All Forum Posts by: Thomas Franklin

Gary Jouver Welcome to the community, of BiggerPockets! Be sure to check out the forums, the blogs, podcasts as well as other parts of this amazing website and like minded community. The people here have a vast amount of knowledge and are more than willing to share their experience and provide sound insight and advice. Do not hesitate, to post questions and bounce ideas around in applicable forums. Please free to reach out, to me, if you feel I may be of assistance, to your Real Estate Endeavors. Much to your success!

@Dustin Lavender The reason why you probably could not post and reply, to posts, is because your content was deemed by BiggerPockets to be self promoting or soliciting. I have experienced the same problem. You have to be very careful what you write. For example, the post you wrote may be viewed, by BiggerPockets as self promoting. 

Jesse Stemle I completely agree with Mark Poulton that you need to revamp your mindset. Negative thinking will not move you forward. If you are concerned about making mistakes, as a new Investor, you may want to consider partnering with an experienced Investor. This will help you learning how to identify which markets/ areas are good for investing, types of properties to pursue in these markets/ areas, learning how to analyze a property to determine feasibility of acquisition, the art of due diligence and market analysis, determining which which financing is best to pursue, etc. I hope this information is beneficial, to you.

NA Mass I invite you to please consider the following, from a Federal Income Tax Filing Perspective. I cannot stress the importance of finding a very good Investor Friendly CPA. Below are some things you may wish to consider, as to which Corporate Enity is best, for your Business Model as well as your REI Goals and objectives. Flipping Properties If the primary objective of your real estate business, or one of your real estate businesses, is to buy, potentially fix up an existing property and resell it within one year, the Internal Revenue Service can consider that to be an active trade or business. Unlike passive rental income, the income from an active trade or business is subject to self employment tax (a nasty 15% tax commonly referred to a "social security and medicare" by working folks). If your goal is to reduce that self-employment tax to a minimum, an S Corporation is the best entity to use. Why? It is the only entity structure whose rules allow the business owner to take a “reasonable salary” (subject to social security and medicare) and then take the remaining profit (often as much as 50% of the remaining income) out as distributions not subject to self-employment taxes. Correspondingly, all business income taken from an LLC under similar circumstances is subject to self-employment taxes. For a business owner with $100,000 taxable annual income, the net tax savings for using an S Corporation instead of an LLC in taxes paid every year can be as high as $7,500. Holding Properties When holding properties as a cash flow investor, the LLC (or LP) is generally the better choice because an LLC has more liberal distribution rules. The key here is flexibility. LLC distributions come out of the LLC at cost basis. The members of an LLC are issued K-1 Form and have to pay taxes on all profits as though it were income, which could expose the owners to high employment taxes. Also, an LLC can elect to be taxed like an S Corporation. While there is never only one answer that is correct for all circumstances, there is a general rule that is almost always the correct choice. So remember, for legal and tax planning, a good CPA will recommend that clients hold their properties in an LLC or Limited Partnership and run their businesses as S Corporations to avoid self-employment taxes. I hope you find the above information useful, in guiding your decision regarding which Corporate Entity is best suited, for your REI Endeavors.

@Account Closed In my opinion and experience, it is extremely beneficial to work with a Realtor that is or has worked, with several Investors. Such a Realtor has experience with what Investors are seeking, the analytics of a potential acquisition, the required Seller Information, the needed Market Analysis, etc., to allow an Investor to make an informed decision. In my opinion, if an Investor has to babysit and/ or educate a Realtor, this is often times an exercise in frustration and not an efficient use, of an Investor's time. If you work with a Realtor that is primarily a Listing Agent, a Residential Market Agent, etc. how beneficial are these skill sets, to an Investor? If you are flipping homes, find a Realtor that has experience, in this arena. The same is true if you are pursuing Multifamily Residential Properties or Commercial Properties. You should seek a Realtor that has the skill sets and experience in the arena of REI you wish to pursue.

You also asked, if there are there any cons to you, as an Investor, if a Realtor works with a lot of other Investors. My answer is it depends on the work ethic, integrity, dedication to clients, commitment level to create a Win-Win Situation, and seeking to build a long term business relationship (what I term "A Big Picture Mentality"), of the Realtor.

I have been successful because I have always surrounded myself, with professionals that share a majority of my ideas, for how business should be conducted. This is primarily their level of ethics, integrity, commitment to success, and professionalism. 

@Yoni R. I understand and feel your pain. I am in the same situation. In addition, I have gone through so many Miami Realtors that I have lost count. For whatever reason, many Realtors fail to see the big picture and unwilling, to see value in creating a long term working relationship that creates a Win-Win Situation. Finding a truly "Investor Friendly" Realtor, in South Florida is analogous to searching for a needle, in a Haystack. I completely agree, with @Malgorzata Sadowska that a quality Real Estate Agent should be able to find a way, to place you, in first position. 

Corey Carvalho I would propose that you interview several Realtors and ask them the following questions, to ascertain if he/ she is truly "Investor Friendly" or if he/ she is just blowing smoke. 1. How many investors do you currently work with and how many investors have you worked with, in the past? 2. How many transactions have you closed, with investors? 3. Do you currently own any Investment Properties? If so, what type do you own? 4. Are you a member of any REIAs?

Marc Bresseau If you message me, I will provide you contact information, for the CPA I use.

Richard Recuset Welcome to the community, of BiggerPockets! Be sure to check out the forums, the blogs, podcasts as well as other parts of this amazing website and like minded community. The people here have a vast amount of knowledge and are more than willing to share their experience and provide sound insight and advice. Do not hesitate, to post questions and bounce ideas around in applicable forums. I am an experienced Rehabber as well as an experienced Buy and Hold Investor. Please free to reach out, to me, if you feel I may be of assistance, to your Real Estate Endeavors. Much to your success!

Richard Recuset Welcome to the community, of BiggerPockets! Be sure to check out the forums, the blogs, podcasts as well as other parts of this amazing website and like minded community. The people here have a vast amount of knowledge and are more than willing to share their experience and provide sound insight and advice. Do not hesitate, to post questions and bounce ideas around in applicable forums. I am an experienced Rehabber as well as an experienced Buy and Hold Investor. Please free to reach out, to me, if you feel I may be of assistance, to your Real Estate Endeavors. Much to your success!