All Forum Posts by: Joe Gutmann

@Haley B. , it sounds like you are flexible with where you can move to which will make it easier. Depending what your goals are you can try the Aberdeen area, the yelm/rainier area, and you can on occasion get a duplex in the olympia/lacey/tumwater area for $269k. This is based off the listings on the MLS, and there will be other areas as I work mainly the Tacoma south to Chehalis and Aberdeen east to yelm.

Being near the water (depending where / what water source) does not mean your are in a sfha. It sounds like they went over their substantial improvement funds, but I am not sure what ordinances pp has for the community rating system, sometimes they are 5 year limit 50% of recorded value before the home must be brought into compliance (raised), but different cities use different standards. Go to FEMAs flood maps online, type in the property address your looking at and see if it is in the grey areas. If the parcel is out you would be fine for now, but the flood maps change over time. Pinellas Park should have a CFM, or CRS coordinator you can talk to for more information. This may have raised more questions than it answered, but feel free to ask clarifying questions.

Most people I have dealt with would rather pay an extra 23$ a month then 275$ at one time, to me it is a cost of doing business and should be factored into the rent.

@Dave Hodg It is not unusual for the property owner to get fines, fees, etc. Liens go with the property not the tenant. The City would have very little leverage against someone with no assets who moves across the Country. 

It would go on your record, at least in that particular city. Where I work you would become a repeat offender, and fines would be steeper and accelerate at a more rapid pace.

@Christopher Reeves To me it sounds like you need to define your strategy more accurately and follow through with it. You talk about two divergent paths. BRRRR properties and a townhouse in good condition. Does this townhouse pencil out to your IRR, cash on cash, ROI standards (or whatever metric you choose to pursue)? Can you two rehab with full-time jobs and other challenges with a property as far away as your current options are? Do you not know if the townhouse will require a property manager because neither of you have the experience doing it, or do you two just not have the time to market and manage the property? Is the 10-18% cost of property management included in your numbers as you run the numbers on the units?

@Tim Wilkinson There are a lot of questions in there but I'll try to answer a few. I don't believe on the listing side there is really any reason to hire two agents, nor do I think any qualified agent would take that deal, but you never know. 

Did the agent who closed 125 deals close them on the buyer side or listing side? How many of her deals closed at listing price, below, or above?  Did she personally close 125, was it her team or a similar situation? Has she closed any near your area or in similar markets? Who do YOU think will best help you and have you asked for any references? Will you and your father be fine down the road ignoring the letter from the grandfather/father and hiring whom you want to?

On the subject of the country girl, don't discount her because of your first impressions. she may be the one who knows your market best. There is a chance you are trying to improve your property above and beyond what your market can bear, but you need someone local to ask. You may have the correct finishes, and she could be wrong. You could ask her why your grandfather recommended her, maybe he respected her abilities and thought she was the best person for the job.

My best advice would go to a local REIA meeting and try to find people who sell a lot of homes in your area, and see what they have to say of those agents or if they have someone else to recommend. Check out on websites like realtor.com to see what has sold locally (or as close as you can get) to see what you come up with, and ask the agents to produce the comps that justify their listing amounts. Looking at the comps (if available) will best equip you to decide what to list it at.

Did you state 325k and the second one agreed, or is that the number that the agent came up with? I can't tell if she is a great salesperson and agreeing with you say to get the listing, or if she actually agrees. You will have to decide that, but some agents will agree to sell at your price knowing they will have to lower the price a few weeks down the road. I hope at least a little bit of that will help, it may raise more questions than the answers it provided.

Be careful. My understanding in St. Pete after talking with the City was that the only equivalent is a bed and breakfast which must be in commercial zoning, requires the owner to live on the premises, and has a lot of other permitting/code requirements.  I think St Pete has their code online on municode., the limit is  something around 3x per year. Not to say the juice is not worth the squeeze, but I am sticking with long term rentals until the Florida figures out  Here is something about the ordinance in the news

http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2016/9/9/st_pete_officials_co.html

I lived in HIlltop for a couple years. Hilltop, around 6th ave, and proctor were good or up and coming neighborhoods when I left in early 2016. Tacoma had big plans for Hilltop and the neighborhood seemed to be coming together around that time, may work out long term but do your research. It has an interesting history.

Definitely get the windmit/4pt inspections if your home may have any of the features that reduce the cost of insurance. The two homes I have purchased saved about 200-300$ a year from what I can remember from doing these inspections. You can also talk to your insurance agent/broker (I have had the best luck with brokers so far, but results may vary) to see what the most cost effective methods would be to reduce insurance further. I think hurricane impact windows and certain roof improvements can reduce it ( I think there are other areas as well).  If you go into floodzones be wary, my understanding is flood insurance will be going up for a lot of the homeowners (not all), so costs today may be drastically lower than they are in the future.

I would go to those meetings knowing what your goals are. After the last meeting I had with my lawyer I left with the understanding that not every situation can maximize both asset protection, liability, and tax benefits. Go have the initial consultations and bring your documents, whether you want them to form the entity or if your going to do it your self, and whatever questions/concerns you have. 

There are methods like placing them in a trust, one of the LLCs, or just keep it in your name as a few examples. Right now I am just keeping them in my name with increased liability insurance due to my situation. As I gather more units I will get an umbrella policy and eventually move to LLCs. My situation is most likely different than yours. That is why it is so very important to talk the experts so you can explain your situation, allowing them to better advise you.