All Forum Posts by: Kevin George

Thanks @Carl Murray. Yeah, there is definitely a risk. What's the advantage of an LLP vs LLC?

Hi BiggerPockets!

My wife and I are considering investing in a multi-family property with her brother, Mason, and his wife in the greater NY area. Mason and his wife already rent out one unit in the home they live in and are interested in locally property managing a second. The advantages here are that we know the area very well and we save on the management fee which is huge.

On the other side, I'm sure many of these types of 'bright ideas' get in the middle of personal relationships. We share a lot of trust and I'm confident we will be good partners but we should also be practical and consider what would happen if one of us needed to cash out, if one of us got divorced, etc.

More experienced investors - do you always handle this through an LLC? What type of structure or controls do you put in place?

Appreciate your advice

@Jonathan Greene better and sounder advice than a number of books I've read :). Thanks for sharing, I still have a lot of research ahead of my first deal and this is great perspective.

Happy huntings!

@Jonathan Greene it does help, thank you for the quick response. Tangible is one of the reasons I want to be in REI in the first place - much easier for me to wrap my head around the value of something that actually exists, maybe I'm just simple :).

I like this question. I'm definitely in an exploration phase and am exploring approaches, not committed to anything and that's why I value this thread and your opinion.

In your experience, a smarter approach would be to go see local deals over the next year and find a first winner where I can be very hands on? How big of a rehab would you tackle on your first project? Maybe this is the wrong question ;)

@Jonathan Greene

Thank you for starting a refreshing thread on some of the counter points to out of state investing for first timers. There's a lot of content on it's advantages and it's important to hear about the con's from experienced investors.

I'm a first timer and have to admit oos sounds alluring (I know a lot of people on this thread may call me dumb, but I know I have a lot to learn and haven't committed to anything yet so I don't think learning and exploring is a bad idea). I'm by no means trying to cut corners, I've started a business and am willing to work hard over many years before seeing any success.

In your opinion, is oos ever right for a first timer? One of my thoughts is gaining experience with something turn-key or close to it on a site like roofstock. I know I won't make great returns this way, in fact i could lose some money on a deal or two, but I think doing this would allow me to grow a team over a few years to feel more comfortable with projects that may need more rehab work.

I live in Brooklyn NY and appreciate your point that while I can't afford anything on my block, or 100 blocks around me, within 30 miles, there are plenty of opportunities. I worked for a company that managed about 200 apartments in urban areas and have dealt with evictions, bad tenants, police raids, sewage backups personally (fun stories), but I've never owned myself so I'm trying to be thoughtful about tiptoeing in. 

Appreciate your thoughts.