All Forum Posts by: Jeff Copeland

@Tyler Jorgensen - The answer to whether you can: 1) get a HELOC (which, BTW, takes several weeks at best), 2) draw from it for your down payment, and 3) still qualify for another mortgage after doing so, will depend on the borrower(s)' credit, income, and debt-to-income ratio (before and after the HELOC). A mortgage broker can walk you through this after looking at your credit, income, and DTI.

You could absolutely do this deal with no realtors involved, and that could save the seller around 6% of the sale price. Just find a local title company or attorney's office who will provide a solid blank contract for you to use and will also work with you to close the transaction. 

(Note: I'm not saying you or the seller should or shouldn't use realtors. I'm a real estate broker myself and generally think the services of a great realtor can be worth every penny. But that wasn't your question. I'm simply saying you could do it without one.)

If he owes $100k on it, and needs to pay that off to reset his VA entitlement, he would need a $100k (plus closing and settlement costs) down payment just to walk away from closing breaking even and seller finance the rest.

I don't see any way the seller can help you (unless you are also a veteran and can assume his mortgage), so you'd need to look for someone such as an equity partner who can help you qualify for financing. 

If you have sufficient credit and income to qualify for a mortgage yourself, you could buy it with an FHA loan at 3.5% down, but you'd have to owner occupy, rather than lease it back to him.

I'm not sure what you mean by "in the same or surrounding cities of that photographer" (you wouldn't normally hire a photographer from somewhere far away). 

But, generally, yes, it is the listing agent's responsibility (and usually the agent's marketing expense) to have professional photos taken of the property, but this is negotiable between the agent and seller. Some agents may cover the cost of the photography, others may not.

For your typical SFH listing, the costs is often between $200 and $500+, depending on the property and options (video tours, 3D tours, day/evening combos, etc).

Of course, the quality of the photography can be very important, but there are exceptions, for example:

- For high-end luxury listings that may require staging and a much more involved photo shoot, this cost may be more likely to be passed on to the seller.

- For very low-end fixer uppers, cell phone shots may be fine. I'm not spending $250 on photos for a $100k fixer listing.

- Tenant occupied properties can be very difficult to photograph, and may not warrant the expense. 

Setting politics and conspiracy theories aside, there have been no changes to FS 83 (the landlord tenant act) here in Florida, and Florida remains a very landlord-friendly state. 

There has been some minor erosion of landlord rights at the county and municipal levels. For example, our local cities and counties have recently passed a "tenant bill of rights", but the only significant changes were things like requiring at least 60 days notice to tenants if their rent is increasing by more than 5%, and to give at least 30 days notice of non-renewal (up from 15 the days required by state law). 

Most Florida cities and counties have had laws on the books requiring occupational licenses (and thus, registration) of rentals for decades. That is nothing new. It's $18/year, and really a non-factor, here in St Petersburg, for example. 

@Nathan Gesner nailed it: https://www.hud.gov/program_of...

 I never said you did. 

I was just pointing out that either the lease itself, or a lease guaranty, is what would make you personally responsible, secondary to the LLC. It has very little to do with how you sign your name.

You would normally sign as John Doe, Managing (or Authorized) Member of Acme LLC.

Your LLC's operating agreement will determine who can sign on behalf of the LLC, and whether one managing member can sign, or whether all members need to sign, etc. 

Your lease (or a lease guaranty) will dictate whether you are also personally liable for the rent. 

Putting your assets in an LLC does nothing to stop you from getting sued. It just limits your exposure to the only assets lowed by the LLC. 

To prevent lawsuits, do things to prevent people from getting hurt or killed on your property:

-Inspect your properties regularly for trip and fall hazards, fire hazards, and other safety issues. 

-Repair things quickly to avoid any appearance of negligence. 

-Use licensed contractors (especially for things like electrical work)

-Limit tenant access to dangerous spaces such as the attic. 

-Check out http://www.evicttv.com/categor...

To protect your interests once an incident occurs and/or you do get sued:

-LLCs and other entities can limit your exposure, but aren't always feasible (for example, when using conventional financing properties may need to be titled in your own name).

-Property and casualty Insurance for the property itself insures you for things like fire and storm damage (this doesn't really have anything to do with getting sued, but is obviously important)

-Maximize your liability coverage on your homeowners policy (liability coverage insures you against wrongful death, injury, or scarring of someone on your property). Most homeowner's policies will max out at $300k to $500k for liability coverage, which may not be enough in the event of a wrongful death or personal injury suit. 

-Have an umbrella liability policy that kicks in where your homeowners coverage maxes out. $1M to $2M in coverage is fairly typical here. 

Year over year prices (Sep 2021 to Sep 2022) are up 11.7% here in Florida, and prices are at an all time high. Why wouldn't someone want to sell?

We remain in a seller's market with only 1.8 months' of inventory. Most of the challenges right now are on the buyer's side of the equation: Inventory shortages, higher cost of capital, market uncertainty. 

There's no particular risk to a seller. If anything, there's an incentive to "get it while the gettin's good" and sell while you still can. 

And the multitude of reasons someone might have for selling haven't really changed at all, such as:

1. To make a profit and/or capture some of that sweet equity from appreciation

2. To redeploy that equity using a 1031 exchange

3. To upsize or downsize

4. To retire and ride off into the sunset

We are not allowed to post contact info for referrals in the forums (the system literally will not let you). 

But try seeking out Hailey Hagerman with Tarantino Insurance Group.