All Forum Posts by: Chris Clothier

Roy -

My input is 2 simple things.

1. Do not try and go it alone with the IRS. The expense of having a qualified and seasoned CPA who has fought with the IRS for the rights of tax filers can not be under-estimated. IF you owe tax then they cannot assist you except to make sure that you are not over-taxed or asked to face any undue burden in the process. I know many investors who thought that they could face an audit alone only to be absolutely run over in the audit process and their proof over-ruled. Even those who were meticulous in their record keeping.

That bring me to my second point.

2. You cannot, according to the most recent horror story of an audit being done without professional help, count the travel time to and from your units towards your full time real estate duties. So if you spent 10 hours on a Saturday working on your portfolio with a lot of traveling to check on properties, collect rents, visit the hardware store, etc... the IRS is only interested in the time actually spent on those activities and not the time traveling between them. If your properties are spread out and you spend hours traveling to, from and between, it could be difficult to prove your hours spent.

That being said, each of us are only entitled to the deductions allowed by law and a good CPA or tax professional can always help you prepare your taxes to take advantage of every deduction allowed. Jon made some points about disallowed deductions that can be carried forward as losses. There are some many subtle nuances when it comes to the law that I could not recommend any stronger seeking the advice of a professional before and during your audit.

Best of luck with your investing,

Chris

Hey George,

I have worked with ETC for the past 3 years and am going to speak at their investment conference in New Orleans in September. I think they are a quality company and can probably assist you to make sure you are operating within the rules of your SD RothIRA. That being said, take a look at Kevin's responses and threads and you will see that he might be the most knowledgeable on BP when it come to SD retirement account investing so his advice is probably spot on.

Best of luck with your investing,

Chris

Brian Levredge said it right:

It would seem that this guy has a number of evictions on his record, which would all come up in a credit check. How this guy has been able to burn that many people, is somewhat mystifying to me.

I think the comments about signing off on conditions on the front end and using video to document are both great tips as well. It is crazy that the court systems would allow someone like this to keep doing the same thing over and over.

Hey Brian,

Thank you so much for your response. I will tell you though, that Curt Davis is a part of another company named Memphis Investment Properties, LLC. The company founded and operated by my family is MemphisInvest.com. I can tell you that Curt Davis is a good guy and will be helpful. We concentrate on a little higher end property than Curt and do a little more work on the front end, but they are good people who will do their best for you if you choose to invest with them.

If you would like to meet when you are in Memphis to get multiple perspectives, I would be more than happy to meet with you. Best of luck with your investing.

Chris

Phillip -

Since you began attacking my listings on here several months ago, I have invited you to contact me to see if I could assist or help with the obvious problems you are having here in Memphis with other vendors.

Please be fair in your posts and let readers know that you have never taken the opportunity to speak with me or anyone from my company about our services or properties. As I state on here many times, we have built an excellent reputation for being transparent and honest. I welcome your thread asking for information on me and my company, but I also respectfully ask that you at least have some working knowledge of a company or individual before you begin to slander them or their listings.

I have no idea who you have done business with here in Memphis or who currently manages your properties, but as always, my door is open if I can assist you.

Best Regards,

Chris

Joe in Ohio,

I am familiar with Investor Nation and familiar with their business model. One thing they do differently that hurts their business as was noted by Phillip is that they do not have a vested interest in the most important part for out of state investors and that is the Property Management. They made a conscious decision that they wanted to focus on the properties and leave the PM to who they consider experts.

As is the case with Phillip, if they do not know how the day to day operations of PM are going it is hard to provide good service. I wouldn't say they are 'chronnies" with anyone in Memphis as that implies they try to hurt their clients, but they do not own their own PM company and that puts them and their clients at a real dis-advantage.

I will tell you that I think they buy good properties in good areas, but I'm not a big fan of the rest of the model and I cannot speak to the renovation work they do.

If you decide to move forward with them, I would be happy to help you get a list of property management companies in Memphis and I don't think they make you use one they recommend.

Hope that helps -

Chris

Social Investor -

Whatever you decide, please make sure you are making the best decision considering all of your circumstances and your future. Without knowing all of the particulars, you did not paint a picture of an investor who is fully ready to go and I want to encourage you to get a solid financial footing first before buying investment property. I promise you that diligent investors are able to find deals in any market and we will continue to see record low prices for a while in some areas of the country. But, I caution you that the question you should be asking is am I financially secure enough to be purchasing for long term investment today.

There are a lot of ways to get involved with real estate that will help build up your finances, but if 15k is all you have to invest (?) and that is a hard cap, you have no room for error. There are a lot of people here on BP who will assist you with getting a good plan together to make sure you have success. When you know you are financially secure to buy an investment property (and that may be today) then its very important if you are going to buy out of state that you buy with a group that provides quality property management. An investment property that sits vacant and has run up in maintenance is not an investment but an expense.

Best of luck and I really hope you have success.

Chris

Asset Guru -

First I want to commend you for taking a little time and effort to gather some information and to be seeking advice. I think you've heard from some pretty good sources already on here and it makes a lot of sense to interview other companies and ask questions on your specific concerns before you make another move.

I am familiar with both Reedy and Revid as well as a company named Marathon Management a company named Leco Management and my family owns a property management company named Premier Property Management. I do not know if you are familiar with any of those 4, but three of them mainly offer the service to their own clients including ours, but will branch out and each of the 4 may specialize in different price points and areas of town.

I know from experience when I invested out of state that nothing causes more anxiety than frequent problems and lack of communication. Make sure you express what your frustrations are and be very direct about what you expect. Make sure you ask the areas of town that the company specializes in before telling where your properties are located. Good luck and please don't hesitate to ask for any advice before you make changes.

Chris Clothier

Matt -

We started a private property management company about 7 years ago with a partner and went through a heck of a learning curve. @ years ago we broke off and started our own property management company in Memphis called Premier Property Management Company. I will tell you that this will be a struggle like most businesses until you reach critical mass. As you build toward critical mass you will be lucky to break even and find yourself doing the workload of several people before you are able to provide the best service possible. That was the bad news. The good news is that after reaching critical mass, this can be a very profitable business.

By the way, we currently manage 714 properties for 257 investors from around the country and charge 9% monthly plus 1st month's rent and 15% mark up on maintenance. In return, our clients will tell you they receive remarkable service and communication. Feel free to contact me and I will share anything you need including mindmaps we used to organize our business, our growth plan and the paperwork we use to run our company.

Best of luck,

Chris

Matthew -

Welcome to Bigger Pockets. Looks like you have a good plan for building some cash. Bottom line is start doing something. Building a buyers list, making offers on properties, meeting with other investors who could possibly help mentor you. Just don't be paralyzed. You can do it and absolutely be successful - just get started!

Best of Luck - if I can help with advice or deals just let me know.

Chris