All Forum Posts by: Jeremy Pace

@Anthony Vargas

Have you been able to determine the Trustee?

@Derek Okahashi you need insurance.  At the very least, you need builder's risk, fire, and liability coverage.

What's your plan if someone slips and falls on the site, or if someone breaks in and damages/takes materials or tools, etc?  Without insurance, you don't have coverage against those things, and if having to pay for insurance makes the deal not work, then the deal doesn't work.

@Spencer Gysi I wouldn't say there's any concern, it's just something that will happen, since in most cases the ownership of LLC's is publicly available information.

There is some argument for keeping flipping/wholesaling in one business unit while having long-term holdings in another. but it depends more on what you're trying to do.

If your concern is liability or privacy, there are way to address that as well, but that often involves more complicated ownership structures.

Let me ask this: In your mind, what is the downside of your tenants knowing that those two ends of your business exist and are related?

@Pete Storseth

Please do not give anyone $1k for information that you can get for free, in this case from reading the titles of the podcasts on this site.  There is SO RARELY information about real estate investing that is worth paying to learn, and without meaning to offend, generally speaking, if you need your business strategy explained to you so that you can do it, I'm worried that you're not prepared to perform the work.

I've seen other people offer this as well, but I'll throw in my hat too: I'd be more than happy to get on a phone call with you FOR FREE and answer as many questions as you have that I can.

I give the same advice constantly; you'll learn more if you take any money you were considering paying a guru and just buying property with it, even if the entire thing is a tire fire from start to finish, it'll be a better value for your money that pretty much any guru course ... and DEFINITELY the case here.

@Youseif Ali

The Allegheny County Real Estate Office in downtown Pittsburgh has a CD/Flash drive you can purchase that contains an excel spreadsheet with all matter of useful information, but it definitely includes USE CODE and neighborhood/municipality.  It also has Pittsburgh addresses broken down by ward.

It is trivially easy to sum, sort, and filter this data to see the kinds of information you're asking about.

@Victoria Radcliff

Google search: municipality millage rates Allegheny county, school district milage rates allegheny county

Allegheny county itself has a millage of 4.73

If you click through, you can see all the millages together for best comparison of totals.

@Mike Smith (satire) Bellevue is great if you want all the claustrophobia of living in the city without any of the benefits, as well as none of the benefits of suburban living.  It's the perfect stop for the up-and-coming couple who don't have any kids yet, can't afford a better school district yet, but they probably will be able to by the time that will matter. (/satire)

Fun aside, inventory of duplexes and quads in really low in Bellevue, so if that's going to be your main focus, you may be better served to expand your search.

@E.S. Burrell I think you'll have an issue if you call it a "deposit".

Maybe have them sign an "Option to Lease", include all the terms of your lease, and the start date.

Then say if he doesn't pay on date X, and take possession on date Y, the option is voided.  Also, refer to the money that he pays you as "Non-Refundable Option Consideration" if he takes possession and begin to pay rent, his NROC is converted into deposit monies (and a lease is signed), if not, it is forfeit.

@Corey G. trusts are not owned by the Trustee or the beneficiary.  The purpose of trusts, in broad use, is anonymity.  You are correct that revocable trusts don't offer the kind of protection you want, they are usually vehicles to avoid inheritance tax, etc.

Like I said, you need to talk to a trust attorney.  Their proper use is incredibly complicated, and it would be nearly impossible for me to properly explain it, let alone specifically to your need.

Also, talk to your insurance agent about umbrella liability policies and options.

@Corey G. it actually sounds like either you or your attorney have it backward.

I think you want a separate trust for each property, the trustee of all of which is an LLC, and the beneficiary is some other person, trust, or business entity.

The reason trusts work as asset protection is because you as an individual, and the LLC trustee don't OWN the property, the trust does, and someone/thing else is the bene.

I think you need to talk to a trust attorney ... it sounds a little bit like this attorney wants to charge you 4 times to write up LLC AoI (Articles of Incorporation).