All Forum Posts by: Matt Castle

@Dana Spencer What area are you considering? 

I see the foundation of a SWVA REI club here.

@Jeremy Hart Congrats on the growing family!

@Jason Grimm In my area of SWVA, we've seen significant price appreciation and doesn't look to slow down anytime soon. IMO, interest rates might be our greatest headwind coupled with rising home prices. 

The economic growth of the Tri-Cities economy has some spillover, so quaint little Abingdon area has seen a notable boost. Very little new construction as well, so if you're looking for buy2rent properties with/without rehab, you could do pretty well b/c our inventory of HGTV-ish rentals is pretty low. 

I'm just waiting for paperwork to clear for my new agent license, so if you want to talk numbers, just let me know. 

I would agree with your assessment but I'm not a lawyer. Sometimes the MA will have other provisions included. 

If it were me, I would call the person who signed you up and ask to terminate your contract b/c you want to give another PM company. If they ask why, just mention it's been 2 months with no tenant, slow communication, etc. Generally, most reasonable people will not want to do business with someone who doesn't want to do business with them. 

Basically, yes. If I may suggest, it's a good idea to read your management agreement first. Specifically, the section on termination, just in case there were any contract expiration dates or time allowances for the PM to obtain renters. 

Just to be cautious, you may want to consider talking to an attorney about using an LLC for your rental for liability purposes.

@Callie Brown Difficult decision based on your list of options. First, let me ask a few questions. 

1. Have you already been pre-approved for a second home loan in Kingsport? Lenders can be annoyingly thorough about having a second home with a mortgage. If you can't get pre-approved, your only choice may be to sell. 
2. Will your FHA lender approve of you renting it out? Generally, FHA insured means owner occupants only but there are loopholes (i.e. owner occupied after X years).
3. Will your HOA allow renters? The answer isn't always yes.

If all 3 are yes, then I would likely rent it out. I lived in RTP for several years and have a friend who just put her house on the market yesterday (probably go under contract within a week), so I know the area is booming. Even if you're only cash flowing $350/month ($1500 rent estimate - PITI - HOA) less property manager fees, you're still cash flowing fairly well unless there is something I'm missing.

Kingsport is a much different market. Lots of older homes so you have options of buying cheap and rehabbing, but not much in the new construction ballpark. I work in Kingsport quite a bit so let me know if you have any specific questions. 

Can a Tennessee real estate agent, working under a broker, use a LLC or S-Corp for tax & liability purposes instead of doing business as a sole proprietor? I've seen conflicting information and wanted to get some insight from the BP TN group. Thanks in advance.

Apologies, I misread. I thought you were the seller/owner. As the buyer, you wouldn't be as concerned about the foreclosure process unless you didn't make the installment payments. 

Prior advice still stands on seeking a lawyer's counsel. Lots of stipulations can be added into an owner financed deal to squeeze the buyer. 

First, let me advise that I'm not an attorney and you should highly consider consulting one for such a transaction. Preferably, one that specializes in real estate. 

That said, as someone who has done a few OF deals, the docs your attorney/title company will suggest you use depends on the type of owner financing: generic owner financing, land contract, lease purchase, etc. The main difference being how and when title is transferred.  

Personally, I'm a fan of the land contract b/c title and deed are held in escrow by title company until all installment payments have been paid per the executed contract. 

Just be aware that if you execute an owner financing deal, you will have to go through an expensive foreclosure process to regain control of the property.