All Forum Posts by: Kevin Kaczmarek

Scott,
You threw out a bunch of factors!

Have you invested prior to moving overseas? Do you know what market you are interested in investing in?

You are correct in the fact that there is a lot of unattractive turn-key and cheaper properties out there, but I think you will find the opposite is true as well.

Depending on where you are looking to invest I suggest networking with wholesalers or agents on this site that operate in the local market you are looking to invest in. You are going to need a team on the ground where you are hoping to invest, and for that due diligence is of the utmost importance.

Probably not the answer you are looking for, but its best to do as much homework as possible in a period of time to protect your future investment.

Having your PL's on your life insurance policy is the cleanest way. I would suggest if you are looking to just get a policy to cover this aspect, to talk with a whole life insurance provider, who can set this up for you and allow you to change beneficiaries. That way when the business is complete and you have paid back your investors and you are still alive, you will have built up a life insurance policy for yourself as an additional retirement investment.

When you have built up the policy enough you can borrow against it to purchase real estate and become your own lender.

Where did you get your list from? sometimes its not your postcard, its the list that has been picked over so many times that people don't have a call to action. What did your postcard say?

oddproperties is spot on with their advice. Don't over think it. You are asking for a purchase that less sellers are willing to entertain, so that means you just have to ask more people. Don't fall in love with the property, fall in love with the terms of the deal.
Seller financing is becoming more and more common. I have bought several properties in the last few months with seller financing, most of which cost me less than $2500 as a down payment, and all of which are positive cash flow when I bought them.

Sellers and buyers each have different motivations. Never make the sellers decision for them in your head. Let them tell you yes or no.

There is a great book out there called "Twitter Power 2.0" that gives a nice twitter overview and many of the do's and don't of twitter.

To many people are using twitter to do nothing more than pump their business and as a result lead conversion is lower on twitter compared to other social media outlets. That was not the case a year ago.

Bill gave a great example of what can happen if you allow distractions like a website take away from your core business. Once you have a website up and running, you have to update it, manage it, pay for it on an ongoing basis and in the end you do less business.

I know you are on the right path as you are focusing on the core business itself, so I congratulate you on that key decision.

What I wanted to chime in with, is that when it comes time to do a website, you might consider a blog before you do a website. The content is more dynamic, and works better with Google and its indexing of web pages. On top of that, the blog will be cheaper to build and will help you build an email list fairly quickly.

Dee,

I can tell you that Wayne County can be a fantastic opportunity, and Mexican Village is a great seller financing market. Just do yourself a favor and interview several agents or companies local on the ground there, ask for several references and start slow.

People will bash Detroit and investing there, but there is great money to be made there. I did RE investing there for 3 years and recently moved to Indianapolis (glad someone said not to invest there, more opportunity for me) so I can answer any question you might have with an unbiased approach.

@sdiraexpert

Mike,

To answer your questions, as I setup a SOLO 401k last year for my wife and I and have enjoyed it thus far. She owns a media company that she works in for 30+ hours a week, and I think that is key to your first question.
You have to be actively engaged in business spending x number of hours a week on the business. The type of activity the business conducts can be up to you, but you need to be actively engaged in the business. There are guru's out there that will tell you, you can buy rental properties in a new business and contribute to a solo 401k plan by putting a few hours a month in, but in my opinion, and its only an opinion, I think that is skirting on the legitimacy of the business. If you can produce records that show you are engaged in the business, any busines, for say 25+ hours, then you have a business.
You do not have to run payroll through the company. As a solo LLC you are taking distributions, and making contributions to the company, so your income rolls up to your personal tax return, so you may be subject to self employment tax. (Talk to a tax adviser, this is not my area of expertise)

Depending on your Solo 401k provider, you can take loans out to purchase whatever you desire, but I would ask you this, why not start a self directed solo 401k? You would be able to invest in rentals and other things besides stocks, bonds, and mutual funds from the get go.

Felix,

You might want to talk to a local wholesaler and see if you can get a fee for sending the lead their way if they close on it, and in exchange you can learn more about the process. There are going to be many deals coming your way if you keep at it. I would hate to see happen when all the above posters are telling you could happen. Price is not everything, and like mentioned above, financing at that price point is going to be tough.

Jon laid out a great example, ask yourself, can I go through what Jon went through on that first deal.