All Forum Posts by: Shane Johnson

Very nice! Yet another IT guy with a passion for RE. We are taking over the world. :) So what part of RE are you most interested in? Flips? Rentals? Something else?

Thanks J. I havent gotten into your blog YET. I have been too busy reading your educational tab. I am about 95% through every single article you have posted. Started at the top and going through one by one. Ive also been perusing through a few of your flips, your up to date analysis etc. Honestly, the full disclosure of your business, the ups downs and financials of it, has become a tremendous motivator for me to look more seriously into flipping. Thank you for all the information and motivation. I am seriously fired up to build my network and work on some deals. I believe with my people skills, small community, and resources/relationships in this area, I will succeed.

I have only been down in that area to Alpine Valley, and to hockey tourneys as a kid (madison and beloit). Honestly I am not sure how our area compares to down there, but Hudson is a pretty affluent town. We have oa few lower income/section 8/multi family areas, as well as homes in the multi-million dollar range on the river. During the boom, you couldnt find a single house(let alone a 3/2 townhome) for less than $140K. It is a historic/scenic river town dating back to the logging industry. 30 minutes outside of downtown Minneapolis, with a population less than 20 or so thousand. Go 10 minutes east, and the towns get much more rural. The demand (just spend 10 minutes looking at rent $ on CL) to live in Hudson is much higher than if you go 15 minutes north and north east to neighboring towns that are slightly more rural, and away from the interstate and river. This is why for now, I am only focused on the downtown historic area of Hudson. Higher rents, demand, and higher incomes in general can be better tennants and buyer market (not always though obviously). When I spend more time studying other markets and comfortable taking a risk on them, I will expand more. Kudos to you for getting outside your comfort zone and rehabbing across state lines! :) I look forward to reading more of the stuff you post, as well as hearing from the others on here. Thanks for such an amazing forum.

Jon Klaus John Kelley

I find it cool to find others with interest/experience in similiar industries. I am a Sales Exec at a laptop and tablet hardware/spare parts company. :)

Oh, and Welcome to the forum John!

Hey BP, my name is Shane and am newly vocal on the forum. I signed up awhile back, but have been busy with other things, and only recently had my passions for real estate reinvigorated. I am a 26 year old Sales Exec, college drop out, with a very passionate entrepreneurial spirt. I currently own two houses, both purchased in owner occupy situations 3 years apart, the 2nd being closed on 3 months ago. The goal is buy/hold 5 properties by age 30, (and maybe flip some?) so I have a lot of work to do. I am currently renovating this 2nd house: removed carpet and refinished original oak floors in walnut, repainted whole main level, gutted bathroom to the floor and joists, etc. I intend to finish the attic into a master suite, and add a non-conforming BR/office, LR and bathroom to the basement to more than double the finish sq footage of the home. So far this website is providing lots of awesome info on every aspect of the business. Thank you for all the professionals that take time to contribute. You will find me mostly absorbing everything there is to learn about flips and rentals, rehabing them, and creative financing ideas. So far between BP and J Scotts website, I havent been able to stop reading, up until 1-2 AM every night. I look forward to reading more and eventually being able to contribute.

Welcome to the forum, from another local noob. I am just a stones throw over the border in Hudson. I hope you are feeling sponge-like, the plethora of information on this site will keep you reading until the wee hours of the morning.

Good point, and no I dont. First time using in a bathroom. I hope i dont run into any issues, and if i do, well, I only have $150ish into it, and wont think twice about ripping it out. I did use a 2 part epoxy grout (humongous pain and sets up insanely fast) but claims never have to seal/reseal. I sealed the slate before putting the grout in, and intend to seal/use an enhancer in a few weeks after its dried out. TheI guess well see how it holds up. For now, it is just me and a roomate living in this house. I bought it as an owner occupy and am living there for the first two years more than likely.

And to add to that, thats my secret weapon. Bathrooms and kitchens, Ill spend an extra $300 for a vessel style vanity, intead of a plain "rental" sink and vanity. I also put in multi color slate from home depot, the floor installed by me, cost maybe $150 all said and done.

Just did a bathroom gut at my house/future rental, due to water leaking through 30-40 year old tile. polished up the original cast tub and used the original hardware, but put in a new surround. Besides the nightmare of getting the fibreglass seams glued flat, cleaned up, and siliconed, it eventually turned out really nice. With the slate floor and ponying up for the $600 vanity, my bathroom looks anything but white trash, even with my cheapo $130 surround. Especially with the shower curtain closed ;)

I am new to this stuff, so I too would be interested in hearing some strategies if anyones willing to share. From what im reading though, all of those requirements you list, would make it a pipe dream these days. I would think it would have to be a divorce/foreclosure/desperate off market sale (never hits MLS)? I am skeptical there are any out there for newbs and guys using the MLS or any avenue besides a wholesale/investor network. I imagine they only come along once in a very great while, because everyone and their brother who is on this site for more than a week, knows its probably worth checking out immediately to see if it makes as much sense in person as it does on paper.

Mark H. People who care about the privacy, are those with considerable assets to protect. Whether you hit and injure or kill a wealthy individual in a car accident or something similar, if your name is on all your properties, you expose yourself to a higher risk of your real property being targeted.

Here is a website via google, that forms legal entities for individuals, but offers a good brief description of what a land trust is.

http://www.companiesinc.com/services/land-trust.asp

Nancy J. , as the beneficiary (listing your LLC/S-corp as beneficiary, is better for more protection) you have control of the trust. Just make sure this document is inspected by a trusted attorney, to make sure the property manager isn't trying anything fishy, but I would guess they only have your best interests in mind.