All Forum Posts by: Marylin OShea

 Hi from Annapolis - as an agent, I focus on Anne Arundel county, please message me what you're after and I'll share my experience with you. I'm a buy & hold inventor also (duplex in Eastport). Hope to hear from you! Also: I recommend the BWI Investors Meetup. I made some good contacts there!

Thanks for the feedback, this is really helpful. I was contacted by Zillow to buy their leads and was immediately turned off by the commitment both in $ and time. I'd never spend this much money without a trial period (happy to pay for it, but only for a test run!).

Hi @Ilya Z., you got a lot of really good advice here! 

To answer your question about the area or type of property, yes, you can make the agreement more restrictive that way, and it is obviously better to talk this through with the agent before you sign the agreement. (But you're not stuck here! Read on...)

In Maryland, the standard Coldwell Banker representation agreement reads: "The Buyer seeks the following type of property: _____________" So here you could state the county, price range, property type to restrict the "specialty" you're shopping for with a particular agent.

Also the duration is totally up to you, so don't hesitate to write it up for a day, or a week. Again for the brokerage I work with, it looks like this: "This agreement shall be effective on _______ (mm/dd/yyyy) and shall continue until midnight on _______(mm/dd/yyyy)" and understand that you're tied to the agent for properties shown to you by her/him during that time. This protects the agent for her/his time, and gives you the flexibility you need. Some agents may be reluctant to do this, hopefully they're interested in building a long term relationship with their investor clients over time.

That being said, you can cancel the agreement in writing pretty easily, and that's clearly stated in the same paragraph of the agreement on the first page: (hopefully your agreement has something very similar)

"Broker by giving written notice to Buyer may terminate this Contract, which termination shall be effective at midnight one(1) day following Buyer’s receipt of notification from Broker. Buyer by giving written notice to Broker may terminate this Contract, which termination shall be effective one (1) day following Brokers’ receipt of notification from Buyer. Buyer and Broker may terminate this agreement at any time by mutual written agreement."

So if you want out, send a written letter to the brokerage with delivery confirmation. Ideally you've explained your reasons to the agent beforehand. No agent want to "force" any client to work with them, that's just not the business we are in :) 

One other thing, I agree that generally agents have access to the same information via the MLS. However I believe that there are many non MLS listing that are pre-sold before they hit the market. It's the case in Annapolis, we have our CB sales meeting weekly during which we announce listings before they're published anywhere. Same goes for "investor specials". Find the agent that will give you the inside scoop!

One other resource I use is the Facebook group "Baltimore Investors Network"

https://www.facebook.com/groups/358674524275464/?f...

Good luck!

Hiya!

I'm a buy & hold investor in Annapolis, MD. 

Just gave up W-2 income this year to become a 1099, and I'm trying to apply leverage on real estate I already own: my primary residence. (It will take another year or so before I can show a solid rental history on my first rental purchased last year; until then I won't qualify for another mortgage).

I started construction on an accessory dwelling unit in my back yard, a carriage house (aka a large shed) that will become a not-so-tiny house. I pulled permits, hired a general contractor, will get rental license and pay all applicable occupancy taxes, etc. 

The project is well underway and should be completed at the end of this month. Because of the required underpinning of the structure and the high-end positioning of this rehab (full bath, full kitchen), I'm looking at approximately $70K.

I've set up an LLC #1 for my first rental last year (managed on my own), and another LLC #2 this year for my real estate business since I became an agent.

My questions are:

- would it be OK to place my AirBnB business in progress under LLC #1?

- are the improvement costs on the AirBnB dwelling ($70K) a deductible expense, and can they all be deducted in year 1, i.e. 2018?

- does LLC #1 needs to be taxed as an S-corp for me to enjoy 100% of the passive income deduction against my income (AGI over $150K in 2018 due to a job termination severance + consulting + solid agent commission). I will only enjoy this high income level this year, and haven't withheld all taxes yet. Hence trying to reap the benefits of ongoing business investments THIS year... Next year will be a completely different story.

Thanks in advance for all your help. Looking for some clarity before I talk to a professional.

I won't be using the same CPA I hired for the first time last year, as he missed a few things that are going to cost me dearly. And didn't care for his "bedside manners". If you think you know who is the best resource to assist me, happy to hear your recommendations.

Cheers!

Hi @Adam Heffelfinger, I was an investor before I became an agent this year, and would be happy to help you find your next house hack! Multi-families are pretty rare around here, but there are some alternative that may suit you. Let's chat. Please message me and we can trade contact info.

M

Hi there

I just became a 1099 and I am not eligible for a loan for a while, regardless of my current assets in retirements funds. How do you find hard money lenders?

What are my other options? Family/friends isn't an option for me, and I don't want to go the self directed IRA route because there are too many benefits I can't give up on (loss of passive loss deduction, can't do work int the rental myself, can't even save on commission as a real estate agent apparently).

Thanks for your thoughts. I have just found a great deal and need to hurry up to make it happen!

@Drew Sing I ended up buying a SFH instead of the "potential duplex". Looking into it further, I quicky learned that zoned R2 doesn't mean you can turn a single occupancy property into two dwellings. There are lots of rules and a quick call to the office of zoning and planning avoided a costly mistake!

Blah I hated that Keller book. 

Good real estate agents 1) love real estate (cause they'll spent a LOT of their time doing it!), 2) care about their clients, 3) followup, 4) put a lot of time and effort into lead generation. 

I'm two months in, I talk to people around me all the time. I listen. I try to find my own way, and I read a lot, ask questions from seasoned agents & my mentor, and then I show up!

Landed two listing appointments already. Luck of the beginner?

Luck shows up when you're prepared :) 

I second @Maria McCreless because a lot of your success depends on your ability to respond quickly to enquiries. Lots of agents also spend a good bit of their time continually learning, studying properties on the market, taking classes to perfect their understanding of new laws (hello, smoke alarms in Maryland!!), and ... wait for it ... making a LOT of contacts to fill their pipeline. This industry is demanding, deals don't just land in your lap.

I wasn't sure I'd get into it full time, but for now I am, and I think it is a big challenge if you've got another job competing for your attention - especially at the beginning. Not impossible. But considerably harder.

Best of success to you!

Hey @Terry McAllister, I feel your pain, I went the online route because it was more flexible. I managed to do it in 3 weeks. Then I starting wondering the same thing as you, about getting exam-ready. I didn't buy anything else, I felt this class should be enough and for me, it was. As you go along, identify the questions that caused you difficulty, then re-test those sections at the end. 

I asked the lady who administered the class test and she told me I logged 52 hours on this thing. She said on average people who come to test spend 80 hours on it.

(on the second pass of the easy sections, like math in my case, I wrote down the answers when I got them right easily on the first go around. Helped shave some of the time off...)

It all depends on your comfort level. But redoing the same test questions over and over should suffice.

Good luck -- you're almost there!