All Forum Posts by: Drew Shirley

*** This is not legal advice and I am not your lawyer. ***

Because California is a community property state, in general, your debts incurred during the marriage are community debts, and she would also be responsible for them. 

Therefore, it is critical that you not take on any debt in your name. Certainly using an LLC to acquire and hold your properties is a must, but in addition, do not take on any debt that requires any sort of guarantee from you. Many self-titled "hard money" lenders still ask for recourse against the borrower in their standard loan agreements. You want to make sure that your loans are non-recourse only.

I would recommend you seek the advice of a California real estate attorney.

Austin is awesome enough that Austinites actively discourage anyone else from moving there :)

In Texas, the frivolous filing of a lis pendens can be a big problem -- the filing entity must have a bona fide interest in the property and the title to the property must be in dispute. I don't know Nevada law, but I would advise caution before taking that kind of step. 

That being said, you could certain file a complaint about the agent to the state's real estate commission. He is required to submit all offers. 

If the tax bill was paid, the lien should have been released. I would just contact the IRS and start asking questions as a "potential purchaser." They may require you to have an "interest" in the property before you talk to them, but I would think a signed purchase contract would qualify - it's legally a purchase option, which is an interest in real property.

Good luck Colin! Are you looking in Pearland, or all over Houston?

Hmm... well, I think you're going to have a tough time qualifying for a conventional refi with two owners who have no income. Unless you are planning to personally guarantee the note, which I wouldn't recommend, you might find a lot of resistance.

I'm not a tax lawyer but it may save you on taxes if you were to use the estate's funds to fix up the house, then have the estate sell it before distributing the funds to your wife and BIL. If it's worth $180k, then you'd clear $120k (minus taxes and commissions) to split between the two heirs. You could reinvest that money (with your BIL or not) in a real estate investment and you'd be on your way. 

Once the property has been posted for sale, the note has almost always been accelerated, which means you can't stop the sale by paying the back payments.

You would need to contact the trustee and find out what he or she would require to delay the sale, if anything. In my experience, most trustees want to see a signed purchase contract AND proof of funds that the buyer can cash them out completely. 

Also, in Texas, the lender is not required to notify the tenant of an impending foreclosure, only all borrowers responsible for the debt.

Yes, the bank will require title insurance (lender's policy) and the title company will most likely insist that the grantor sign the new deed anyway, even if there's a recorded quit claim deed.

And remember that a lender's policy does not protect the buyer.

1) Indiana does not allow series LLCs (yet), so a regular LLC with pass-through taxation is your best bet.

2) Hard to answer that question unless I know what your $350 + filing fees gets you, or what kind of investing you're planning to do.

Title companies in Texas will not insure quit claim deeds, and with good reason. They do not provide any "real" transfer of title and no warranty of title. The grantor of a quit claim deed is saying, "I do not necessarily have any interest in this property, but whatever interest I have, I give to you." 

If there is a quit claim deed in the chain of title, you will have serious problems transferring the property with title insurance, and that makes the property less marketable.