All Forum Posts by: Levi T.

Shop that around, IMO that's a little steep. See if you can find an attorney that does them all day long, then you could be talking $200, plus court fees. Frankly it's not that hard to file a summons. Most property managers will do it as part of their service, in my experience, so it's really not that complicated. It's been a while, but I've done them myself as well, $57 and a few hours of my day is not bad, but if your not comfortable with legal terms and court rooms, pickup an attorney.

Well done @Michael Swan, congrats. Keep on rocking!

I never said anyone was wrong @Steven Hamilton II. I responded to the question and told them to talk to a CPA firm and see what avenues are available to them, and clarified it a little when questioned. That's not attacking, that's defending my stance on the topic after being questioned strongly, and now attacked.

I never said I was an expert, and I clearly can't talking mechanics of how to get through it, but there are legal avenues and structures to reach the goal as you have clearly pointed out in your post. Will it be easy to figure out, likely not, but the answer still stands that there are avenues to help the person reach his goal of offsetting the loss more quickly.

Correct me if I'm wrong; An owner draw on a single or partnership is taxed at the capital gains rate. The only thing to keep in mind is that he would have to pay himself a reasonable salary and not take all his earnings as a draw as the IRS frowns on that, but comparing that to taking all earnings as a income would result in more capital being taxed at a higher rate.

The question was asked, and I tossed in my 2 cent. Apparently a few don't agree, whatever, take it with a grain of salt, it's a forum. Best

Just for fun... if it's anything like Virginia, once the lease ends, it falls back to state law. So in VA this means it falls back to the Land Lord Tenant Act. Meaning you or them have to give a 30 day notice when terminating the lease on a month-to-month. This means if you give notice on the March 28th, or even March 5th, they will have till the end of April to vacate the property before they are unlawfully staying as an holdover.

This is simply because the lease ("contract") has terminated, thus they are without a contract, so the laws of the land ("Land Lord Tenant Act") are now in affect.

In the event of a court case, the judge may enforce some of the speciality items in the lease (lawn care, legal fees, no modifying the property, HOA rules, etc), but everything else will fall under the month-to-month laws.

This all said, tenants normally read the lease at face value vs knowing the law, so if they see the 60 day notice, or the lease says they have to sacrifice two chickens and a goat to terminate the lease, they will likely just do whatever the lease says, thus why the courts treat business as educated and give some lead-way to tenants in most cases.

I'm not an attorney, and my posts are for entertainment only.

Upgrade man, it's an assets. You have low income tenants that will trip up one day and won't be able to pay rents, then that turnover cost your contemplating will be double, or worse. Inform the tenants that the lease will be ending, they don't need to know why, then once they are out rehab and rent out, and rent out at the higher price.

Call the companies in question and tell them your buying the property and need to get an average or estimate of high/low in monthly cost. They can and will tell you. Most everything from power, gas, taxes, and insurance can be quoted with just a few phone calls.

I'm looking at some apartment buildings in the Forest Hill Terrace area of Richmond, Virginia. How is that area of Richmond over the last few years, and how's it looking moving forward?

I talked to a few friends down there, and they said it was on the uptick. I just know it was a hard area years ago as it was south of the river. How is that area for renting? Forest Hill & Westover Hills Blvd on W 47th St.

I don't think laws have changed that much, likely your just doing the standard income and deductions most CPA's in the general since, just like your likely not making recommendations to your higher end clients to buy land tax credits, or to cap their salary at a reasonable level and take owner draws, resulting in a Schedule K-1, etc.

One can take it or leave it, that up to those to consult with their own firms.

@Linda Weygant I'm not a CPA or a tax law specialist, so I can't tell you the mechanics. That's why one needs to consult a corporate CPA firm, and likely corporate law firm that specialized in this area. Just like one is recommended to consult the right firms to use your 401k to invest in real estate, etc.

Have you ever heard of land tax credits? You can cut your taxes by 15-35c on the dollar by buying them off others early in the year if you know your going to owe a lot of money.

There is a lot legal tax laws out there, you just have to hire specialist that know the when, what, and how to use them correctly.

Think of it like getting to a destination, your going to get there one way or the other if you really want to go there. So treat it the same way as you hunt for a deal. Let everyone you know that you are going to buy a investment in Baltimore, look at any deal anyone willing send you, then slowly narrow your list (e.g no MLS, no properties in this xyz location, etc). Tell any person you find, that your looking for a partner to do a real estate deal. Hopefully time you find that deal that's so perfect, you know it's THE deal, you will already have the partner, one that thinks the deal is AWESOME as you think it is, and you both will be ready to pull the trigger.

One thing. keep in mind you can always pass on any deal. Never feel pressured to do a deal no matter how good it is. There will always be another one. You will think yourself later if you always remember this. Buying real estate is like getting married, it's a long commitment. Not something you can easily separate, without extremely expensive consequences, and if it's a bad deal, it's a long bumpy road till that bailout point.

Best,