All Forum Posts by: Carly Staehlin

Welcome to BiggerPockets,@Christopher Templin ! I'm new to the site too, and moved to Alaska in 2010, and have a fourplex here.

You will probably want to set up a keyword for 'alaska' or for other areas/topics you are interested in. It's pretty cool... you'll get an email anytime someone starts talking about Alaska.

Right now there's a little activity on a thread about investors from Alaska:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/86/topics/84701

Introduce yourself there, too, if you're so inclined.

Good luck with your research and spousal negotiation!

Hi @Mehran K. and thanks for coming to say hello to me and for the feedback. I can be on the verbose side sometimes and was a bit worried I'd gone into over sharing... so your comment made me feel great. Thanks a ton.

@Brandon Turner I feel ya. Almost no one has heard of Hyder and I get thrilled when I meet someone who knows of it. Our motto is 'the friendliest ghost town in Alaska'. :)

Wow @Kassandra T. Thanks for the tip. Of course I've read and applied the info from the Landlord/Tenant guide for AK, but it wasn't clear to me that the judge could have so much discretion.

Do you know why you had such trouble convincing the judge to evict in that situation? Winter/Harsh Environment/Disabled person/Vet??

Thanks for the welcome, @Brandon Turner . This is a great resource. The BiggerPockets team has done a tremendous job providing a platform for a real estate knowledgebase to evolve organically. Very cool stuff. Lots of fresh content, too.

I've listened to the Tax Lien podcast, http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/02/06/bp-056-syndicating-tax-liens-ankit-duggal/ . Information rich. I enjoyed the interview style, and thought the guest was intelligent, and fun to listen to, as well.

Quick aside: I've been drawn to the Grays Harbor to Clallam area of Washington for years. I pop in 'virtually' several times a year, cruising zillow, craigslist, etc. It's been awesome reading the biggerpockets discussion on those areas. :)

Another Alaskan saying hello. :) Quite a distance from Anchorage. Even quite a distance from Ketchikan. I'm happy to see some other Alaskans here on BP. I'm landlording in Hyder. (Southeast Alaska.)

Thanks so much for your post, Jay.

I'm imagining it now... flying along the northwestern coastlines. That has to feel like the most exquisite freedom. Google earth fly-by is the best I can match. :) I fish north of Haida Gwaii (as the closest reasonable landmark) in the Portland Canal. Halibut, king salmon, crab and prawns. Mmmm okay now I'm hungry.

Just to clarify: My SDIRA commercial land is entirely separate real estate from the lots for the food truck business. I'm glad you pointed it out though. Anyone considering going into an SDIRA should get good counsel, in general and specific to whatever strategy you intend to employ.

I had a lot of misconceptions about what I'd be able to do, but moved quickly (too quickly, in retrospect) into an SDIRA to take advantage of a deal. Turned out in that case I didn't use the SDIRA for that deal anyway, as I wanted to be able to enjoy the investment before I'm 59 1/2. It resulted in a lot of idle time for those funds. I've only done two deals with the SDIRA in the 8 years I've been in it. The returns aren't bad, but I've been too lazy. One of my goals is to find a strategy to keep those dollars working for me.

It seems here at BP the SD401k is recommended more often and someone just thinking about self-direction might find that a better avenue.

As for using those funds for REITs.... I hadn't considered it and will now. My experience with my REITs hasn't been very inspiring. But I shouldn't dismiss the idea outright.

I really appreciate your taking the time to offer insight.

@AdaPia DErrico

Somehow I messed up your mention in the previous reply. Oops!

Perhaps BP prefers IE over Chrome?

Thanks again for the welcome.

@Rodney Wehr Hello fellow Alaskan! Yes, I noticed one of the cool features here is the networking feature allowing users to see others in their area. I'm the only person in the 99923 on the BP! (The population here is less than 100, so this is not a surprise.) Very nice to meet you.

@AdaPia D'Errico Thanks for the warm welcome. Because of your introductory post, I made an account at Patch of Land, and Carlo contacted me by phone a couple of days ago. We discussed potential use of SDIRA funds there and he told me that although you aren't set up for it just yet there are some cool developments that will help facilitate that coming down the pipe. I'll keep my eyes peeled for news.

British Columbia really is a treasure. I started visiting BC from a homebase in Seattle around 2006. From the ocean to the mountains to the mossy forests, and a decent city in Vancouver, it's so beautiful. I feel incredibly lucky to live between Alaska, which is glorious in its own right, and this province.

Hello Biggerpockets Community,

I’m thrilled to be among you! I joined BP about a month ago, following a link from reddit related to landlording, and I've spent a couple of hours here every day since then. I've noticed that some of you have been active on this site for several years, which gives me great confidence about the quality of the content and community I find here.

Couple of quick facts about me: Grew up in Texas, spent most of my life there (in Austin for the last 11 years up to 2006.) I've been an entrepreneur for most of my life.

I live in Alaska now, and also in British Columbia, Canada. I have real estate holdings in both markets: a commercial bare land speculation (in my SDIRA), second set of commercial lots (location of a food truck business I co-own), a SFH, and a fourplex. I'm also in a couple of REITs, and a partnership that owns a SFH in a ski resort area of Canada. I have also done a little private lending, though not related to RE.

My main goal at present is to educate myself across the board so that I might better identify future opportunities, or refocus current holdings.

Without getting too far into the details of the various considerations, these are some toplines:

1. Consider converting one or more of the long term rentals (4 -1/1 units) into nightly rentals (tourist market, and the units are located between the post office, the rv campground, and across from a hotel.)
2. Use funds in the SDIRA: private lending, JV with a group somewhere, crowdfunding? Or, develop the lots with the limited funds available in the SDIRA. (Or develop the lots after a few smaller plays help grow the limited funds.)
3. The REITs: I've been in them both just shy of 10 years. They are worth less than I paid for them. Sell out, take the loss, and use that for another RE venture? Dividend payers though, and I like that.

And etc.

For now I will focus on absorbing the content available in the form of articles and blogs, staying tuned in to the discussions on the forums, and developing my strategy. Look forward to meeting more of you soon.