All Forum Posts by: Bill B.

Assuming the property is worth much more than they paid for it don’t let them give it to you. They can sell tax free. But once they give it to you, you inherit their cost basis and have a taxable gain. MUCH better to have them sell and give you the cash instead. 

We all assume this isn’t a house you’d buy with your own money. So it’s not a house you’d should hold with your own money. If you want to fix it up while it’s still in their name and then sell it tax free, fine. But don’t take the property in to your name. You’re just throwing money at the government. 

Do they have 20-25% down to ask for seller financing? (Especially a 2-4 unit.)

Do they have friends/relatives/co-workers that would rent rooms from them if they bought a property to show more income?

The more cash on hand the more options. Either to partner or find other financing options. 

I’d offer to sign the form if I was allowed to cross out everything between brokerage firm and during the terms. If you explained it they should allow that. I’d simply ask in what situations where the broker and the brokers firm did nothing to facilitate the sale do you think you should get paid a commission?

I’m glad you were able to move on without signing, shows the agent understands/is a good guy/gal, or knows other firms wouldn’t require such a signature. 

I had to have an awkward conversation with my favorite realtor when their broker suggested everyone had to pay a $700 “document fee” on every sale. I paid the first one and then said that’s more than enough to store all future documents. It went away. 

I agree with that advice. But I’d’ also ask if the girlfriend is a legal US citizen? If so she can/should apply for a SSN. The hospital is going to ask for it over and over again during medical checkups. If they get married it will help her earn SS benefits, etc etc. 

You’re going to have to find a specialized function that can’t be farmed out to the Philippines in the $5-$10/hr range. Have you looked in to being a mobile notary? It’s temporarily lost its shine because of the slow down in transactions. But it wa a decent gig for people until a year or two ago. Being in NY maybe something to do with physical document transportation? A realtor’s assistant?

Ouch!

@Joel Oh

You REALLY need to find a new pool guy. Are you having the pool filled and redug every year for $10k?

In the desert it costs me LESS than $20 for water. Acid washing when required is $500. Heck, I had a pool replastered for $3,700 including chemicals/setup. 

What’s the plan?

You probably won’t be able to sell with 9 years without taking a loss. You basically have no escape plan. God forbid the property is destroyed by fire/flood. 

You’re paying $70k in “non-deductible” interest in exchange for less deductible interest. 

What’s the downpayment? Can it be zero? Can you get 15 years? Will the property taxes skyrocket? Work in a balance reduction if you pay it off early? Is the IRS/your CPA cool with the idea?

good luck. Be safe. 

@Dan H. I assume you mean the ONE by you is a “natural” wildfire? NOBODY would say they were all natural wildfires after so many people have been arrested for arson this week. How would your eucalyptus know who started the fire?  Wildfires by their very definition can be started by human activity. Aren’t the eucalyptus tress at least partially to blame for the fires because they are so combustible? Should they be outlawed?

IF, they are supposed to cut the power when there’s a fire then they have to buy a bunch of Tesla’s mega pack batteries to power the water pumps. They are saying there is no water because there’s no power. You can say the water wouldn’t have stopped the fire but I also assume you wouldn’t say all firefighters should stop spraying  water and go home. So there’s some need for the water. 

I don’t know what your beef is. Obviously some people started some of the fires. Obviously some of the problems fighting the fire are cause by poor land management and predation. I’m certainly not saying it all is but you seem to think none of it is? If it’s all natural and not preventable and people expect to be able to buy insurance. The insurance is going to have to cost enough to rebuild every 10 years. Otherwise you’re saying you expect other people to subsidize bad choices over and over again. I’m just asking for a free market where things cost what they should cost and the consequences fall of the choice makers. Anyone that rebuilds after this fire knows the choice they are making. It doesn’t mean I don’t feel bad for those going through this, especially if they didn’t know better. 

But why are people spending so much energy defending bad government policies? This is the kind of thing the press use to investigate  what bad choices were made, who is to blame? There will be consequences, heads will roll.  Now those in charge face no consequences and nobody even asks.

Anyway. That’s all I’ve got. 

In Vegas you're probably closer to $400k to get in SFR instead of a condo. With $100k down it'll probably be slightly negative cash flow. You'll be playing for appreciation and rent growth. Positives are proximity, low property taxes, no income taxes, no weather events, very low maintenance stucco/tile structures, "young" properties (5-20 years old)