All Forum Posts by: Deidra Hubenak

@Elliot Starcevich I wish you nothing but success, and please take this comment with that in mind. You seem to be spending way too much time getting ready. Just get started. You can worry about D&B ratings years from now. I too suffered from Analysis Paralysis (See my first blog post http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/5070-tips-and-tricks-for-buy-and-hold-investors) Go find a good property and buy it!

@Lynn Dee Murrow Does the online course have the two day seminar with Del recorded?

@Jon Holdman Lifestyles does have several hard money lenders (and conventional/private money lenders) that work with their members and that attend their networking events.

@Brad T. I am a Lifestyles Member and a CPA/Atty. I have purchased three properties largely because of being motivated by the Lifestyles 2 day training class, but I have used conventional financing. However, I am realizing that my limiting factor is cash, and you do have a significantly lower cash out of pocket by going the hard money route. So, I may use hard money for our next purchase. Their system does work, but you have to find the right property. Fortunately, they walk you through how to find the right property on MLS in each of their 2 day seminars. My target market has been highly competitive and it has been difficult to find the right properties for hard money in exactly the neighborhoods that I want. But, I only have to go less than a mile away, and I could find several.

@Jason Abbott Hi Jason. I am an attorney and a CPA. How large is your multifamily property? I agree with @Account Closed that you should have an umbrella policy whether or not you have a LLC and that the umbrella policy may be enough. While LLCs can give you additional protection, you can still be held personally liable for certain acts. An umbrella policy can protect you in that case where the LLC cant. An LLC is more appropriate where you have a very large multifamily property or partners.

I also wanted to clarify the comment above by @Account Closed If you buy a property in your name and then drop it into a LLC, the LLC will not protect you from acts that occurred before you transferred the property into the LLC, but it will protect you from acts that occurred after the transfer (assuming there was no personal liability as discussed above.)

Hi @Michael O'Byrne I would highly recommend Lindsay Postula at Gray Reed & McGraw. She is excellent and has a very reasonable billing rate. I have worked with her for over 5 years.

@Account Closed First, let me say that I have absolutely no commercial real estate experience. I am a simple buy & hold SF investor. But I am a CPA (and attorney) with Big 4 experience (not to date myself, but it was actually Big 8 and then Big 6 experience...). I will tell you that getting your license as a CPA and getting at least 2 full years of experience with the Big 4 will open a lot of doors for you for the rest of your life regardless of your career choice. I would recommend getting these two years under your belt if you have the grades and resume to be able to get a job with them. If you don't, I would recommend passing the CPA exam and then finding a CPA in a commercial real estate company to work under to get your work experience to get your license.

@Greg Mercer Hi Greg. I am a tax attorney and CPA who owns 3 rental properties in my own name. Please see the post on my blog from yesterday and pm me if you have any questions. Thanks!

http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/5070/blog_posts/37210-llc---should-i-form-one-or-not

@Alex Rozenfeld Hi Alex. I am an international tax attorney (and a CPA) and I agree with @Engelo Rumora that you need to talk to a CPA or attorney. But, make sure that they have extensive experience in international tax. Most CPAs will claim that they have this experience, but you typically need to go to a larger size CPA firm to get that expertise.

Unfortunately, there is no cookie cutter answer to any of your questions. The appropriate answer is the dreaded "it depends". We could really get you in trouble if we gave you any advice without knowing all of the facts of your case.

For example, there is a specific set of tax laws that apply solely to foreign investors in US real estate (FIRPTA - Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act). These rules can really bite you if you do not know what you are doing. For example, if you buy US real property from a foreign investor and do not withhold or get a withholding exemption certificate from the Buyer, YOU could be liable for paying HIS taxes. This is just one example of the trouble you can get into. Even the rule that Engelo mentions above about Australia not taxing US income is not always true. Sometimes, the income is recognized earlier in Australia and the income offset is not available until the US tax is paid. (But you would be able to amend the prior year return at that time) There are other limits that could potentially apply as well.

Bottom line - You are asking very good questions, but this is too complex an issue and too fact specific to your investment and investor for us to answer on the forum. Either work with a CPA and an attorney very experienced in international tax law to draw up the pro forma financial statements, the entity documents and the agreements with your partner or come pay me $550/hour to get you out of trouble with the IRS later. (I strongly recommend the former).

@Elliot Starcevich The second report is the Texas Franchise Tax Public Information Report. You must file this report as well as the no tax due Texas Franchise Tax Report.

Sharon is absolutely right. I am a CPA and an attorney, and I own 3 single family rental homes. I do NOT have an LLC, but I do have a $2 million umbrella policy.

Honestly, I would liquidate the LLC until you have a lot more activity. Take a look at my blog post from yesterday if you want more detail http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/5070/blog_posts/37210-llc---should-i-form-one-or-not

@Sharon Tzib Yes Sharon this was from yesterday. Great minds still think alike!

@David C. Hi David! I love seeing another Katy investor. I finally decided to make it official and post an introduction yesterday, so we can be newbies together. We are just closing on our third buy and hold property. What type of investing are you interested in?