All Forum Posts by: Jeshua Patrick

First you need to find out which entities are allowed to mask the true ownership under state law. It likely varies state to state. My understanding is that in NC an LLC is still an unmasked entity and all members or managers information is public record; however, there are trusts that truly do conceal that information. A visit to an estate attorney is likely in order.

Kathleen J. also, since he sent falsified documents over the internet you may want to contact the internet crimes division at the FBI as he likely committed wire fraud.

@Kathleen J. rather than rely on a tenant's copy of paperwork (tax returns, etc), ask them to sign a tax form release for the IRS, and authorization for information disclosure from employers, etc. That allows you to independently verify any information they provide and ensure they aren't lying. Also, try to ask questions when checking references that a reference wouldn't expect to verify that they aren't lying to you also.

@Miranda Poteet did I read you right about your dad building houses? If so, why not  look into buying a lot and getting him to build a duplex on it where you want? There is a lot of demand in Charlotte for small multi's right now and not much inventory. You could also consider partnering with him to find distressed properties for tear down and spec builds or building out small multi's (1-4 units). With as hot as the Charlotte market is right now there is a lot of money to be made there if you do it right as good inventory is low. If you are interested in a good listing agent I can recommend one to you. He is #8 in NC.

Joseph S. it sounds like the 1:100 hit ratio surprises you but maybe you were just hoping it would be easier. I have heard a lot of realtors and investors say that the average number of houses purchased is right on par with that. I have known for quite some time that sales and marketing is much like that. For example, the response rate on direct mail marketing is usually around 1%. So for every 100 flyers you mail out you will average 1 lead. For every appointment you wish to get you have to call 10 leads. For every sale/purchase you must have 10 appointments. In real estate these numbers will vary some on either end but you should get the point by now. For every deal you wish to make you will have to identify no less than 1,000 potential prospects and quite possibly 10,000 potential clients. That said, if you continue to work that list, eventually you will net far more than 1 sale if you hone your skills. Another fact I didn’t know until recently is that it takes 8-10 contacts before most people respond to your pitch. So if you wish to improve your conversion rate you have to increase your contact rate.

Nicholas Rice I think that what Thomas S. was trying to saying is that she would probably feel like you stole from her if you bought it from her and flipped it. This assumes that in its current condition it is worth the $320k without repairs. Even if she offered it to you of her own accord at that price with no conditions the courts would likely be more likely to believe her if she changed her mind later and claimed you manipulated her. Clearly she would feel this way based on her conditions of sale. Family/friend deals are often tricky because of this. I did a deal on a motorcycle with a friend who was not mechanically inclined. He wrecked it and didn’t want to claim it on insurance. I bought it on a gentleman’s agreement and he owner financed it. I then repaired it and flipped it on EBay a month later for a $1k profit. My roommate at the time told him what I was about to make on it as they were also friends and he got mad and tried to steal parts off it to extort more money out of me while I was at work. I had to lie and tell him I would give him his extra price so he would return the parts and complete the title transfer to my buyer. I didn’t like lying to him and he was mad I didn’t pay him the extra and our friendship was never the same. That was only over $1k. Your deal is $70k. I would tend to lean towards encouraging her to sell it at market value and then loan you back the $70k to use on a property that makes sense to you. I would also be very careful playing the equity game as markets can flip quickly and if it doesn’t cash flow then you could suddenly find yourself underwater as happened to many folks in the last crash.

Adam Schneider I think the Charlotte REIA group costs $15 and I believe they are actually called the Metrolina REIA. Alberto Gonzalez Another group that seems to have a good following is the Hobby Millionaire group. They have a lot of different types of events in the greater Charlotte area some free, some not, and some simply require that you support the host location by buying a meal. The one nice thing about that group is that there seems to be a variety of meetup types, some general, some very focused on a specific skill or area, but all different days of the week so a crazy schedule like mine doesn’t need to keep you away from meetings or activities.

Jose M. 5-6% is normal; however, you can ask for less. Was this listed as an FSBO and, if so, did you have a stated buyers agent premium in the listing? Normally that 5-6% gets split two ways 2.5-3% for the buyers agent and 2.5-3% for the sellers agent. If the listing agent also finds the buyer they get both. If you are acting as the listing agent on your property it would not seem unreasonable to me to offer them a 3% buyers agent commission. The question you have to answer is, is the deal too good to let them walk if the agent balks at the 2% difference?

With all the positive news coming out from around the country regarding how companies are responding to the freshly passed tax legislation I can’t help but think about how it is proving the claims made by the Fair Tax about their proposed tax plan and proving its naysayers wrong. For those not familiar, the proposed Fair Tax legislation calls for full repeal of all forms of Federal taxes except for the excise tax, replacement of those taxes with a consumption tax, and repeal of the 16th Amendment within 5 years of the Fair Tax passage. The Fair Tax includes mechanisms to ensure those living at or below poverty level pay no taxes, eliminates double taxation by eliminating taxation on used goods, untaxes education, and incentivizes wealth creation. Naysayers claim that reducing corporate and payroll taxes to 0% will not benefit workers, consumers, or the economy as companies will simply pocket the new found extra money instead of raising wages, creating new jobs, and lowering prices. If the initial corporate reactions to the new tax legislation are any indication of what would happen under the Fair Tax, this argument is being proven wrong. Unfortunately this legislation has been held up in committee for over 15 years by politicians who care more about their personal interests than those of the American people so we have to continue waiting for real, meaningful tax reform. I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic as well as any questions you have regarding the Fair Tax if you are unfamiliar with it. Please refrain from bashing this topic on the basis that you feel taxation is theft as that is an unproductive and pointless line of discussion and should be reserved for another thread. I would like for this thread be a meaningful discussion of what real tax reform can or should be.

Joseph S. a couple quick thoughts. First, not all agents are alike and many will tell you what you want to hear vs what you need to hear. Also, there are buyers agents, investors agents, and sellers agents. Many agents are good at only one or two of these areas, not all three. It sounds like you have done a lot of homework so this may not be your problem. Second, I used to get offended when people low balled me on things I was selling even when I specifically stated no low ball offers. I had to make the choice not to let their low offers ruin my day. I just sold a house where the buyer low balled me twice. The first time I accepted a higher offer that ultimately fell through. He came back and low balled me again and this time I countered back close to my original asking price and he accepted. That deal went through and he was happy with the price. Rather than get offended try to figure out what they need or want out of the deal. Hint, it’s not always money. Sometimes you can offer something else that will make them more comfortable moving far enough your direction. Finally, don’t let your pride get in the way of recognizing that you may have misjudged your numbers. Maybe they are correct on their face but the scope and length required to complete the project cause them to insist on better margins to minimize risk. Another possibility is that there might be something about the property that makes it less desirable to end buyers without major changes that you haven’t considered. They may have the experience necessary to determine this while you may not. It’s not personal but asking the right questions in the right way may help you figure this out so you can learn and do better on the next one.