All Forum Posts by: Dennis Cosgrave

I started when I was 22 so I could not have started much younger. My key pieces of advice are:

1) Never get into a bidding war

2) Always do your inspections

3) Never let your emotions dictate your investment decisions. Plan the investment strategy and stick to it. Change it only if market circumstances warrant it. 

Personally, I am not offended. I don't have any tattoos so take that for what it is worth. I would say that your question is similar to asking if you should paint a house you are trying to sell in bright colours. You know it will turn off some potential buyers while other potential buyers might really like it. The safe answer, is to paint the house in neutral colours so that you don't alienate anyone. Having said that, if you have built a solid reputation then I don't think it will make much difference. 

Erik B, Congress passed the Garn-St.Germain Act in 1982 which exempted transferring of title to a land trust from the "due on sale" clause. You can read the legislation here. https://www.investopedia.com/t...

Some banks may have attempted to invoke the due on sale clause but a competent attorney could have blocked it. The other caveat is that they can still impose a transfer fee so read your loan documents to see if a transfer fee clause is included and how much that fee can be. 

William Garcia, Yes you can. You need to set up the LLC in a state which provides anonymity. There are a number of steps you need to take to stay off the radar. DO NOT list yourself as the trustee of the land trust, or list yourself as the manager of the LLC. This is a matter you need to take up with a competent asset protection attorney. If not done properly, it can be taken apart if you are ever sued in the future.

As mentioned previously, trying to purchase under an LLC can be difficult when trying to obtain mortgage financing. A better strategy is to buy it personally, then transfer title to a land trust with an LLC as the beneficiary. Transferring to a land trust does not trigger the "due on sale clause" but be careful that your loan documents do not include a title transfer fee which could be up to 1% of the value of the mortgage.

As mentioned previously, trying to purchase under an LLC can be difficult when trying to obtain mortgage financing. A better strategy is to buy it personally, then transfer title to a land trust with an LLC as the beneficiary. Transferring to a land trust does not trigger the "due on sale clause" but be careful that your loan documents do not include a title transfer fee which could be up to 1% of the value of the mortgage.

I had a similar situation. I was curious to know the reason for the sellers behaviour. I found out the husband wanted to sell but the wife did not. Since they were both on title, the wife had to sign. She made it as difficult as possible to sell the property. I just moved on and waited for it to come back on the market, which it eventually did. The husband had bought another property and threatened to move there on his own if she would not agree to sell. She signed the offer to purchase but instantly had remorse. She tried everything she could think of to obstruct the closing. My attorney finally threatened to sue for breach of contract and then she backed off and the deal closed. I really wanted the property so I was willing to do what it took to get it. Under other circumstances, I would have walked away and never looked back. The lesson here is, when sellers exhibit that kind of behaviour, they really don't want to sell so don't waste your time.

Joe S., I would take a look at your ROI on furnishing spend vs. the ROI on another property. As previous posters have indicated, the pay back on furnishings seems to be 8 or 9 months. That is a great return! Are you going to get that same return purchasing another property? I doubt it.

From my experience, prospective tenants only seem concerned if someone was murdered in the home. Any other kind of death didn't seem to bother them. 

I would suggest that you refinance and pull out the equity. Based on the numbers you provided, that would be about $65K after costs. That should be enough for the down payment on a rental property. Another option would be to sell the house and purchase an income property with less than 5 units. Live in one and rent out the rest. The tenants will be paying your mortgage which would save you $1300 per month AND you will be building equity.