All Forum Posts by: Josh Caldwell

@Paul T. You might want to interview a few RE lawyers. Seek out the lawyers who already work with wholesalers in your area. Find your local REIA or meetup groups and ask around.

I like to use the release fee or get paid as a consultant by the buyer.  There are a number of ways to do this. They key is to ask your real estate attorney how they want to do it.  They are the ones who will be drawing up the paperwork to keep you legal. 

Not to scare you but in Pittsburgh, and I believe Philly, we now have a 5% transfer tax.  You really don't want to double close if you don't have too.

I have a herd of them on the Western Side of PA. @Alex Deacon is a great resource 

Yes, some lenders will finance in a trust. You just have to tell them upfront that you intend to take title in a trust and have them check with their underwriters.   It is a pain in the *** but it is worth it.  Now there is one other peculiarity in PA, they will (most counties) require you to record the trust. That record goes to Harrisburgh where it disappears into a black hole somewhere. Don't worry about that.  You can change Trustee and Beneficiary the day after the trust is filed with the state.  There is no requirement to update them.

This is a tricky situation in PA.  There shouldn't be a transfer tax by state law, but the state will charge you a transfer tax anyway. Then they will lien your property for 7 years when you refuse to pay.  I know that sounds really stupid but that is the way it works. The lien falls off after 7 years.  I have had multiple lawyers involved in this process and it always ends the same way. 

The workaround is to buy the property in trust in the first place. 

I hope that helps

Josh 

Looking for a FL REIA club in the

Pinellas/Pasco/Citrus county area

for a friend who lives down there

I have a herd of them in Western PA, what part of the state are you in?  PM me if you are in my area.

Not a lawyer but it is my understanding that you can do both as long as you disclose that you are an agent.  Where I suspect you may run into some trouble is from your broker.  They tend to frown on transactions where they don't get their cut.

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Come and see her as my guest, at the PittsburghREIA.com January meeting, aka Christmas in January. All first time guests get in free, all others non-REIA members are $10 at the door.

At the Greater Pittsburgh Masonic Center
3579 Masonic Way
Pittsburgh PA 15237 (Ross Twp)

You question is about cap rate but I am not sure that is the best metric for you.  There is an inverse relationship (in general) between cap rate and neighborhood quality.  You can get great cap rates 20% plus in ghetto neighborhoods, and you can get crap cap rates 5ish in desirable neighborhoods where the property might eventually appreciate (investing for appreciation is gambling, don't do that)  So the first question you need to answer is what is you tenant pain in the *** tolerance?  If you can deal with war zone tenants, good for you. I can't without losing my mind. I tend to aim for blue collar neighborhoods where cap rates are closer to 10% and where I have tenants who actually live like adults. With that being said, I look at cash flow of $250 per door as my minimum acceptable rate.