All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I've lived in Billings for all my life but two years (when we lived in NorCal ;) ). It's one of the best places to raise a family in my humble opinion. It's super cold right now (15 degrees!), so just know going in you have to deal with around 3 months of cold weather. The people are wonderful, friendly, and personal. The school system is amazing (average class ratio is 1-18ish). Westend is a bit safer, Heights area more affordable. Not much for nightlife, though a ton of breweries (secretly it's on par with Portland for quality and quantity). I did a little side project last year for fun to give families like yours and ours some inspiration for the types of adventures you can take as a family in our state (lostinmt.com/quadrant/southeast/). Best wishes in your search!

Originally posted by @Jerry W.:

I would not recommend Wyoming for a place to start out right now.  We are getting hit pretty hard by the recessions from the drop in oil and coal prices.  Hopefully in the next 2 or 3 years it will turn around, but for now it is a bit tough.

 Jerry, does that make it a great time to buy? Or do you mean that even if you can buy now, you'd have trouble getting it rented because of the population drops? I'd heard Cheyenne got pummeled, but not other parts of the state. Sheridan and Cody are still alive and well...right?

Garrett Sutton in his books raves about WY tax and legal benefits...would you be able to speak to that at all?  

Have you been to Glacier? Kind of epic. I did a little side project last year called LostinMT.com that will show some of the beauty in MT, which is hard to compete with given the population of the state. Whitefish will more than likely be a little on the competitive side, but areas down to Missoula would be awesome, and you have more population density to sustain your endeavors in my opinion. Missoula is a big college town with a pretty good cost of living (and no sales tax), but FYI, there are as many days of sun there as their are in Seattle (~100/yr), and it's a lot colder in the winter (but you can't beat Griz game wkds). If you can swing it, Polson, Kalispell, and even over to Sandpoint and the Idaho panhandle are all fantastic. Hamilton is in disrepair from what I've heard (maybe someone else can chime in on more experience there though?).

My humble opinion: while I see the value of education (CCIM and the like), volume of deals and relationships outweighs titles, especially in small communities in Montana. Also, I think you can have SIOR title and get the same thing accomplished, so I wouldn't put all your stock in CCIM if you're an investor just trying to connect to a good commercial broker.

Also, in a real estate syndication, how does the preferred return work if the sponsor is a partner? If it's a 70/30 split with a five member syndication (one of which is the sponsor), and the distribution is 100,000, does that mean that four members split 70k, and the remaining 30k goes to the sponsor? Or something else?? I don't get the split thing on how the preferred return works.

What considerations must be met for a person to legally be a sponsor in such a syndication? Do they need a RE license? How much experience is required? Anything else?

Kurt, did I hurt your feelings? Next book up, "How to Win Friends and Influence People"

Wow. I must be terrible at descriptions. See image 7 of 8 for the link to see the nook (it's where the two chairs are: http://billings.craigslist.org/apa/5922983862.html The drawings are epic. Thank you!!! My next challenge: I think I can get the same rent from an SFR (1 4bd/2ba unit vs. 2 2bd/1ba units, and then not have to do updates: no $1000 exemption application fee the city, kitchette, doors, egress windows, lost rents revenue, parking dilemmas, and chasing down an extra tenant's rents...so...to keep an SFR vs. Duplex....unless someone can convince me the upside to a duplex is much greater....??

??? 8 h x 12 w x 4 d So, 4 feet deep. I have an 8' ceiling. The space I need to fit all the appliances is 12' wide. My cabinets in my personal residence are 25" deep. The fridge is only 33" deep.

I should add, if you're intent is flip and not hold, whomever buys will ask these same questions potentially if they're an investor.