All Forum Posts by: Bob Willis

Whether a house costs $50k or $1 million all that matters is if you can fund the debt AND make money. Price is a function of location.

Hey All - I currently live in Nebraska. I own a couple of properties in Arizona that were purchased using 1031 funds and are being used as rentals (one LTR, one STR). I have held both for a number of years. My wife and I are in the process of moving to Arizona. We are trying to figure out our options relative to where we live once down there. Can we move into one of the houses that was purchased using 1031 funds? Or can those only be used as rentals? If we can use one of the properties to live in, if we stay there for two years can we take advantage of the tax benefits of owner occupied dwelling if we do then sell? I have looked in the forums for the answer to this question, but have not found anything.

Warning: generalities in this post. I believe you need to think about it in this way. What is the sweet spot for the largest segment of the population looking to buy or rent a SFR? I believe it to be couples with children. That being said the average size of most families is 2 adults 2 kids. So... you would prefer three bedrooms and two baths. Now of course there are larger families, and there are families that are comprised of only a couple. That being said even those other family sizes could conceivably use a 3br 2ba house. But how many families comprised of just a couple are going to want 4br or more, or how many larger families are going to want only 2br. So the 3br 2ba fits the largest demographic, and I am willing to bet there are studies out there backing that up. Just a guess

@Assaf Lowenstein - I am in the exact same boat all the way down to focusing on AZ. Let's connect and see how it goes. My wife and I are in the process of moving to Phoenix. Let's think about meeting for lunch one day and comparing notes. I've read L2L, I am part of their FB group, etc... Don't have anything specific to offer here, but I'll be lurking in the background following this post. Hopefully get some good replies.

Best of luck.

I think this is the link you may want - https://sbcassessor.com/Assess...

Hey Brian - congrats on the engagement. Equity is not really the question here, the biggest factor is the appreciate since acquisition and how long you have been in the houses. If you have been in the house for two of the past five years you can sell as an individual and not be taxed on up to $250k (as an individual) of appreciation. So you need to look at length of time in each place by each of you and the appreciation that has occurred during your stay. Since you want to move into your house, has her house appreciated more than $250k and has she lived there at least two of the past five years? If that is the case, she call sell and pay no taxes on the gain. Hope that helps. 

There is an old BP real estate pod cast with a real estate investor who was also an appraiser. He talks about this very challenge and the "correct" way to approach it. I don't remember the specific suggestions he made but you may be able to find that pod cast. It was older, probably a couple of years ago, back when Brandon Turner was still hosting it. Good luck.

Hey All - I own a small house I am thinking of selling and providing the financing myself. This is the first time I have considered this. I recently read the Lend to Live book on private money lending. But wanted to reach out here to get any feedback. If I do this I plan on working with a third party for payment processing etc, I will require homeowners insurance with me in the first position, etc... Any thoughts, ideas, or recommendations  concerning this?

Have you tried small town banks? The banks in the small town I live in do this all the time. Personal loan secured by the property. 

Do you have to flip all of them, is that the only exit strategy here? Can you hold on to some as rentals, either STR or LTR? Hold those and see what happens?