All Forum Posts by: Robert Leonard

@Rick Day Welcome to BP and welcome to LA, a unique place in the world!

There's so much to know about New Orleans and the surrounding area, I'll let any of the locals educate you on that. I get the heebee-jeebees when I'm there, because there's just so much opportunity! I'm just a country boy, so it's just too "big city" for me and I stay out in Lafayette, that's not really the country, but it's as big of a city as I want to be in.

Be the sponge, keep soaking all of what BP has to offer in and you'll be on the right track. My new advice to all new investors here is turn off your radio and turn on BP. If you have a smart phone, and a vehicle with an "audio-in" port, you can subscribe to the BP podcast on iTunes or stitcher (sp?) and listen to all of the podcasts in your vehicle during your commute or wherever you go. The podcasts are like short courses on all of the different strategies and that will help you nail down which one fits your preferences.

Look up NOREIA and THE RING (in Baton Rouge) to get started networking with other investors in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge markets.

Congratulations @Gareth Tomlinson and welcome to BP!

You need to learn how to use the saved search features and you can set up multiple searches for keywords like "handyman special" fixer upper" "motivated seller" "needs TLC" etc and you can also search based on DOM, REOs, Price by location, expired or withdrawn listings. There's a ton of ways to search and you just need to setup the searches and have the MLS automatically email you when a property meets that criteria!

Partner up with an experienced agent to learn how to do these searches or use your realtor association's training that they usually provide. Those classes are great networking opportunities too.

YES, Cancel the inspection. NEVER spend money on a property you don't have under contract. Once it's under contract, definitely get the inspection.

@Aaron Westerburg see your tax advisor for tax advice specific to your situation, but from an investor perspective, a retail buyer (the ones who pay the full FMV for properties and thereby offer the highest return) will not buy an LLC.

I've heard mention of this tactic to avoid deed transfer restrictions, but that's more of a wholesaling question, not a tax issue.

If you sell an asset in less than a year from the time you buy it, you owe income tax, no difference if it's the LLC or the real estate as far as I know.

I'll summon @Steven Hamilton II for his opinion on the idea?

Welcome to BP @Damon Armstrong !

LOL! I'm not laughing at you, but I just got finished telling somebody that you can use Zillow for sold comps in the area of a property to help you figure out a PRELIMINARY FMV, but never rely on or even quote the zestimate, it's going to be way off.

Look for the little yellow houses on Zillow and hover your mouse over them to see what they sold for? The date of the sale is important because today's value is based on recent sales and Zillow doesn't always have the most recent sales data. Do your preliminary checks to see if the price is a good one and before you pull the trigger to make an offer, ask your agent friend to give you some comps for that address.

If you don't have an agent friend yet, you need to get one. It can't be a one way street if you want them to be your friend (I should say business associate) for very long. When you come across properties that don't fit your investment criteria, you need to pass the leads to the agent for listings. That way, you are helping each other and the relationship is mutually beneficial.

@Vin Joy you need to develop a relationship with a realtor who can set up searches by your criteria. You won't be able to say "anything ##% below FMV" that's not a searchable criteria. You could say, anything in zip code ##### below 150k if you think that's a good number for anything in that zip code. Once this type of search criteria is setup by your agent, then the process is fully automated and won't require any effort after initial setup.

You probably want to include REOs (often at discounts to FMV) and 180+DOM as search criteria too. Lots of times properties sell for below market when the seller asks too much at first and then it sits and people start thinking something must be wrong with it. Get with an agent who works with investors and they can explain what they can setup for you.

You are using a lot of Zillow speak, "make me move" and "zestimate" which are highly unreliable sources of data. Zillow is good to look at recent sold comps in the immediate vicinity of a property you are looking at and for coming up with PRELIMINARY value estimates, but never look at or quote a zestimate if you want to be taken seriously.

I was extremely happy with my ROTH SDIRA provider who set up my account and set me up for success with a thorough education and required legal consultation at Guidant Financial, but they sold that part of their business to "idirectlaw" and while nothing changed that effects my account, I don't know what changed in the account setup process? I would recommend giving them a look. Another one that I've heard positive reviews of is "providenttrust" for setup and custodian of an SDIRA. I'm very satisfied with my account.

Buy term and invest the difference. I don't agree with Dave Ramsey on everything he says, but he also subscribes to that idea.

I've done that for a long time now and that's what I'll continue doing. I have read through some of the commentary here but not all of it. I came across this too late tonight to read it all, but here's my $.02.

When you buy whole life insurance, they buy a one year term policy on you each year to cover your death benefit and the rest goes to expenses and your "cash value." You are sold insurance AND an investment but you NEVER get both. If you borrow from your policy and die, they take out what you borrow from your policy before the rest is paid to your beneficiaries. If you die with no loan from your policy, you lose your "cash value."

I keep my insurance and my investments separate. The cash value of my investments is not affected by my life insurance. If I die, my beneficiaries get my assets and all of my life insurance. If I die after 19 years from now, I won't have any life insurance, but I'll only have one dependent (my spouse). And because I have assets that I was able to buy with money that I didn't pay to an insurance salesman, I can afford to take care of my dependents. If I die any time in the next 19 years, between my assets and my life insurance, my dependents (beneficiaries) will be taken care of. That's what life insurance is for, providing for dependents needs.

I've bought the last life insurance policy I'll ever buy and I hope it NEVER pays a dime to my dependents. That means that I outlive it and I'm around to enjoy the fruits of my life's work and I get to watch my kids and grand children become adults.

Welcome to BP @Helen Hall

@Helen Hall

@Helen Hall

Okay, @Marissa Lafleur you want advice to get started? Here's my new advice to all new BP members that are looking to get started. If you have a smart phone, go to the iTunes or stitcher <sp?> app and subscribe to the BP podcast and listen to every one of them. No more listening to radio in your car until you've listened to every one of them and you are waiting for the newest one to come out on the next Thursday.

You will learn so much. Every one is like a short course on a different strategy of REI! The only one I've ever found to include what I think is bad information is number 17 when it is recommended that you skip 401k matching contributions to invest elsewhere. That same one recommends some kind of annuity investments and that's bad info too.

If you are totally new, listen to them and start reading the recommended books BEFORE you start talking about wanting to "get in the game." As much as I don't like it, I used that term. I believe when you do real estate right, you know that you are "in the business," not a game. Deal?