All Forum Posts by: Andrew Faukner

You've received a lot of good advice here Zach. I am currently considering a buying a cabin to flip that has a lot of knotty pine. Maybe too much. One piece of advice I haven't seen mentioned is finding out what other cabins in the area have. If they all have wood walls, you should probably keep some wood. Painting some of the wood seems like a good option also. You might want to look at this Pinterest page I've been putting together with before and after photos of rooms where they painted the wood. Good luck!   https://www.pinterest.com/afaukner/painting-knotty-pine/

My daddy always used to tell me, "Son, stop or go, you have to decide, it's the hesitation that will kill you." When I was younger, I used to think he was talking about things like crossing a busy street. Stop, go, but if you hesitate, and just stand there you're going to get hit. As I have gained in age and wisdom I've discovered that his saying can be applied in many ways other than just crossing the street. For example, a little 2 bedroom, one bath cabin came up for sale in a desirable area of the Sierra Nevada of California last Thursday. I am very familiar with the area, and I knew that $125,000 was a great price. Friday I started running the numbers for a flip. I hadn't done a flip before, but I've rehabbed enough single family residences before renting them, that I had a good idea what it would take to get it ready for a flip. Using the Bigger Pocket tools, I decided I needed about $30,000 for rehab, and upgrades. After looking at all of the comparisons it looked like it should be priced at about $180,000. That would be a $20,000 to $25,000 profit! Shoot, I would have been happy with $5,000 to $10,000 profit for a first flip! Time to talk to my biggest advisers, my wife, and my son, and all of a sudden, there it was, HESITATION! Well, my son returning home from a road trip to Canada, and getting ready to start a new job. My wife was fully engaged in planning a trip to Tanzania. I hesitated, but I knew we would be getting together Monday for a 4th of July get-away. On Monday, my son had to do some training for the new job, so we couldn't get together, HESITATION! Certainly another day couldn't hurt, HESITATION! Finally, Tuesday afternoon I had my son, and wife together, and I gave them the full pitch for the property. My son said, "It sounds good, make a cash offer." Wouldn't you know it, the property was already sold, hesitation killed the deal. I feel awful, I feel like hesitation just cost me $25,000. I had the numbers, they looked good! I should have acted! Sorry Dad, I should have listened to you. I should have made a decision. I should have pressed my advisers more. Instead I stood out in the middle of the street and got run over. Darn that HESITATION!

If yes, then generally the following applies:

• The 401k loan term is 5 years for general loans.

• The 401k loan term can be more than 5 years not to exceed 30 years if used to purchase your principal residence.

• The maximum 401k loan amount is either 50% of account balance or maximum amount of $50K.

– Example 1: 401k balance is $50K; 50% of $50K = $25K (the 401k maximum loan amount)

– Example 2: 401k balance is $150K; 50% of $150K = $75K; however, the maximum permitted 401k loan amount is $50K

– The minimum 401k loan amount is $1,000.

George, are the rules for a 403b the same as a 401k?

That's what I wanted to hear. I just hate to buy a brand new car. I'm kind of cheap that way, and yes, I was planning 100% usage for the business

I'm going to buy a pickup for my LLC, and I know that with the new tax rules that if it is over 6,000 lbs GVWR I can write it off 100% the first year. My question is, does it have to be a new pickup, or can it be a used pickup?

Your post worries me a little Todd. I'm from California too, and I'm looking at the Huntsville area. I'm only looking at SFR though, so maybe it would be easier than your deal.

Wow Basit, what good ideas! Thank you for all of the work you did putting your post together. I'll start working on using your suggestions this afternoon!

Visalia may not be too far. I appreciate the recommendation! 

I'm looking for a smart CPA anywhere between Stockton and Fresno that knows real estate and taxes well, (I can travel to see him/her.)
 

. Someone who can make some good suggestions for saving on taxes. Any suggestions?

We just finished getting my new 3/2 SFR ready to rent. We put in new carpet and vinyl, and now we have the leftover carpet and vinyl. I know what I do, I roll them up and put them in a corner of my garage, but then I think I'm a bit of a hoarder. What do you do, save the leftovers in case you need a small repair? Or do you toss the leftovers and plan to replace the flooring in an entire room if there is a problem? Before you ask, yes, in the last 10 years I did have a small section of vinyl replaced when the departing renter ripped the vinyl with an appliance. What do you think?