All Forum Posts by: James York

@Christopher Abele I make my own transitions because I feel the ones available are like multi-tools. They’ll work for many things, but not very well. If you have a table saw, you can probably make them. 

@Jose Varnadoe post your good questions here. You’ll get good answers and you’ll establish yourself as someone working hard to grow. It would be fun to be live, but solid answers are here 24/7. 

@Jabraan Kadeer I build new now and have done plenty of rehab before. It’s my opinion that aversion to permits is most often from people cutting corners. Yes, it can be a little aggravating to pay and have to get inspections, but if you’re not sure what you’re looking at, it also protects you from contractors doing bad work. I’ve rarely had inspectors be unreasonable when they believe you’re trying to do the right thing. Also, not sure how big your town is, but kinda hard to hide work being done on the front of a house… Last, if you’re selling the house, most disclosures are going to ask if you’ve done unpermitted work. Will you claim ignorance then too?

@Robert Boydston what keeps you from considering LTR and BRRR? Just my opinion, but I believe this is the best starting point for new investors.

Quote from @Account Closed:

Quote from @Steven Anderson:

Hello - my mother is in the process of finalizing her divorce with my father. She will be receiving an LLC with 6 rental properties (1 has a promissory note that will be transferred to my mother) by May 1. I'm looking for any guidance or information on how to evaluate property management companies, what to expect after the transfer, and how to ensure a smooth transition for the tenants.

 Sorry to hear about that happening.

Since ownership is transfering there may be big a tax hit. Chek with your CPA.

@Account Closed IF mom is already an owner of the LLC, but is becoming the sole owner, I suspect this won't be the case. Not sure, but worth considering.

Find some people locally that seem to be a good fit and interview them. The big names are expensive and unlikely to be worth it for smaller investors. I interviewed a couple and found a great one in my market. 

Quote from @Michael Moughames:

@James York Thank you for your reply. Where is a good place to find people that would be interested in backing up someone like me ? Given that I can show them that I'm worth backing up.

I can’t answer this for you, but meetups might be a good start. My method was creating a deal, presenting it to someone else with $ and giving away the majority of the profit. That got deal #1 behind me. It all depends on what you have to offer. 

@Ron Brady I’m curious if you are suggesting appraisals come in low in predominantly “ black/Hispanic/ Asian neighborhoods” or appraisals come in low in any neighborhood for a certain race of buyers? I agree with your assertion that there is an issue here, but I’m not sure remote appraisals are the answer. I also vehemently disagree with the logic that prejudice by an appraiser would be noticed and addressed by a lender. Of course overt racism won’t be accepted, but covert prejudice (not the same as racism) is hard to prove and I think is more common than many care to admit. On this theme, check out “The Color of Law”. It’s an eye opening read! 

@Joshua Walther I don’t know all your circumstances, but it seems the potential for unexpected work is high and your interest/ability to handle these items is limited. I’d say you’re fine to walk away from this one. You will make mistakes and things will go wrong on your first (or 100th) property, but this has some issues you may not want to take on for deal #1. Keep making offers!

@Gabriel Fairman Are you truly wanting to develop land or just build new? I exclusively build new, but don’t do any land development. Once I get passed small subdivision (definitions change by area) I get in to development costs and engineering that far exceed the value of the deal. I’ve gone as far as attempting to commit the units to section 8 housing in exchange for support from the city and got nothing beneficial. They agreed to a very modest contribution but required me to increase the cosmetic features essentially negating any contributions they made to the project. I think you need to go small or go REALLY BIG (and have deep pockets).