All Forum Posts by: Marcy Moyer

@Michael Strachan Sorry for the delay in replying. All the marketing material should be transferable if you stay with the same company and they let you brand yourself. I am with eXp and the only requirement is that all your material have eXp on it. You have your own website, email, phone number, and DRE #. The address of the office is usually only on letterhead, but that is not a big expense. It is the signs that are the bigger expense. I can't speak for companies that are franchised, like Coldwell Banker or Century 21, but I know that with eXp it would not matter where you are. Plus, the fees and agent splits are very favorable so you would save money there if it is a good fit for you.

@Nathaniel Donnelly as everyone says, if you do not want to pay taxes you have to either have lived in the house for any 2 of the last 5 years, or do a 1031 exchange. The problem with the exchange is that in order not to pay taxes you will need to get a mortgage that is equal to the one you have now and pay the rest of the money you receive as a the down payment. If your credit is bad you may not be able to get a new mortgage, or it may be at a bad rate. Your best bet would be to move back into the house for the amount of time you need to to get your capital gains exclusion and then sell if you want to get the cash out. 

@Ronald Hayden I am not a tax professional, I am a realtor. You should verify everything I say with a tax professional for your particular tax situation.

In general the benefits are:

1. Interest on the loan up to $750,000 is tax deductible. It was previously up to a million dollar loan.

2. You can deduct up to $10,000 from your state income and property tax combined on your Federal Taxes. Previously all of the taxes were deductible.

3. If you both live in the home for 2 years out of 5 you would get a $250,000 capital gains exclusion each. No change from previously.

If you buy the house and use it as rental than all of the mortgage interest and all of the property tax are considered expenses and are deductible. However, the interest rate on the loan would be higher.

When you sell it you could do a 1031 exchange and defer taxes on all of the gain that is reinvested in another property.

@Jordan Whitewater I use Pensco Trust. They are a little pricey, but very timely and seem to know what they are doing.

@Andrew Erickson Right now the ADU rules are being relaxed all over California in order to help solve the lack of housing crisis. there are a number of contractors who are specializing in helping home owners put small units in their back yards. These would be good people to connect with to find designers, as well as buyers for your tiny homes. Just google ADU contractors and you should plenty of contractors who may be able to guide you towards architects interested in this field.

@David Kendall You are smart to ask questions. It bodes well for your success. When you look for a room mate be sure and find one who is not allergic to paint or new carpets.

@David Kendall

If you are going to make money as a real estate investor you need to buy a first home. There is only one first. You have to start somewhere so why worry about losing a benefit that you have to lose on something anyway.

@Mike Miller. How many properties are you planning on buying a year? Since this is such an expensive area I assume it is not a lot. Have you ever tried submitting an offer as an unrepresented buyer? Not all sellers and/or their agents will go for it, but some do. You can agree to represent yourself and reduce your offer by the percentage that the buyer's agent would get. You can disclosure that you have a real estate license but are representing yourself as a principal. This may give the seller/agent more trust that you know what you are doing. 

@Erik Chan I agree with @Sam Shueh. The last time I saw a lot in the 300K range that was sold in San Carlos was more than a decade ago and a flat one even longer. That being said if you do have the ability to buy one at that price and you can build on it, and it is not steep, you are very fortunate. I would not be afraid of building a small house as there are plenty of buyers out there for smaller homes, especially if they are in a walkable area. If the lot is in Devonshire or in the San Carlos Hills, it could be a very expensive proposition as the lots are so sloped there. As @Jason Hsiao said, 500K won't get you a very big house in the Bay Area as construction costs are very high. There is a severe labor shortage in the construction industry so having contractors lined up with good estimates will be very helpful. 

@Garrette Becker if the Administrator is the only heir then it would be possible to ask for a lease option before the probate process is finished. If there are other heirs I think the Administrator can do it, but again, if an heir objects to anything it gets sent into the court Confirmation process with an overbid situation so you would very likely lose out on buying the property. I have never done a lease option during Probate so I can't give you any other info on how this would work before the heir.heirs own it. Afterwards it would just be a regular sale.