All Forum Posts by: Jerry W.

I am very impressed at your taking the time to fix it right.  It always pays off in the long run.  Your place looks amazing by the way.  I have 2 vacation rentals and you are definitely on the right track.

The massive increase in sales in small town America was totally unexpected for me.  I have been through 3 serious recessions and thought I had some insight.  I was proven wrong.  I think a lot of the increase in sales is influenced by low interest rates, but I think a fair amount is influenced by politics.  We have a LOT of folks buying in WY that just want out the madness of the places like CA, OR, WA, NY, etc.  They have had it with riots, looting, and defund the police.  I get calls on a regular basis from folks in these states asking for places for rent.  Our market has not been this hot for nearly 30 years.  I think Covid allowed them to learn that they can work from anywhere and they are moving away from places for more stability and a fraction of the cost.  You can buy a pretty decent 4 bedroom 2 bath 2,000 sq ft home for less than $200K.  Great school districts, low property taxes, no state income taxes, no rioting, commute times to downtown of 2 minutes.  The big question is whether this is a fad or a bona fide market shift.

@Steve Harlow, the subchapter S election for an LLC is literally less than 2 minutes to fill out the form. $800 seems pretty high. You can elect for tax purposes in both corporations or LLCs to go Sub S. Do not pay $800 to fill out the 1 page fill in the blank form. I would read up on the difference and talk to your accountant about it. There are pros and cons to many of the forms of taxation.

@Chase Davidson, I am slightly envious of the markets you are in. While Austin is not as great as San Antonio or others it is still pretty good. I would urge a house hack with either a lot of bedrooms to rent out or a duplex, triplex, or fourplex. Live in one and rent out the others. You could also find a house with a mother-in-law suite as well. Each of those would jump you into building wealth quickly and you can get one of those and move after each year of occupancy. Those will get you low rate 30 year loans. Usually after one year the banks will count your rental income against your DTI ratio. Good luck either way bud.

@Victor Hierro, there are hundreds of companies who will help you form an LLC in Wyoming cheaply and provide you with a registered agent and address for a corporate presence for a small annual fee. I am sure there are some for other states also.

@Lou Smith, welcome to BP bud.  Your question is pretty much impossible to answer.  Is it better to drive a ford or a chevy?  It's pretty much a personal preference and could vary from different models.  Fractional ownership without a really operating or ownership/operating agreement is usually bad, but pretty much every major corporation is fractionally owned.  I have seen several properties owned fractionally from estates where someone divides property equally among a list of folks, often their children, but sometimes others.  Even brothers and sisters often end up fighting.  You need to make sure you have rules built into your operating agreement about who does what work, what they get paid, how you divide profit or losses or adding money in case something goes wrong.  You need how and when folks can sell shares, how to resolve a dispute in case of a tie, and how to dissolve it if push comes to shove.

I have done VR for 3 years now and have always allowed pets, no flea problems yet.

@Ed Goble, just a quick thought from me to run by your attorney and accountant. You buy the property and get the mortgage. Your LLC holds a meeting and buys the property from you at the same price. There is a written agreement that it will assume the loan you took out. That is done all the time in real estate as a wrap or a sandwich depending on how you do it, if you sold it again. I have even done it myself with a separate party. It is not uncommon. The LLC agrees to hold you harmless from any liability of not paying the mortgage. Be up front with your bank, heck even give them a copy of the written minutes you made from your meeting. Does that help? By the way I would use a warranty deed to transfer the deed to keep the title insurance in play.

Welcome @Hastin Boulger and @Brayden Flack.  Sweetwater county is a huge boom bust cycle place.  Still it has had overall growth for many years.  Trona mines, coal, power plants, railroad, ranching, oil and gas, and of course shipping and trucking companies on the interstate are just some of the economic drivers.  There is a ton of area to build out there but little infrastructure.  Good luck in your investing.

@Ed Goble, the goal of anonymity for an active real estate investor is really a unicorn.  It may sound nice but is not possible if you are active.  The trust is that none of the big movers on this site use anonymity.  There is a reason for it.  The only ones touting anonymity is the folks selling asset protection.  If you negotiate and sign the buyers offer, if you sign documents at closing, if you advertise for tenants, if you do the lease signing, if you buy the insurance, if you write the checks, if you call the plumbers or electricians to fix problems, if you sign the tax returns, if you open the bank accounts, if you sign the listing agreement with a property manager, the odds of your remaining anonymous in the event of a serious lawsuit are practically zero.  Discovery of production of documents, interrogatories, depositions, etc. will show that quickly.  The good news is that LLCs and other entities provide liability protection that really works if you follow the rules.  If you don't follow the rules anonymity doesn't matter anyway.