All Forum Posts by: Mark Miles

Yeah, fair point. I think what annoys me the most is that my agent tends to be very conservative re: bringing up anything with the sellers. Like, any concern I raise (and trust me, I’m not being nitpicky, I have raised very few concerns), he always says the same thing: “Well, we don’t really wanna annoy the sellers by raising concerns to them, but most importantly make sure you get that appraisal done” or “We don’t really wanna annoy the sellers by raising concerns to them, but most importantly make sure you get your insurance lined up.”

It gets annoying to constantly be told (especially as someone who has bought multiple homes before, I’m not a newbie by any stretch) that my concerns aren’t legit & should be ignored but to “make sure I’m progressing things on my end!” I mean, I understand the job from his side of things, but it doesn’t really feel like he’s on my side here, it feels like he’s just in it to get paid (in his defense, he’s quite experienced & one of the top agents in the region, which could be part of the problem, he cares more about being the agent who closed the most deals than about actually helping clients. Perhaps I shouldn’t use one of these “highest sales volume agent in the region” agents any more as high volume is getting in the way of him actually being helpful

 Thanks! There was one thing you said that I didn't understand:

> If they want to go for a credit and it's worth losing the deal over then we go for it. If they say "Well just ask", I make sure they know the seller can walk if they have another offer waiting.

How can the seller walk away? Once you're under contract with an inspection contingency, only the buyer can walk away. The inspection contingency is unilateral, not bilateral. It gives the buyer the right to walk away if they wish, but the seller is stuck in the deal unless the buyer chooses to walk away. That's the whole point of being "under contract".

In PA, for example, the standard purchase contract states: If no mutually acceptable written agreement is reached, or if Seller fails to respond during the Negotiation Period, Buyer will: (1) Accept the Property, OR (2) Terminate this Agreement by written notice to Seller, with all deposit monies returned to Buyer.

This absolutely gives the buyer the right to ask for repairs or credit, and does not permit the seller to walk away and choose another offer. Only the buyer can choose to walk away or not; the seller is stuck in the deal if the buyer remains in the deal, no matter how obnoxious the buyer's demands are. (The seller can, of course, ignore the buyer's demands, but the seller can't terminate the deal just bc the seller has other offers or just bc the buyer is being obnoxious).

When you're buying a house using an agent, and the purchase contract has an inspection contingency period, and some fairly sizable issues arise during the inspection, does your agent: a) try to convince you these items aren’t a big deal in order to get you to closing ASAP so they can get paid?, b) offer to help you get quotes on fixing these items?, or c) something else?

Yeah, it's tough right now - lot of issues going on, regulation and restriction of STR is one of them.

The below thread has basically become the default Poconos thread in this forum with valuable input from multiple experienced investors. be sure to read the thread all the way to the bottom to gain its full value (there’s quite a bit of info in there!):

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/530/topics/711235-vacation-rentals-in-the-poconos

Let's say you already own 2 houses that you use for STR. Has anyone been able to get a conventional mortgage on their 3rd STR house, with the lender accepting the STR income from the first 2 STR houses? If so, what type of conventional mortgage did you get on your 3rd house? Was it a "second home" conventional mortgage or an "investment property" conventional mortgage?

Hey Scott - per your comment above about having helped serveral clients in PA, I'm curious - did all of your clients pay the transfer tax when they transferred title to an LLC? This tax is particularly onerous in Pennsylvania, which charges a transfer tax of 2-4% of the property's value, depending on which PA jurisdiction (I believe this to be one of the heftiest transfer taxes in the nation).

There are a few cases in which you don't need to pay the transfer tax, but transferring title from personal name to LLC is NOT one of those exceptions. According to (c)(1) below, if you were transferring the property into a living trust (per the St Germain Act), the transfer WOULD be exempt from transfer tax IF you were PERSONALLY listed as the beneficiary. If, however, your LLC (which is of course a separate entity from you personally) is the beneficiary (which is what you need in order to gain the desired asset protection), then you must indeed pay the onerous transfer tax:

https://www.pacode.com/secure/data/061/chapter91/s91.156.html

I know a lot of people write on here about transferring title to an LLC after closing. I'm curious - is everyone paying the transfer tax when they do this? It's particularly onerous in Pennsylvania, which charges a transfer tax of 2-4% of the property's value, depending on which PA jurisdiction (I believe this to be one of the heftiest transfer taxes in the nation).

There are a few cases in which you don't need to pay the transfer tax, but transferring title from personal name to LLC is NOT one of those exceptions. According to (c)(1) below, if you were transferring the property into a living trust (per the St Germain Act), the transfer WOULD be exempt from transfer tax IF you were PERSONALLY listed as the beneficiary. If, however, your LLC (which is of course a separate entity from you personally) is the beneficiary (which is what you need in order to gain the desired asset protection), then you must indeed pay the transfer tax:

https://www.pacode.com/secure/data/061/chapter91/s91.156.html

We should also have a pinned thread for "new to STR"

When I look at financing options for an LLC, I see that rates tend to be a few percentage points higher. But I also see that LLC loans tend to require 20% or 25% down. Anyone know of LLC lenders (lenders who lend to LLCs) that will accept only 10% down or 15% down?

What kind of verifications do you require from your STR tenants before they stay? I'm talking about people who booked via Airbnb, VRBO, etc... Do you request that the tenants send you a copy of their driver's license? Do you request their email address and phone number? Do you require the tenants to sign a separate STR lease even if they booked via Airbnb, VRBO, etc?