All Forum Posts by: Lee Zap Martin

Good morning @Fyzl Atmar!

Welcome to Bigger Pockets! It's a great community and I've glean so much information as an investor here. 

Regarding investing in the San Diego area, it's great to stop by a couple REI groups if you haven't already. Like Bigger Pockets, you'll meet people that are active and may even connect on some deals!

Feel free to inbox me if you want information on a couple good ones.

Take care!

Zap  

Hello @Dan Call!

Good luck with your team building venture. I am an investor in San Diego and noticed you mentioned you've done some deals here. I'd love to chat in more detail about the type of work you did here, and your thoughts on what worked well? 

Zap Martin

Hello @Matt Snow,

I didn't know anyone in the area. My decision was purely based on research: unemployment going down, migration into area going up, rents going up, prices going up steady (but not sky-rocketing), Case-Schiller Index elasticity and things like that.... then I did my homework with finding the team (realtor/s, property manager, investor-friendly escrow company, other investors, etc...) and started going to work. 

I hope that helps a little?

Zap Martin, MBA

@Matt Snow

Welcome to Bigger Pockets! I just got back to America from an educational/ministry consulting trip to Paraguay (you can Google "Zap Martin Paraguay" for details) with a couple professors from PLNU (Denise Necoechea, PhD and Kristie Szentesi, MA). Those professors and other PLNU people were a great support for our trip!

As Kevin Fox mentioned, if you are ever back in San Diego I would love to help out. 

Also, my real estate career first started booming out of state (Nevada, specifically) so keep in mind that you don't have to be married to the area you live in to benefit from real estate investing. Since then, I've done deals in multiple states other than California.

Take care and God bless!

Zap Martin, MBA

@Chris Melton

I'm curious to know how things turn out? Please share your results if/when you do a deal - if you don't mind. 

Thanks!

Zap Martin

Hey @Asya Monds!

Welcome to Bigger Pockets! This is a great place to network, ask questions and get a pulse of whats going on in Real Estate. 

I also would suggest taking a look at a couple Real Estate Investment clubs in the area. Let me know when you're in town and I can direct you to one that's meeting while you're down here.

God bless!

Zap Martin, MBA

www.about.me/zapmartin

@Robert Blazer IV

Is it recommended that a separate LLC be created for each investment property, or is it fine to bundle a few together? 

Either works. Remember that LLCs didn't even exist before 1977, and real estate investing did just fine.

A benefit of separating each investment property into its own LLC allows for a catastrophe to happen on one of your properties (Property "A"), and it not affect your others (Property "B", "C", etc.) and only the assets in LLC "A" would be at risk.

The challenge is that this can get expensive and be cause for a lot of paperwork (I think you mentioned wanting "hundreds" of properties?). I think the main considerations are: (1) value - is each house is worth 70K or more like 500K? The more the value of the asset, the more you might want to lean on separating out into different LLCs. (2) Tax advantages [consult a tax person for specifics] - If you own a depreciating asset (a structure/house/building, for example) in your LLC mixed with a non-depreciating asset (raw land, for example) it might be easier to segregate those types of assets for tax purposes. (3) Cost. If you live in California (which I think you do) having $800 a year (minimum) for each LLC/property can get expensive very quickly. Most Californians I know do NOT have an LLC for each property, simply because of the cost. They offset risk in other ways (insurance, more strict tenant application process, etc.)...

If you do plan on having hundreds of properties, another option is to create one main company and have it file multiple fictitious business name registrations (DBAs). With this approach, each business can have the right name and branding for their specific market, while still enjoying the legal protection of the main holding company. When it's time to file your taxes, you can take the income earned from each DBA and report them in a single tax filing under the main LLC or corporation. Of course, situations vary and you should always consult with an attorney or tax advisor for individual advice regarding your particular situation.

Also, should the LLC be established in the state that the property is in? If so (or if not), why?

If you are doing business in California, you should probably have a California Corp (S, C, LLP, LLC, etc). All the investors and business people I work with tell me California hunts down businesses that incorporate out of state to mask doing work in state. Other states also have others rules (I don't know all the rules). Again, I yield to the attorney in the state you plan on doing business.

I hope that helps!

Zap Martin, MBA

Hello @Zach Melson

I have some software that maybe able to help you look up the property information. If you want to message me the address, I can send you the information.

Let me know if you still need it!

God bless,

Zap Martin, MBA

www.about.me/zapmartin

@David Zheng

You're welcome!

@David Lowe

Regarding your second question (how to incorporate) - that depends on what you want to do? Flips?Buy-and Hold? Wholesale? Lease Options?

Is it just you, or do you have partner investors? Are you married, and what's your spouses involvement in the business? What's your earned (W-2) income look like and do you plan to K-1 earnings from your business? 

There are many factors to consider.... 

I have an S-Corp, a C-Corp and an LLC in different states for different reasons. Thus, your question requires more information to make an informed decision.

Feel free to message me if you want to explain your goals as a business.

Zap Martin, MBA