All Forum Posts by: Marina Draper

Hi Crystal,

I don't have much experience with manufactured homes, but I flipped one a couple years ago before I moved on to the attached houses. 

I decided to start small with a mobile home flip. I bought an old one on Craigslist, did a minor renovation and sold it in a couple of months with a nice return of about 50% on my investment. It was time-consuming, but overall a fun experience! I didn't continue with mobile homes as the reward wasn't worth the time I spent on it. You need to do a lot at a time and really have a system to make it work.

Here in Massachusetts Mobile Homes are considered a personal property, so all you need is a bill of sale. So no wait on a mortgage or registration!  The biggest downside overall was dealing with the park owner who had to approve the buyer before I could sell my house.

My advice - if you think it through and create a system that will work for you, pretty much any business can succeed. Only listen to nay sayers who tried it before and learn from them why they didn't succeed. If they never tried it, they can't say if it works or not!

I use QuickBooks Online the most, it is pretty user-friendly, but one downside - don't rely much on their tech support. You pretty much need to know what you're doing with it and need to have some accounting background to understand how it works. Instead find a person who can teach you how to use it. Real estate bookkeeping is more complex than for a regular service business, so there's a lot to learn!

Best of luck!

I agree and think you did the right thing! On a long run, a bad review could cost you more than $500. I would do the same.

Hi Ken,

I think it would be a good idea to start real estate investing on a side while still working your current job. It will take a long time until you can live off your real estate cash flow, so don't quit your job until that happens. Can you take a Home Equity Line of Credit on your house and use that money to fund your first deal? A lot of people invest out-of-state as well, where it will be easier to start with less down payment. So there are lot of ideas of how to start, you just need the motivation and the clear vision of what you want to do. I am sure Bigger Pockets will help you a lot to gain the knowledge you need to get started.

Good luck!

I am not a CPA and do not provide any professional opinion on the tax matters, but from my best knowledge this is absolutely illegal and is considered a tax fraud, which is a crime. I would advise your friend to do the following:

1. Get documents from the contractor - a contract with the scope of work, an invoice and a payment receipt

2.  Consult with his CPA whether he can deduct those expenses at all and on what terms

3. Make sure all necessary permits were pulled and signed off for the job - if there was no paperwork for the job, it gets me thinking that the contractor might not have filled out the paperwork for the permits as well

Hi Mark,

I would advice you against doing taxes on your own, but instead to find a CPA that will be a good fit for you. There are a lot of well qualified Accountants out there, do some research, and I am sure you will find the right one for you. They study for several years and pass exams for a reason, and they can save you money by maximizing your deductions and will eliminate the risks of issues with the IRS, which can cost you a lot! If you had bad experience with one Accountant, try to find the one that will work for you, as for some referrals, and I am sure you can find a good one!

Hi Brett, I would go with a HELOC if you can, it should be easier to get and with lower rates than a commercial loan. Then refinance it once you're finished and move on to the next one!

Hi Rich, I am not a seasoned veteran, but just some ideas on your question. 

I think it all depend on the area. If you are looking for a property next to a college and target students, the rents are usually higher in the summer when everyone is looking. 

If you are in a large metropolitan area, I don't think the rents will drop that much if any when the market turns, it will be just harder to find good quality tenants and have them pay rents on time. But the rents in theory should even go higher when everyone goes through a foreclosure. They still need a place to live, so they will either move back with their parents or will look for a place to rent.

If you are looking for a rental in a luxury area, like Las Vegas or some beach vacation destination, then I agree that the rents there should go down if the market goes down, because people won't consider expensive rentals during the crisis times.

Those are the things we consider when buying a rental property. I hope it helps!

If you have time and ability to do it, I would start with a flip. If you live 2 years in it, you won't have to pay taxes on the capital gain, which is huge. During this time you can save more for down payment and fix the current home. You just need to make sure your mortgage and expenses don't exceed your added value! It might be an idea to rent a room in your house in the meantime, if you're up for it.

I advise you to make a calculation for the next 2 years: all gains and expenses per each project, how much total gain you will have in 2 years if you do a flip vs a rental after paying all the expenses and mortgage and selling the home.

Me and my husband (my boyfriend back then) did our first flip together without an LLC and then we opened one after we decided to keep doing it. There are certain benefits of starting an LLC (legal protection of your assets, with a proper structure - some tax savings, etc.), but there are also costs and time required, so I would advice to start as a partnership, and form an LLC if you decide to keep doing it on a regular basis. There are costs and paperwork required to open an LLC, to open a bank account for an LLC, to close an LLC. Just keep that in mind.

Are you planning to get a conventional mortgage or a hard-money loan?