All Forum Posts by: Anthony V.

A CPA is a given. As for lawyers, talk to several of them. They will usually sit down with you for a free intro discussion. Many lawyers have multiple specialties and experiences but I have also found that if they are not comfortable with what you need them to do they will tell you upfront and refer you to someone else if they can. They don't want to waste time researching a new area law for just one client and they don't want to be on the hook if they screw something up. Start with a real estate guy - they usually have the business side as well and are familiar with typical business organisations for investors. What you laid out is exactly what I have - a "holding company" LLC with LLC's underneath.

I can't speak for the international properties and taxes so maybe someone else can chime in on that.

When you say REIT do you mean that you just want to create a trust to put your property in or do you actually mean a REIT? A trust is fairly simple and an estate planning lawyer can take care of that. If you actually mean REIT then you are in for a long, expensive journey.

Can I ask what your primary goal is with this property? Is it to use as a vacation home and let others pay the mortgage or is it for return on investment?

Welcome!

You're attending an investor group meeting on Tuesday? The only one I know of meets on Thursday of this week. It's a pretty large and good group. http://www.reinvestorgroup.com/

Hope to see you there!

I was introduced to the vacation rental world when I moved to Branson last summer. It's a pretty stable market and much more profitable than standard leasing in this area. There is one single VR development here which started in 2006. While all other developments went bankrupt and shut down with the crash in 2009, the VR dev continued to grow an average of 6% every year.

As has been mentioned already, the cons include relatively high startup costs due to size/quality of the house and furnishings, management intensive, and meeting restrictions. 

Median home price here is $170k while the sweet spot for a VR home is $350-$400k. The more bedrooms you have, the bigger the bang for your buck. The more people you can get into your house the higher your rental rate can be. VR's are a grey area for lenders. Some don't know what to do with them, but since they can be viewed as anything from a second home to a motel, there are actually more opportunities for lending. Even SBA loans can be used to buy a VR.

Here in Branson some new regulations came out in 2013 requiring, among other things, a sprinkler system. That might cost only $3500 in a new construction but can be 4 times that to put one in an existing home. Restrictions like these have pushed investors towards new construction.

One last thing is taxes. The IRS views VR's as an ACTIVE investment. This is important and you should discuss it with a CPA since it might be a pro or con depending on your situation.

I picked up some land here in Branson last month for a vacation rental development and should begin construction in the next couple months. VR is definitely my favorite REI niche so far.

How would this be different than a regular REIG?

Yep, I understand. I don't know the market of Springfield at all since I've been focused on Branson. I'm just curious if he had changed any plans or expectations based on new information you had given him.

@Jay Hinrichs I see you are from Oregon. I know that there are many extremely smart and experienced people on BP. However, Springfield and Ozark are next to each other, so, Bill is practically next door to Phillip. That's why I said "around here".

Any changes to the original plan? Still leaning towards duplexes/quadplexes and section 8?

I've never met @Bill Gulley but my understanding is that he has more RE knowledge and experience than anyone around here. So, take advantage of his offer - that's a golden opportunity.

The Springfield REIG is a great place to make contacts and get some knowledge/help.

If you are interested in a different niche then I can introduce you to what I'm doing down in Branson.

For those asking about carry options - I highly recommend the M&P Shield NTS. They recently came out with this version that has No Thumb Safety (IMO safeties just get in the way for these situations). It is cheap, well-made, small enough to be carry-comfy, and is available in 9mm & .40 cal.

If that's still too big then you can check out the Ruger LCP.

@Ryan Dossey It seems like too much is going on close to home and I have nightmares about being caught helplessly watching bad things done to my family. I'm guessing you are feeling the same way being even closer than I am to Ferguson. Always be prepared and stay safe, bud.