All Forum Posts by: William Morrison

 Shannon, the starter check issue was interesting to me at the time.  The Escrow said they didn't put the check in an account but held it.  The actual settlement was many months off, it was new construction.  Some banks do not have to honor the check with that much time gone by.  Anyway I did as you said and sent a replacement which they still didn't deposit.
I had bought three houses, same state and city that year with another closing attorney.  They deposited them when the offer was accepted.  In each case I had a proof of funds letter from the bank with a commitment to pay cash if loan was delayed.   My Buyer Agent said he'd seen both. 
Just good for Susan to know.

As Jeff said, yes to the Bank.
LLC's are state defined, not Federal. You may also need a state number depending on the state and what you are doing. Single member vs multi-member and what business your in.
I had a closing escrow that would not accept starter checks as well.  So get checks ordered.  <Grin>

Fritz I think it's the best data on Zillow <Grin>.   As a starting point you can know a lot about an area using school ratings.
Their actual list for houses for sale as stated above can be way out of date.

I am finding the inventory in the Charlotte area much smaller than over the last 3 or so years. I run a filter on MLS most every day. The top properties in my filter are under contract within a week. Some last a month. 2014 and early 2015 is was much longer. Some of those that bought in 2008 or so are coming back on the market but still too high. I've also seen the distressed properties listed as if they are not.
There were two sellers I saw last year and maybe a little before, one selling 70 properties and one selling 14.  I had wondered if that helped then.  But that inventory is gone now.

Ned I've enjoyed the discussions you've been involved with at the BWI meetings I've had the opportunity to attend.
In the leveraged IRA you can use the depreciation much like any passive investor with income limitations outside the IRA. Take a look at Form 990-T and the associated Schedule E. Then you have the 12 month rule if the loan is paid off as it relates to capital gains.
We also have the two things many of us are looking for income streams and wealth building.  They both have different levels of importance as your age changes and the size of your account changes.

If it's a Roth the income stream is tax free. For you and me that's could be 8 to 8 1/2% in Maryland and then the Federal life, more important later in life. The wealth in the IRA can stay in the IRA for as many as 100 years if left to your kids.
Hey and if one of those properties is on the bay, you can withdraw it as a distribution at retirement age and live in it.
All said if you can create a Solo 401k leveraged rentals are not subject to UBIT.

 @Brandon Hall Great notes.
With the numbers larger in 14 and 15 and better defined I started looking closer.  Most of my losses carry forward so it didn't seem to help one way or another.
This year (2015) I have a large depreciation recovery, 1250 gain.  Is there a benefit one way or the other when you sell if you had used the Safe Harbor on a rental?

 Dave, I think you can look at Form 8582 Worksheet 6 as well.  It lists for me the accumulated unallowed losses for each property.  If you change who's doing your taxes or the software you use, you will need the record.  (Bad news it may not be the same for your state return if you file in multi-states, at least so I'm told.)  Not a tax guy, just have mine here in front of me.  <Grin>

 Agree, nice way to put it.

I like the way you staged your flip as well.
My first was a buy fix and hold with quite a bit of work.  My mistake was trying to show it before all the work was done.   It was easy in my mind <Grin> to see the finished product.  We had, I think, 14 families come by the first weekend.  I found out the hard way that's 14 that will never come back.
Then when we finished a couple weeks later the numbers trailed off.  A little follow up with a couple leasing agents and we found people do look at "days on the market".  Potential tenants and agents just assume something is wrong with the property and don't come out.  It was good market at the time, not slow at all.
We did a little staging after that.  That was 1999 and we've been lucky to have three great tenants from then until now.

Great Post.
I'm sure in your second flip and those to come you be able to shorten up the timeline.
Your planning and organizational skills are apparent.  It does take some experience to expect what's coming and it sure looks like your well on your way.

Great Job