All Forum Posts by: Bruce Lynn

Some loans will allow you to rent it for a couple of months before you have to occupy it as your primary residence.  Could you buy one with leases in place, but almost at the end of the term.

Keep them until you are ready to move in.

Tricky I know, but just a thought.

Or rent it to a friend or family member for a couple of months.  Rent it AirBNB for a couple of months, something like that?

Sometimes the trick is finding a duplex with one side empty or even both sides empty to buy.

There are several challenges..... really they need someone with power of attorney to sign for them.  Ideally that should not be you.  They need to set this up way ahead of time.  So they need to get the notarized document from the title company you plan to use....they need to get that notarized at an embassy or consulate.  Sometimes that is easy sometimes it is not.  Sometimes you may have to make an appointment 2-3 weeks in advance to get that document notarized.   Typically someone at the title company likely needs to speak Chinese or your client English to verify the document is still in place on the day of closing.  The title company typically likes to call the client and ask them if Power of Attorney is still valid.

The other challenge is that the money needs to be on hand for closing.   If they are convinced the want to buy, I would have them wire money to title before you contract or to a bank account in the United States and outside China.  Crazy things happen in China with FX transactions and they seem to be cracking down even more now.  Some people seem to be able to get money out no problem and others have trouble.

You may want to check with your broker and the E&O insurance to see if you can sign with Power of Attorney. If you are somewhat risk adverse you probably don't want to sign. You want someone else they know to sign on their behalf...friend, family, lawyer, etc.

Did you sign anything at title that said you were willing to fix clerical errors?

Remember CAP rate does not tell the entire story. It might be like looking at PE ratios on stocks.

You might get a super cap rate on a $50,000 60 year old house that rents for $750 in a tough neighborhood...or 8% on a newer house in a hotter neighborhood with great schools that will appreciate more.

CAP rate really is a way to compare income returns on properties with different prices and different rents. It doesn't take into account things like location, risk, condition, likelihood of appreciation, type of renter, turnover, repairs, etc. So it is not the end all be all the only way to evaluate property. Just one tool of many.

Lots of people moving to Texas...from NE ...Midwest...and California.

Nice prices, better yields...newer properties in many cases.

I'd say spend a bit more in areas that are growing and with good schools if you can.

In the bad neighborhoods you typically will get the least appreciation, but yield might be a little better on paper.

The very best school districts in some cases have seen both great rent increases as well as great appreciation.  It's always a balance though of growth, price, rent and some other factors.

#1....go to the tax authority and ask for a payment plan.

#2...if they won't do it, then look for a property tax lender.

#3...someone will give you a loan based on your equity, I'm sure. Go to a REI club in your area.

#4...you can sell it and pay the tax at closing if you can do it quick enough.

Steve....I believe we met at one of the dinner meetings.   I'd like to hear more about this sometime...why you decided to get the Writ vs Eviction.   They typically will give you the writ after eviction and schedule a time for the constable to meet you at the property to supervise moveout.

@Robert Steele what I see most often is that the lender at the very last moment will step in and pay the taxes + all the fees associated with the suit and it gets pulled from auction.  Even the morning of the auction.   Not everything on the initial list will get auctioned.

You might be right about excess funds, however the previous owner very rarely knows about this and there is a pretty tight time limit.  I think 30-60 days.  To the best of my knowledge the county or taxing authority does not have to notify them about this.  Even if they did, they probably would ignore it as they have not taken care of any of the previous issues.   You can also think about notification issues....too often they can be found or don't want to be found.   They're probably ignoring all the notices anyway.

Lenders are notoriously inefficient...but I have yet to see one with a big mortgage get sold.   I can think their attorney's might load you up with law suits too if they messed it up, so even if you are right, they make you give up.   Every now and then you can see some screw-ups, but pretty rare.

Orlando,

Can you give us an update?   Were you able to get them out?

Giovanny.....sounds like a plan.  Probably depends on the school you want to go to and what degree they offer.  Real Estate, Investment Management, Finance, probably very similar degrees.

If you want to get your license, we would like to talk to you about joining our company.

You are right about earning some great part time income.

Giovanny Martinez