When I got out of the service at age 21 ,I decided I was going to make my fortune in Real Estate , so I purchased with my discharge pay a large house with 7 bedrooms and two bathrooms and made my fi rst rooming house. I converted the porch and the Dining room into 2 more bedrooms, making a total of 9 bedrooms which I rented out in whose days for $50.00 a week each. I didnt give anyone use of the kitchen and I didnt allow anyone to have company, you just went directly to your room and basically went to sleep and that was it. I allowed no food in rooms or any loud noise after 10 PM. It was a great place if you had a job and you were making minimum wage.

My mortgage payment was $250.00 a month , my electric bill was $165.00, My gas bill averaged 150 a month year around and because I had a well and septic tank , even getting them pumped out and serviced a couple times a year, only cost me an average of $35.00 a month. My Insurance ran me only $50.00 a month, about $25.00 a month for maintenance, so the expenses were $ 670.00 per month. My Income was $1330.00 a month on my first property net.

There I was back in the late 1950s making over $17,000 a year ,not working for anybody. It was very important to get a lot of information about your tenants such as next of kin, Mother and fathers name and address, social security #,Employers Name, Landlord history, last job ect. I always had an application ready for them to full out. That way if they do any damage to your property you can chase them down.