All Forum Posts by: Mike S.

@Matthew Meikle

If you are purchasing cash I would buy it under the LLC name. However if you made your offer under you own name, make sure to amend it to put your LLC instead as it may create problem at closing.

@Carlos C.

What are you looking for? Just registering your LLC with the state? Which state?

Don’t expect any of these firms to provide you with a good operating agreement. You would need a lawyer to develop it based on your specific needs and goals. The one these firms provide is very generic.

In addition to registering the LLC with the state (something you can do yourself) these companies offer services that you may need or want:

- registered agent: If you don’t live in the state or can’t be your own registered agent you would need this service.

- business address: some will offer different level of mail forwarding/virtual office service

- nominee service: if you need anonymity, in some state you can have your filing agent register the LLC with its name on the filing, keeping yours out of public record

Based on the services you need, choose the cheapest provider that fulfill your requirements for the state you seek.

Some state will have you hold on the personal property until probate is done or a mandatory two months, whatever is less.
Also be very careful, who, if any, you should authorized to enter the property. I have heard many stories of estranged family members cleaning up the apartment, discovering later on that they had no right to the estate.
As suggested, check with a lawyer to see the specifics in you state.

When I got my real estate license in Florida I got inundated by emails from Broker wanting me to work for them. Some of them are online brokers that only charge you very little fee and don't require any minimum work hours.

However, in your situation, selling your own property and also being the selling agent may cause some conflict for your broker. Of course you will save some of the selling fee, but be careful about the mandatory disclosure and the additional liability risk that you are taking. What I have seen often done is that for your own personal property, you will use another agent from your broker to represent you. As an employee of the same company, they won't charge you anything for it as a job perk, with the understanding that you may in the future have to represent one of your colleague in the same situation.

As a buyer however, I have been using my license to get my commission (or a rebated one as an incentive to get the deal), for my investment properties. Again you have to disclose that you are the agent and principal.

In Florida, when you own a tax certificate older than 2 years, you can force that property to be sold at auction. Owning the tax certificate does not give you any advantage over anyone else to win that auction. The price you paid to get it to auction (your tax certificate, plus the redemption of all other certificates, plus the tax deed and auction fees) will only set the opening bid price. If no one else bid then you will own the property. If someone else bid, then you will get reimbursed your fees.

Tax certificate is NOT a way to get ownership of property in Florida. It is just a vehicle to earn interest (from a minimum of 5% to a maximum face value of 18% APY).

Most tax certificate sold at auction will be won by the lowest bidder and most of certificates will be sold with an APY of 0.25%. Especially in Miami Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the number of bidder is huge. You can still get some 18% tax certificate over the counter out of auction (unpaid bid, or homestead properties going over the $250 threshold), but they are few and need a lot of background work for a very small total reward vs time invested.

If you want to own properties, then better focus on the tax deed auctions. You would need to do your due diligence and research each property very deeply as some local lien won't be revealed without a deep dive with local code enforcement. However, there are rarely very good deal to make for investors in these counties as a lot of private buyers are bidding up the price.

You will have better chances in smaller counties where the competition is less fierce.

Cozy.co also is listing your rentals on multiple sites and will offer background check in addition to automatic ACH for rent payment.

For my self directed IRA with a checkbook LLC, I am using SunWest Trust. The fees are low and so far I have had no issue with them.

After a good wash of floors/walls, use an ozone generator to get rid of the smell.

@Carlos C.

Try also Anderson’s advisor. They offer a free phone consultation. Their price structure is probably different but I would use any free consultation available with all law firms that are specialized in asset protection before deciding what structure to use.

Also this firm and one it’s lawyer (Clint Coons) have great YouTube channels that will give you a plenty of free information to educate yourself about some of the structure that you may consider. These hours of training is invaluable to help you decide.

Anyway, both companies have great reputation and are well knowledgeable in the real estate asset protection arena.

@BOB CRANEY

DO NOT CALL the police if the tenant refuses you entry. It is a civil matter and the police has no business documenting your civil issue. If you need a third party then have a third party present who would be able to testify in court if the time come. The police won’t be your third party and if you ask them to respond you will piss them off and loose any goodwill that they can provide when you really need them.

Call the police however if you have a physical fight with your tenant or any other CRIMINAL activity on your property.