All Forum Posts by: Elizabeth S.

I'm looking at a property and don't have the cash right now to make it happen. My dad is interested in loaning me all the money in order to create a partnership and then I only pay him back half of it and we split the profits.

I have a real estate attorney who is very experienced in all the details of how to structure this but want to make sure I think of all the angles before I go to her.

What types of things should I be concerned about? I own my properties as an LLC, will it be at risk because of dual ownership? Will taxes become crazy to file? Any feedback would be great!

I got my license 2-3 years ago to have access to the MLS the class costs and test are about $1000 and then to maintain the license per year is about $1000.

In addition to those fees some brokers charge a fee on each deal you do to cover the technology/office access. Realtors are a dime a dozen, in today and out tomorrow. I'm not sure you'll find one to cover any of your fees unless you work for them ahead of time as an assistant. It's worth a shot though.

Real estate offices split commission typically starting at 50/50 and go more in ur favor on a yearly basis based on how much you sell.

I discovered that while I like looking at houses and having free access to them I don't have any interest in showing other people houses, its a lot of work!!

It's always better to rent to someone who is collectible. If you your tenant doesn't pay and aren't collectible you have less room for compassion and have to move fast when they struggle to pay the rent.

Welcome! I live and invest in Fort Wayne, its a great market. Someone mentioned the REI group already, I'm also a member and it offers a great chance to meet like minded people.

Good luck!

These numbers sound similar to my area.

1. Do tenants pay utilities & are they separated?

2. What is the neighborhood like? Will it attract people who ride scooters, factory workers or students? It doesn't matter who it attracts as much as you knowing ahead of time and being comfortable working with that market.

3. Does this property have any crazy features like no parking, really really steep steps, located beside a manufacturing facility, really steep hill tenant has to take trash down each week or anything else?

4. Does it have 2 furnaces & 2 water heaters? How old are they?

The initial numbers are good. It's the other factors that make the difference. Don't buy thinking about how great it is but rather what its challenges are going to be. From my examples...I've found a few things to look for and sometimes its because I bought it and learned. I'm currently expanding from single family to multi and its been interesting to look at different properties and realize that in a lot of cases the #'s don't work.

You're paying a crazy amount of money for the Rich Dad system and they aren't helping you with these things? Thanks crazy.

I wasn't really sure how a Series LLC differs from a regular LLC, so here is what the Wikipedia says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_LLC

You have an LLC for asset protection, if you get sued as long as you handle the LLC properly than they are less likely to come after you personally. An LLC does not offer tax benefits. Having passive income offers you tax benefits and you can get those even without an LLC.

It sounds like you are thinking of a different business entity and maybe this other kind of LLC offers tax benefits (C corps and S corps do I believe).

Back to the story...if you have an LLC, you are still going to be taxed on the passive income you receive from the properties even if you roll it over and invest it in more properties.

You'll need to find a attorney who handles real estate or even just legal documents. My attorney just does legal documents and doesn't actually go to court. You can also set an LLC up online yourself, just google you states licensing, you'll be considered a business.

Set up an LLC, set up a bank account for it and then run it like a business.

Essential Skills:
1. The ability to communicate effectively
2. Story telling
3. Business Knowledge (this come over time in a way that studying wont give you)
4. The ability to empathize with other
5. Drive to stick with it for the long term

I think this combination of skills is important. You can have drive but be really horrible at communicating and you're really going to struggle. I would also recommend honestly asking people what areas you are deficient and then fix those. You need to be both a people person and a numbers person in order to find deals and interact with either tenants or sellers.

I typically accept 1 application at a time and then if they don't check out I will call the next person in line. I've had it happen though that the first application didn't qualify and so I kind of kicked myself for not having a back up ready. So maybe you limit it to 2 or 3 people and you run applications in the order in which they are received and if the first person checks out you can always return the money.

I listen while in the car, painting a property, or during any of down times that I'm alone. 1 hour is good, 2 hours would be too much, 30 minutes is too short. So somewhere in there :)

Most importantly, keep them coming! I've followed other awesome podcasts that die out and would hate to see that with this one. What I like best about about this podcast is the variety of investment strategies everyone has. You do a great job if having both men and women as your guests.

I really enjoyed the assessor podcast and how it gave some industry related information even though he wasn't an investor.

Last of all...and most important...lets get Dave Ramsey on the call!! I'm sure if we all work together with an organized effort we can make it happen!

We bought our properties with residential loans until recently. Residential you can only have 1 house for each loan, they have better rates than commercial and the same 15 or 30 year length as normal loans. It's up to your bank on $ amount. All of mine are in the $15,000-$25,000 range.

I'm just closing in my first commercial loan. We have 2 properties under one loan, its a 15 year payoff with an adjustable rate mortgage every 5 years.