All Forum Posts by: Joe Funari

@Shyam Kumar Texas has one of the most landlord friendly laws in the country. Whereas, California has among the worst landlord friendly laws. Its no secret that well over half of my out-of-state investor clients live in California but purchase here in Texas. I recommend the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for buy and hold exit strategy. Purchase prices are low and rent returns continue to grow year after year. 

@Alecia Downing Texas is one of the most landlord friendly states. Evictions are rare and the courts have no backlogs unlike other states. I work in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I recommend a buy and hold strategy here in this area. I recommend if your considering Texas to reach out to  @Andrew Postell to discuss lending options. He is a fellow investor and my preferred lender for both single family and multifamily properties. 

@Julian Demacabalin VA is the way to go. With zero down payment requirements and lowest interest rates out there. Plus, you can use your VA Guarantee again and again. Just need to either refinance the property into a conventional note or sell the property. I have personally used my VA Guarantee several times and counting. But I recommend you find a good VA lender in NC. They will be able to work with the regional VA office to get your Certificate of Eligibility (COE). But that is easy to do to. But VA approved lenders can help with that and confirm rates and amounts you qualify for. Hope this helps.

@David Garza congrats on becoming a real estate investor. If your looking to set up an LLC here in TX I recommend Copp Law. https://www.copplaw.com/They have helped me personally to set up an REI LLC and several of my clients. Regarding book keeping just get Quick Books and learn to use this for your accounting. Really any business accounting program will do so long as you can export P&L's to a spreadsheet so that that you can forward to your accountant for tax filings. And regarding finding a good REI accountant. Find one that has done cost allocation strategies. This differentiates the accountants that know real estate investing and those that don't. A good REI accountant will help you answer write offs, deductions, etc. Hope this helps you in your REI journey.

@Billy Harris If your long term rental is in Ft. Worth you do not provide a refrigerator, washer, or dryer. You have to understand what the local market is doing. Here in the DFW area landlords do not provide those to the tenants. Nor will it give you extra rents either. Plus, the potential risk if having to repair or replace them is a risk that you as a beginner landlord do no need. If the property has them in there I would recommend you add in your lease to your tenants that if the washer, dryer, or refrigerator breaks down they will have to repair or replace at their own expense. But I would recommend you provide a dishwasher, range/oven, and microwave to your clients. These are appliances that landlords typically provide to tenants in a long term rental. 

 @Trevor Marvin Glad to help. You can do a quick search for foreign corporation or out of state business search  for those states your considering to get the fees. But I agree with @Todd Rasmussen that you don't necessary need to start with an LLC. Just make sure you landlord insurance policy has enough liability coverage. But most policies start at $1M in coverage. You can always add more if your worried about liability. But would consider an LLC once you get enough properties with values totaling more than $1M. Save your money you would spend in LLC set up and registration fees in various states initially to buy more real estate. Especially if your exit strategy is buy & hold.

@Shane Benson I would advocate keeping those assets. I would suggest that you find a investor friendly realtor in Lubbock to run both sold and rent comps on the flip your living in. No need to guess the numbers. Once you get actual rent numbers then you can see if it cash flows for you. But if it doesn't and you can actually make $60K consider selling it and reinvesting here in the DFW area once you move here. Rentals here in DFW definitely cash flow. But again the sold comps will tell you what you will actually get if you finish the basement and new fascia, etc. A good investor friendly realtor should walk the property and help guide you on what updates need to be finished to get you the sale price based on the comps they give you. then you will be armed with actual numbers. And more importantly how much it will take to get your property to market rates , as well as, how long it will be on the market before it sales. 

@Trevor Marvin I would suggest that you actually inform us in these forums the actual states your referring to versus A & B. The reason for this is that you will actually get legitimate info that will help you with your REI goals. For example, if you had mentioned that state B was actually Texas. I would have told you if you had filed an LLC in any other state that in order to do business in Texas you will need to file a foreign corporation application. But the fee is only $750 and here is the link to the state to do the filling yourself https://www.sos.state.tx.us/co...

But if state A was Texas I would recommend you reach out to Copp Law to help answer your questions regarding setting up a real estate LLC: https://www.copplaw.com/

But if considering mutliple states so be it. You will be amazed at how much actual advise from real investors working in the states your considering. No sense in reinventing the wheel. So share away. Hope this helps in your REI journey.

@Sam Fowler I would recommend purchasing a home now versus renting. Yes interest rates are slightly higher. But when you secure a loan it will remain "fixed." In a few years when you have built enough equity and interest rates have dropped you will refinance to a lower rate and use that cash from the equity to pay down debts or ideally purchase another rental. Continuing to rent only builds the landlords equity. I would recommend you reach out to my preferred lender @Andrew Postell. He is a my preferred lender here in Texas and a fellow investor. He has a lot of great loan products to help you get into a primary residence. Also, I would recommend you start searching for your primary residence now. May take a month to two moths to find a primary residence. But most landlords will let you break a lease if you show them an executed purchase contract and the date you want to move out. Because landlords know they will be able to get higher rents when you move out. The demand is very high right now here for rentals. Especially if you ensure you leave the rental property in the same condition you moved in. This will ensure the landlord will be able to lease it quickly. I will be happy to help you further with your search too. Hope this helps you and your fiance with your decision. 

@Daniel Fuentes we no were near sky high interest rates. That was in the early 80's when interest rates were 18%. If your exit strategy is a buy & hold then interest rates are of little concern as long as you cash flow. The reason is you will refinance in a few years when rates drop and/or you have enough equity to pull the cash out when you refinance. I have had many clients tell me they wished they purchased years ago. Its because of the valuation on these homes continue to grow. Especially in the Dallas/Ft. Worth market where I work. Plus, this time of year you have less competition for properties. Thus, good chance of your offer getting accepted too.