All Forum Posts by: Bob Floss II

@James Fraundorf I'd recommend a JV agreement. Who is going to be responsible for the mortgage on the property? The relationship between the people contributing money and the person actually signing the mortgage is important. Depending on the lender, they may allow you to place into an LLC or the party on the mortgage might have to be the only person on title. Figure that out and use that to negotiate who is responsible for maintenance, paying debt, management, etc of the property. The biggest problem for any partnership is not outlining each person's responsibilities in the beginning.

@Nick Seginowich Probate laws are different state-to-state so you'll need an attorney in your state. It might be possible to sell the house without opening a probate but you'll need the sister to cooperate and get them both to sign off on heirship affidavit. However, your state or the deceased estate might still require a probate be opened.

 No, it's not. Wholesaling in Illinois requires a Broker's License. It's perfectly legal. Why do so many wholesalers keep saying it's illegal???

@Clint G. There's a huge difference between the live auctions and the online auctions. The live auctions require cashier's check in hand and do not provide title. The online auctions provide title and you get 30 days. 

@Michael Delmont I would definitely confront your attorney. I don't make any changes to the settlement statement without reviewing and getting authorization from the client. Not sure the recourse but they acted improper. I'm sure the defense will be they wanted to get the deal done for you and made a decision to get the closing completed because that was the only solution anyway. You had a right to know. 

 @Mary Jay

1. The Settlor creates the Trust and is often the beneficiary of the Trust.

2. The Trustee doesn't own the Trust, but has extensive powers granted by the Trust document depending on the type of Trust you are creating. A trustee can be easy to replace or extremely difficult to replace. It depends if they are just holding property or if they have a more difficult task like presiding over funds for your minor children when you pass.

3. Typically the current owner of the property is also the beneficiary of the Trust. If you want to transfer to family members, you can do an assignment of beneficial interest in the Trust, but please know this can create a gift and a considerable taxable event.

4. You typically put the Trust as the name for the Treasurer/Assessor, etc and the address is the address you want used for the Trust. It could be your house, attorneys office, whatever. I wouldn't recommend using the Trustee's name.

You need to sit down with an attorney to create your Trust. You are dabbling in an area that can cause serious implications later in life or inadvertently create a huge tax bill for one of your family members.

I've seen very mixed reactions. Some clients are saying contractors won't show, others are still moving forward. I may depend how many people are on site. If you are doing a house, I think it's possible to only have one or two contractors in the house to avoid concern and keep getting work done. If you are trying to work within a condo building or complex, you might have to just put the project on hold. 

@Kenneth Garrett They'll close

I'm representing a seller to close on their townhome and both the husband and wife work in the hotel industry. They shared with me that of the 300,000 Marriott employees, 80% have been placed on furlough. I've heard that term used but never really understand the impact on the employee. They employer pays them enough to maintain their health benefits, but they have no take home pay. Their jobs are waiting for them when the furlough is over, but they are on their own for income until they return. The furlough for Marriott will be for 60 to 90 days. 

I imagine it's the same for all the MGM properties and other hotel chains.

I'm scheduling closings as normal in Illinois but essentially only the buyer and buyers attorney should be there. No one else needs to be in the room. All seller docs can be executed ahead of time.