $PTY. If you would want to get into some equity CEFS you could look at $UTG.

Obviously you can consider a lot of other options if you don't mind them tossing off less income, but your post was bout generating monthly income :)

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