All Forum Posts by: Phil G.

I hang my licenses with Allison James Estates and Homes. There are multiple plans depending on level of production. The plan for those doing just a few deals is $35/mo. Transaction fee is $360 for commissions over $2K and 10% of commissions that are less than $2K. The per transaction E&O is $65.

@Henry Le 

The NACA program is for owner occupant only...

@Henry Le 

Are you looking to purchase a residence or an investment property?

If you're looking for a residence (1-4 family), you might try NACA (naca.com). It's a non-profit advocacy group for homeowners that also has deals with banks to offer what they call "America's Best Mortgage". From their website: "Evaluation based on individual circumstances without consideration of the credit score".

Many of my flips were purchased by buyers with RD loans and I've sold some houses to clients who used the RD guaranteed loan program.  If cash for a down payment is an issue, and your income is below the cap, it's a great program.   With a seller contribution toward closing costs, I've seen people walk from the closing table, without putting up any money at all.

The eligibility maps are changing as of 10/1, so be sure the area(s) you are interested in living in are still covered.    Days to close can be a little longer than conforming loans, depending on the USDA region, though some new underwriting procedures being rolled out may help with that.  The longer closing date can be a disadvantage with some sellers in a competitive situation.

Flipping vs holding.  Is this the BiggerPockets version of Ginger vs Mary Ann?

My personal opinion:  Do what you like and what you're good at.

If your goal is to open a franchise, specifically, and aren't just looking for an investment for your IRA and your IRA is not a ROTH, you might research doing a different arrangement known as ROBS (RollOver as a Business Startup). This has been a controversial deal and the IRS has reviewed it to determine if it was an abusive tax shelter. It has determined that it is not inherently, but if that it isn't arrange correctly and that strict operational rules are not followed, it is a problem. So there's some guidance now on how to stay within the lines. And since they're watching it, it needs to be done carefully. You'll see it advertised a lot in the context of franchise funding. Here's the summary info from the IRS:

http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/Employee-Plans-Compliance-Unit-(EPCU)---Completed-Projects---Project-with-Summary-Reports-%E2%80%93-Rollovers-as-Business-Start-Ups-(ROBS)

It basically involves the formation of a new C-Corp that has a 401(k) plan. You rollover your IRA funds into the 401(k) plan and the 401(k) purchases company stock, funding the corporation. There are a bunch of rules: you must pay yourself a salary once the business becomes profitable, allow eligible employees to be able to participate in the 401(k) and also allow them to purchase company stock, etc.

You definitely need good advisors to tackle this.

Someone who has watched Reefer Madness one too many times. 

@Derek LeBlanc

Mass or NH?  I'm assuming NH. 

There are services like txt180.com which allow you to text a keyword you sign up for to a short code (the shortened phone numbers often used for this type of marketing -- they're assigned by the carriers) used by all customers of the service.  You can set up an autoresponder to reply.  You would need a keyword for each property if you wanted the response to deal with a particular property.

Truly selling FSBO is fine, but if you're going to list on the MLS and want results, you pretty much have to play the game by the rules, which includes paying the prevailing BA commission