All Forum Posts by: Pete Harper

What happened with the BP App on iPhone?  I updated my iphone and can no longer find the App Store. 

@Wayne Brooks

Not exactly "simple" but doable. I did this on my first property. First you need to wait for the loan to settle with final servicing company. Four months in my case. Then It took about two months back and forth with Fanniemae to get approval for transfer. Fanniemae was extremely difficult with transfer requiring changes to my LLC docs. Whole process took about six months after closing. Transfer to LLC was the easy part. I drew up the transfer docs myself and it only cost $40 to file with the county.

@Ariel Nelson

I'm not familiar with Wisconsin laws. However in Texas you can do a partial title search yourself at the county clerks office or on their web portal. First research the property on the county central appraisal district. This will give you owners name and property details. In Texas there are special rules for owner occupied homesteads. Read your local regulations.

The sheriffs auction does not clear other liens, only taxes. To see if there are other liens you can search the county clerks office to see what other liens are recorded. I was burned on a building lot I bought after finding out there were weed abatement liens totaling more than what I paid. Fortunately I was able to convince the city to forgive the liens.

Or as others have suggested pay a title company to do a title search. This gets expensive as you usually bid on multiple properties and your win rate is typically low.

@Jennifer Chavez I had a similar bad experience with a lender. I filed a complaint with the BBB and eventually got my loan application fee back.

@Kady DeWeese

Not to restate what others have said. Here is a possible strategy to avoid paying federal taxes.

Pull the equity out of your Austin home with either a cash-out refi or HELOC. Take that cash and buy a new home of your dreams in your dream location. Rent your home in Austin. With the added loan(s) you may be negative cash flow. Just budget from your available cash reserves. Hold onto your Austin property for the required time then do a 1031 exchange into another property in your dream location. In two years you will be out of Texas for good.

BTW Texas State income tax is zero, Colorado 2.9%, or Washington 6.5%.

What are your thoughts on Pacaso's business model? After reading the article it sounded more like a high end Timeshare. Instead of a week you are buying a 1/8 share. Do you think this model will be successful?

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/08/24/1030151330/a-unicorn-startup-is-turning-houses-into-corporations?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab&utm_content=algorithm&fbclid=IwAR3JbrEJJPVO7cAbn8JwMJxSq2tWGMYixHL-ANSGSOkl0i98YOaSvbgtF34

@Brown Malo

HOA fees will revert to you as of the date of the sale. You may also be responsible for past-due fees if the HOA put a lien on the house. The auction only clears the tax lien. I got stuck with a weed abatement lien. Fortunately I was able to get the city to forgive the lien.

If the property is occupied you can have them pay rent during the redemption period. That is what I did. The current occupant agreed to sign a 6 month lease. At the end of the lease we sold the property back to the renter with owner financing.

@Brown Malo

Was this a sheriff's tax auction on the courthouse steps?

The county will send you a deed in about a month. You only get a receipt the day of the sale. In Texas there is a redemption period. Two years if owner occupied; six months if not owner occupied. You can check the county tax records, if you see a homestead exemption you are in for two years. You are advised not to make any large improvements during the redemption period. If the previous owner decides to redeem, you will loose the value of improvements. The only exception are repairs to stabilize the property. ie New roof if it is leaking. During the redemption period you can charge rent to whomever is living in the property including homestead owner. If they refuse to pay the county can help fast track the eviction, pre-covid. As others have said, approach the occupant and explain what has happened and go from there.

@Ellie Narie

If you are looking for cheap timberland look at Arkansas. You can buy large tracts of land after logging for $1500/acre. I researched it a while back when my wife and I were looking for a place to retire. In some cases the land has been replanted and will be ready for harvest in 20+years.

There is also a play with carbon credits. If you agree to not to cut the trees you can get paid for carbon sequestration. I looked into it for my place in Texas. It pays $1500 total per year for our 85 acres. Not worth the hassle. Timber land does better.

@Hilario R.

We've been pleased with our properties in central Texas. Depending on your goals there are still great cashflowing properties. We haven't had the big price run up like Austin. We have property in Fairfield, Killeen and Bryan/College Station.