All Forum Posts by: Tahra Wright

@Lucia Rushton That's excellent.  I really had a wonderful experience with Empire.  please do pm Dakota with the contact.

@Matt Gallacher my pleasure!!!

@Ronald Cooperman If you bought the property already, I don't know that there is much you can do.  In NJ where a house is in a flood zone, we have a surveyor come out and do an elevation certificate (not the same as a regular land survey).  With that survey then the insurance agency can determine exactly what the costs would be. Apparently it's different depending on the results of the survey. Some places the cost could be $500/year others it could be over $2000 just depends on the exact location.  What was the process for your broker to determine the cost?  Mine couldn't give me a quote without the elevation certificate.

@Matt Gallacher  Hey Matt!  They don't need to be local to you to use them.  I've worked with and recommended several of my private lenders to @Alan Johnson.  Reach out to him!  Let him know I referred you! good luck.

@Ronald Cooperman it really depends on the area.  We have a lot of flood zones in Nj. We have to get an elevation survey first, then we submit that to the insurance company to determine the quote. Ours was expensive but this is a buy and hold and the CF was still above what our target CF is so it worked out.  I won’t buy flips in flood zones.

@Jason Malabute I hire an attorney to review my contracts even in my own state.  Nobody ever wants to hire an attorney, but the mistakes from not doing so, could far outweigh the cost of hiring one.  I will say that I have heard in many states title companies close deals and attorneys are not used.  That's not the case in NJ (there are of course exceptions depending on type of deals.)  If it's your first time def do it, at least you can ask all the questions you need to make sure you understand everything and then you'll feel more confident the next time around.  Good luck!

@Jonathan Stastny the rules around this..and how to get around this by setting up irrevocable trusts and deeding the property to the trust... can be tricky.  There is a 5 year lookback at her assets for qualifying.  My suggestion is to seek a consultation with an elder law attorney.  The consultation should be FREE, but any work after that to set up her estate properly will incur a fee.  I just did this for my parents to get the clock ticking on having their assets in a trust that can't be touched or included as part of their assets if they need Medicaid in the future.

@Matt Hangsleben this is a tough question.  I stopped contributing to mine years ago when I learned at a financial education seminar that if the employer doesn't match, it doesn't make sense to keep contributing to the max amount.  If your employer matches, I would continue to contribute, but lower the contribution.  If you do that, however, you need to take the additional monies that you now have (after taxes now) and put it into a fund that you will use for some other investment.  It's far too easy to spend it.  The idea is that through your real estate and other investments, you won't even have to dip into that 401(K) later on, so the fact that it will be far less won't be an issue.  But that really depends on how you plan to ramp up your investing.  If I were you (and I did this) I would consult with a registered investment adviser about overall wealth planning and your goals...and I don't mean a financial advisor..there is a difference.  You don't want someone trying to sell you products, you want someone trying to help you analyze your current status, where you want to go and how much you will need. 

@Joey Hernandez congrats on making the offer! You never know when they will take less or when they are just about to lower the price. Patch of land has been around for a long time. Hope it works out for you!

@Dakota Ferguson I don't know of one in Dallas, but a few years ago I had property in Houston and the management company was top notch and we were out of state (NJ) owners.  They may have a referral for you. It is Empire Industries in Houston.  Steve Rozenberg is the principal.  I believe he may be on BP. Good luck!