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Ask HN: What is your passive income 2019?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your passive income 2019?

#211

Post by typpo »

radicalriddler wrote: post #210
typpo wrote: post #51

I have an outgoing SMS API called Textbelt ( https://textbelt.com/ ). Kinda like Twilio but with flat pricing, smaller SMS packages for hobbyists, no dependencies, and allows 1 free SMS per day (good for crons or alerts). I also run QuickChart, an API for generating embeddable chart images and QR codes ( https://quickchart.io/ ). QuickChart is fully open source, Textbelt has an open source version. Not always passive…

Damn, I've been looking at building an app that requires SMS messaging. I'll give yours a look over before going straight to Twilio. A bit annoying that I have to give an email address to get a key, just to get pricing info though.

There is a pricing link up top that goes straight there, but I'll add a link by the Generate Key CTA to make it clearer. I've also realized that mobile phones don't see the navbar link. Oops! Thanks for the feedback.

Re: Ask HN: What is your passive income 2019?

#212

Post by gitgud »

maxkwallace wrote: post #21

I mean, it's worth asking, but anyone with a good niche would be smart to not post it publicly unless the benefits of publicity outweigh the risk of competition.

I agree there's niche websites that generate tonnes of money and have been around for years but nobody really knows about them... And the webmaster likes it that way

Re: Ask HN: What is your passive income 2019?

#213

Post by davismwfl »

edmundsauto wrote: post #204
opportune wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kind of OT but I don’t understand why everyone with some spare time doesn’t get licensed for real estate to circumvent the cartel fees. It costs about $300 + the fees for the classes and 135 hours of time. But it can save you tens of thousands, gets you privileged access to listings, plugs you into the whole real estate ecosystem... it’s kind of a no brainer, as far as I can tell

Here's a couple of reasons why I don't want to do this: 1. 135 hours is a LOT of time to invest for even tens of thousands of dollars return. I could build and market a side project or two in that time, which could have potential for significantly higher return. 2. To recoup that return, I have to take a big risk, using a highly inexperienced agent (me) in a huge dollar transaction where everyone I speak with will ha…

Yea, to add one major point to that list, a real estate agent most states require you to house your license with a broker. And you cannot become a broker in most states until you have usually some period of time working for a broker. In my state you need 2 years under a licensed broker before you can apply to be a broker (there are some other things you can do to qualify too but it is still a lot of time). So in the end that means, you get your agent license (pretty easy The math just doesn't work out, if you get to the point you are doing that many deals, just hire a broker for your business.

Getting access to the MLS isn't that hard. And finding a good agent/broker to work with is very doable as they want to work with investors since it is a source of recurring income usually for them.

That all said, I am always interested in other peoples approach to minimize transaction fees, but most investors I know in real estate use this approach as it just works and minimizes liability.

Re: Ask HN: What is your passive income 2019?

#214

Post by Ancalagon »

dhruvkar wrote: post #165

I invest in large industrial real estate ($2-10M) with established tenants (often publicly traded companies) in the Midwest with a group of other investors. It's kind of like Fundrise [0], but with a handful of people in a 2-3 deals a year. With ~180K invested, I'm around $1750/month in positive cash flow. 0. https://fundrise.com

Now this is really interesting to me. Just peeking at their website the returns data only goes back about 5 years. Aren't you concerned about losing that money if/when a recession occurs and big-business investment dries up?

Re: Ask HN: What is your passive income 2019?

#215

Post by zapstar »

Havoc wrote: post #194
zapstar wrote: post #104

I'm working on a website that calculates the unit prices on Amazon products. Hoping to help save people some money, since there are a surprising amount of times where buying in smaller quantities actually saves you money. The website is https://unitprice.org/browse if anyone is interested! It's still very much in its infancy, but I plan on doing a "Show HN" soon! Based on the last two weeks, I have only made about $1…

>I'm working on a website that calculates the unit prices on Amazon products. Oh hey. Actual built a prototype around this. And even bought some domains that sounded similar. I abandoned it when Amazon blocked my cloud scrapper. Also seemed quite manual labour intensive since the quantities displayed are so inconsistent.

Yeah, you can’t sneak past Amazon too easily. I am using their official API, so I’m trying to follow all of their rules and policies. Otherwise, I lose my affiliate status, and beyond having fun with this data, those affiliate fees are a significant motivator.

Re: Ask HN: What is your passive income 2019?

#216

Post by thoughtpalette »

0x0100 wrote: post #4

I am working on Mascot Gaming Logo Maker ( https://mascotlogomaker.com ). It's a tool that allows you to create a gaming logo for your esports team. As of now I have private beta testers using it and while it's not enough to call passive it sure pays for some video games gg.

Great idea. I have a friend that just created an eSports team logo, would've loved to share this with them if it was up.

Re: Ask HN: What is your passive income 2019?

#217

Post by bosephjangles »

deanmoriarty wrote: post #190

A diversified portfolio of index funds. This year return so far is ~15% (which in absolute amounts is more than my after-tax salary, even after accounting for long term capital gains), and my annualized return since when I started investing (~a decade ago) is ~10%.

Which index funds do you like? I've been going back and forth between considering one or more index funds or just getting a target date fund and leaving it alone altogether.

Re: Ask HN: What is your passive income 2019?

#218

Post by jackcosgrove »

paulkon wrote: post #181
jackcosgrove wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Real estate is local, so I would be wary of any "system" that purports to be able to identify undervalued properties using a one-size-fits-all approach. I would not recommend buying a property that's far away from you. As far as landlording a small number of properties, most of the knowledge involved is how to be handy, or knowing trustworthy people who are handy. One piece of advice I would offer here is to charge s…

Is a REIT usually better for a more passive investment? Or does investing directly in a property gives greater control of returns?

Yes and yes. Owning a single property is less diversified, with more risk and more potential returns.

Re: Ask HN: What is your passive income 2019?

#219

Post by yellowapple »

gkoberger wrote: post #31

I built an escape room! Startup Escape ( https://startupescape.com ), a parody of startups where you have "$1M to launch your startup" (1 hour to escape). It's a physical game in San Francisco, but it's run day-to-day by a manager. Overall it makes about $15k/mo, and after rent/labor/etc I just make a few thousand dollars a month.

Looks fun. Might have to recommend it for a team offsite.

But, um...

> Startup Escape is in the Tenderloin North SOMA! The address is 447 O'Farrell St, San Francisco CA

That's... literally the Tenderloin. Or is this (and the oxymoron that is "North SOMA") a joke that just went over my head? Haha.

Re: Ask HN: What is your passive income 2019?

#220

Post by ScottFree »

deanmoriarty wrote: post #190

A diversified portfolio of index funds. This year return so far is ~15% (which in absolute amounts is more than my after-tax salary, even after accounting for long term capital gains), and my annualized return since when I started investing (~a decade ago) is ~10%.

Any thoughts on Michael Burry's index fund bubble?
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