All Forum Posts by: Kim Gibson

 In my area of interest, properties rarely make it to auction.  The ones that do are usually unusable( drainage ditches, land locked strips only 10 feet wide...).  The county should have past tax sale results to see what to expect. You will probably need a RE lawyer to help remove the "cloud" from the title, could take a year or more, before you can sell.

 I use the tax delinquent lists to find motivated sellers.  Some counties keep a list updated of which properties are delinquent and for how many years up to auction.  My first deal was from the list.  

Many people just pay their taxes at the last minute.  I knocked on a few doors before the tax auction in my home county and the owners were just not worried about it and planned to pay the day before auction. 

Good luck.

As far as LLC structures and tax strategies you should find a CPA who has experience with real estate and small business. You could find your local wholesaler ( basically what a land flipper is) and ask about what CRMs they are using and also talk CPAs.

I just jumped in feet first.  I listened to podcasts, watched YouTube, read blogs and tutorials and just decided to go for it.  I flipped two my first year and made a great profit $70,000+(2021), I had zero land deals the next year (2022) I had two deals fall thru,  but used my knowledge and resources to get my family into a bigger/newer house ( using subject-to financing), sell my old house and payoff the sub-to mortgage and make $20,000 on top.  I haven't hit it hard yet this year,  trying my hand at pre-foreclosures.

I don't use a CRM, I'm hand writing letters and reaching out according to a criteria I dictated.  I found a CPA to set up an llc and s-corp for me. Im not running a profit generating machine.  Im doing it more for the love of learning the process and to make a side income.  

I looked into these a few years ago, I looked at one in Park City and another down in Moab. If this is an investment property then check the HOA rules. Most of these parks restrict short term rentals or manage the rental themselves, restrict age of RV allowed (must be 5 years old or newer), don't allow tent camping, have maintenance fees...

I was not a fan of so many restrictions, nor did I even have an RV to use the space.  My rule was if I wouldn't even use it then why would I want to own that asset.

Do you own an RV?

Have you stayed at many RV parks to get a feel for how they run and are managed?

How much could I rent the space for and how much is the competition?  

I just closed on my first Sub to deal. A friend decided to move but didn't want the hassle of selling on the market. We negotiated a fair price for both of us. We used funds from a HELOC on my current home to pay them some cash at closing to get them moved. We took over payments on their mortgage. I used Dean Smith, https://utahrealestateattorney... to write up the contract and make sure everything was legal.  He advised us to put a second insurance policy on the property in my name and leave the mortgage owners policy in place as the change in insurance and policy holder is a red flag for the mortgage company.  I used a title company, InWest Title-Tooele, walked through the process with them to change ownership of the property.  

I am selling my current house and clearing the sub to mortgage with the proceeds.  The new house is bigger and worth more so I am walking into equity and more square footage for the price of my current home.

I looked at lots of financing back ups uncase the bank calls the loan.  I considered Cash out refi on my existing house as I don't have a mortgage on it(paid off 3 years ago), but interest rates are in the 7's for that, yikes.   I thought about refinancing the new house but I talked to two mortgage loan officers, neither had experience with this and neither could give me a clear answer about refinancing the house. Their concern was getting thru underwriting with the house being in one name and the mortgage in another.  So my out is to sell my current house.

You may look into seller financing on the house if your uncle wants money from the deal.  Your uncle would become the "bank" and you make payments to him on top of the existing mortgage payments. 

You will have to talk to a bank to see if they will offer a HELOC on the property, since you would have title you should be able to. HELOC's typically have adjustable rates, and they follow the mortgage rates. Just keep that in mind, and don't spend your HELOC money on depreciating assets, like vehicles, toys, vacations...

Call the zoning department of the city. Utah is not an ADU friendly state, I thought you had to live in the house to have an ADU. Lot size could be an issue as some areas have a minimum lot size for building.

My city has a garage requirement for new builds, killed a potential deal for me, I wanted to convert a dental office into a duplex but was informed I would have to build a garage for each unit...

You could rent it out for rv storage or something like that.

I watched RETipsters YouTube videos and his BP interview and just jumped in.  I am in the midst of my third and fourth deal since starting last year.  I can share my process if you are interested.

I bought and sold two properties last year, holding each for less than 6 months. I worked with a CPA and opened an LLC classified as an S-corp to help lessen my self employment tax liability. The "capital gains" or profits are considered income, so add your profits to your regular income, whatever tax bracket that puts you at is what taxes you pay. You will be hit with self employment taxes on top of income taxes. If you make a significant profit- over $10,000, and want to make this a a business, then look into setting up as an S-Corp. Deduct all expenses- keep a record of every dollar you spend on the property.

Check out property managers in the area.  My in-laws own a cabin in Island Park, ID.  Similar vibe, small vacation town.  The issue is lack of property managers/ cleaners.  Lots of cabin owners want to rent out their cabins but there is a no-one who will clean and manage the properties.  There is no affordable housing in the area, no apartments, so no-one in the area who is willing to work.  Most of the residents are retired and don't want a job.  

Something to think about...

I think it might be due to the interest rate hike.  Looking at the numbers on bankrate.com shows the rate hike from January to April is 2 points.  At your asking price that is around  a $1000 difference in the monthly mortgage payment.  I know comps just show list price, not final sale price.  But I think the mortgage payment is a big factor, especially as that is what most buyers are looking at.  No one really looks at that big listing price when determining what they can afford.  They look at the monthly payment.  This is a different buying market from last summer as the Fed has changed the rates.  

Also look at your listing and decide if the photos and description are really matching the price.  I have seen some poor listing photos.  did you hire a photographer, did you stage the home?  Or are we in still in that early spring buying season and you should wait till summer to get the most buyers?

I was able to have the title company transfer mine, but it was all in-state.  Call a title company in Florida to see what the process is.