All Forum Posts by: Anna Watkins

@Sharad M.  - I've never looked at that balance between time and money in terms of the "class" of the property.  Thanks, that was really well said and helps me think about my next purchase.

@Elizabeth Colegrove  - same to you, in terms of the leverage and cash invested and returns.  I grew up hating debt and wanting everything to be paid off, so it's harder to think of huge leverage as a good thing (but I'm getting there!). I have tons of equity in my personal residence, but I just can't bring myself to borrow against it so close to 'free and clear' time.  It'd be like backsliding.

Thanks @Marcia Maynard ! I'm a little concerned about the thickness of the click-lock, since I'm replacing sheet vinyl.  I'll look again when next at the Big Orange Box.

I think carpet is gross -- it stains, it's had who-knows-what walked across it, and it's hard to clean.  If your area thinks it's a must, how about hard flooring with almost-wall-to-wall rugs or big bound carpet pieces?

Tile scares me.  It's really really hard, and can be slippery if it gets wet.  Yes, I did actually spend one Christmas with a black eye, and yes, I actually did slip on tile and whack my head on a bathroom toilet.  I know tile is long-lasting, but on floors I feel like it's a lawsuit disaster waiting to happen -- plus it's cold, and really hard on the feet and back in the kitchen, where a cook does lots of standing.

I have used the regular TrafficMaster Allure grip-strip vinyl planking in 2 kitchens so far.  A year ago I laid it myself in my own home kitchen (so far so good), and this fall my handyguy laid it in a rental kitchen.  A year isn't quite enough to say it's fantastic, but I love it in the kitchen and there are no flaws popping up yet.   I'm trying to decide whether to try it in my home bathroom, which is why I'm revisiting all the BP threads on Allure tonight.

@Marcia Maynard  -- have you tried the grip-strip Allure with poor results?  Or just like the click-lock stuff and see no reason to switch?

Hi @Matt O'Meara -- Welcome, and keep reading BP.  I've learned so much since I joined!  You might also check into some of the recommended books on multi-family investing that are recommended in  Brandon's "best book" posts.  They'll have tons of info all in one package, and will probably point you in the direction of even more questions to ask!   Oh, and for sure listen to all the podcasts on MF investing.  Good luck.

Hi @Damir Kamber  -- I'm in pretty much the same situation (except I'm single with two kids).  I just added the second house at the end of 2014, so I need to get serious with the accounting and tax returns.

J Scott posted info about this tax seminar held at the end of this month in Duluth, GA, given by his accountant, Roger Herring. I'm signed up and hope learn all I can, and then decide whether I need to hand my stuff over to an accountant or blunder through another year doing it myself.  Plus, the networking and meeting Roger should make it worth a morning away from work!

@Rick H.  - That's helpful info -- so, as I understand your comment, if I get this property in a Tennessee tax auction, the IRS won't be interested in it (actually, it would be the Ohio Dept. of Revenue).  If I buy the property, the Ohio lien will claim its due from the former owner for that money, not against the property I bought.

And IRS liens are recorded in the taxpayer's state of residence, not in some federal database somewhere???

I'm interested in a property in rural Tennessee that has 7 years of unpaid taxes and is scheduled to go into the 2015 tax auction.  I have sent letters and am trying to contact the absentee owner through other means, trying to buy the property outright before then, but no luck yet.

I have discovered through research that the owner's husband (and presumably the owner, if they file jointly) has a lien against him for 2013 income taxes in Ohio.  If this does go all the way to auction, and I do manage to win the bid, will the 2013 out-of-state lien apply to the property in TN? None of it's very much money, but I'd like to know ahead of time.

Anybody out there invest in rural TN??

While I'm relatively new as an 'informed' investor, what I see is huge institutional owners putting more and more houses on the market (aka 'dumping'), but not at "steal' prices.  It seems to me that they have fairly lame rental managers that don't screen or pay attention, so when a property doesn't rent for a while, it's listed for sale.  I just bought a house in Decatur/DeKalb County  (metro Atlanta) that had been listed for rent and for sale, and empty for over a year.  Using old pictures (it was a cloudy week and I couldn't take more or better), I listed it on Craigslist and got a great tenant (knock wood!! and thanking my lucky stars) in 6 days .  It wasn't a super fantastic deal (and the "rehab" totally ignored the infrastructure), but I'm still making a decent cash flow for my goals and I'm liking the future outlook for the property and the neighborhood. 

This neighborhood is cool with adventurous buyers and flippers are moving in, but not popular yet with the "car alarm/baby jogger" crowd.  The hedge funds aren't in it for a true buy-and-hold game plan -- I've identified other properties in my target area held by the hedge I just bought from, and am asking they're interested in selling any of those too.  We'll see how that goes.

How does one find out whether there's an IRS lien on a property, in particular in Tennessee?  I've checked the county records and find nothing. The owner lives in Ohio (the property is vacant and abandoned) and I do know that there is an income tax lien in Ohio on the owner's husband (and I assume they file jointly).  Does an out-of-state tax lien apply?

@Herschel Kessler  -- Hi and welcome.  You've got quite a CV!  Where in ATL are you looking?  I also have 2 buy-and-hold rentals, and I've pretty much decided that I will  focus in a relatively defined area about 10 minutes from where I live (Decatur), since I'm going to be managing them myself for the forseeable future.  There are a LOT of helpful folks around and SO much great information here on Bigger Pockets.  I'm amazing that I stayed afloat for so long with my first rental before I found BP!