Net Worth Challenge

I thought our February 2007 Net Worth Update was bad, but I should have held back my disappointment until this month. We still squeezed out a positive gain of $1,490.03 — but it was a paltry gain of only 0.99%. I knew that March was going to be difficult because the closing for our new rental property took place at the beginning of the month. Additionally, my wife and I had to purchase numerous supplies in order to “rehab” the property and bring it back to a good, clean living condition. Our efforts should pay off as I expect to begin renting the property before May 1st.

Aside from the rental, there was not much else interesting for us during the month. It has been a lot of work to get the property ready — and I honestly will admit that I’m wondering if I’m better off in the rental business or better off putting the money into the stock market. Many of my recent (within the last two years) investments are up 20%+ since purchasing them. If I can keep that record up, the real estate market and rental business (includes all the work involved in maintaining a property), may not be the place for my money — or my time and effort. That may make for an interesting discussion in the future. I just wanted to admit that the thought had crossed my mind.