All Forum Posts by: Grant W.

Your property management company is frustrated collecting rent? Maybe you should find a new company. Afterall, isn't this part of the reason you hired them?

What a great idea! Especially since nearly everyone has the net AND email these days.

I've taken up emailing (and requesting a read receipt) signed documents to my tenants that otherwise would go by mail, saving me a stamp.

Nice idea on the electronic payments. I imagine that this would be most handy the more properties you have.

Let us know how it works out for you Bryan.

-Grant

Personally I think interest rates are a good indicator of where the markets going, especially after the boom we just experienced.

When interest rates rise, many people get forced out of their homes due to increased payments as a result of variable rate mortgages. When you get in to a house at a rock bottom mortgage rate, why would you want a variable rate? The only way the rate can go is UP!

Consequently you see more foreclosures and a lot more houses on the market.

Supply and demand: When there is a lot of supply on the market, the price typically goes down. Not good if you need to sell a house AND make money on it. It can be done, but it's not necessarily good to be priced over the local market when the market is going down.

So in essence, you may not be able to time the market, per se, but you can definitely have a good idea of which direction it's going in!

Just my opinion, of course.

-Grant

Thanks biggerpo! Nice to be a part of the site.

-Grant

Hey Amy! Thanks for the warm welcome.

I've been to St. Joe numerous times. Mostly in and out of the airport!

Best regards,

Grant

You're right, Form 8832 does not specify that you're electing to be treated as a S-corp, just mearly a corporation.

However, Form 2553 is the s-corp election form. Both are required to give s-corp status to a LLC.

-Grant

And to clarify another point, the LLC I formed and elected to be treated as an S-corp does not have any involvement in real estate.

I am not suggesting that the corporation election is the best way to go for real estate, but for my business where the passive income IS subject to taxes of all kinds, it was the best option.

Best regards,

Grant

Well, the IRS did approve my election, as they sent me a confirmation letter that they received my request to have my LLC treated as an S-corp for tax purposes.

It could be a state dependent thing, I don't know, but they signed off on it and I have the hardcopy acceptance letter.

I see, I think I understand now. They're really looking at the appraisal value, and not so much the sale/resale price. That makes sense.

Sure I can, but I must say that I obviously don't have much experience in the "creative financing" aspect of real estate, but I'm learning more and more by the minute (or post).

I acquired my first property on the last business day of last year. I financed it through a traditional 30-year mortgage with no money down (i.e. 100% financing). I then did the rehab myself, working nearly every day in January, including weekends to get the property ready to rent.

I use the term rehab fairly loosely in this case, because the rehab consisted of interior paint throughout, new carpet, fixing some plaster walls, new appliances, some minor DIY plumbing and electrical, and basica cleaning. So there was no knocking down walls and tearing up floors in this "rehab", but it was all stuff I could do myself.

I used my own cash to do the fix-ups, and I'm trying to find a way to keep from using my own cash in the future. I've read a lot about hard money lending, and that's intriguing, but I'm not sure that's the way I want to go... Still researching. One option may be to do the hard money lending to get the $$ for the rehab, and then refi when I get it rented.

So I'm still a newbie here, but I'm learning more and more every day.

I started my blog to keep a "diary" of my real estate ventures, as well as my other business doings, but I'll keep this site updated too, as I'm sure there is someone out there in my shoes.

Thanks for the responses!

Grant

Ah, I was under the impression the buyers lender would not approve a loan for a property if they saw that the property was recently purchased (within the last 6 months) and the owner turned around and sold it for a significant amount more.

In essence, I buy a property from a bank for $50,000 and turn around and put it on the market for $150,000. I haven't done $100,000 worth of work to the house, and a buyers lender will not like that...

So what I'm gathering from you is that this only applies to cash-out refi's?

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question!

Regards,
Grant