All Forum Posts by: Eric La Pratt

Contact @Michael Perdue. I've known him very well for some 23 years and he's done some great around-the-house work for my units including repairing a garage door a tenant drove his car into. 

Thanks @Jeff Rabinowitz!

Hey all,

I need an appraisal and, so, am looking for leads on an appraiser who works in Oakland County. Knowledge of the nuances of the Ferndale is a big plus (like being east of Woodward, west of Hilton, etc.).

Does anyone know any or is connected to one they would trust to work with?

Hi @Andrew Abbott. Thanks @Stavros B..

I'm interested in the driving force behind why, of all the places in the world, you've come to narrow your REI search between Chicago & Detroit. It sounds like there is more behind it other than cost of living + affordability vs. future investment potential. Certainly I think there may be better options in terms of markets than those two (not knocking either as Stavros mentioned I'm in both).

What are your goals? What are you looking to create?

@Travis M. is right! You can get something "close" to downtown within your price range. It won't be in the gold coast - and not why would you want that, anyway? You can find 3-4 flats that cash flow in the $550-$1M range for sure. Yes, it's tenant friendly city (which is a GOOD thing in my opinion), however the landlord-tenant ordinance does not apply to owner occupiers in 4 unit or less buildings. So just get yourself into a product that will out price the people who don't care about an eviction. You want something that will attract people who are afraid of getting an eviction on their record.

I'm interested in seeing who is recommended here myself! Best of luck on your search, Russel.

I used RAM Residential - the experience wasn't amazing, there were issues along the way getting to the job (some annoying salesmanship and not returning calls), but in the end the price was right, the warranty great and the job was done good.

Hi @Christopher Franco,

Welcome to BP!

 Do you have the deal under contract now? Which part of Ferndale is the property located in? Sometimes people call Royal Oak Township Ferndale which is NOT the same. Don't forget about the flood of 2014 that some owners have dealt with by just walking away, allowing problems to fester like mold. And yes, please share the after repair value, your breakdown and budget for repairs as well as the expected rents.

I am invested in Ferndale and live out of state. 

That I get and figured as much and it, of course, makes perfect sense. 1031 aside, what about using the funds to pay for part of the rehab I mentioned that is a buy and hold? I understand that the rehab costs are taken during depreciation but is there some sort of way to accelerate that?

Not sure if this is a 1031 exchange question or better suited for another forum:

If I sell a rental property and, in turn, use the profits from that sale to pay a GC to rehab a 4-unit property I purchased in February and intend to hold (and occupy 1/4th of), is it possible to defer or avoid taxes on the profits from said sale?

For what it's worth, I purchased an REO in February that I am in the middle of a 203k rehab. Whatever I do not use of the escrowed rehab funds at the end of the rehab will be applied to principal of the mortgage. I presume my timing is a little bit off for a 1031 as I would be selling after I purchased - but I am still in the middle of the 203k so I am kind of holding out hope another strategy may be possible. In theory, if I came to the table with said funds, I could have used the 1031 exchange and would have the same result.

Any thoughts about strategies I could employ here? I purposely don't have any deals in the pipeline and so would be sitting on the funds. If I could use them in my current project and avoid taxes, my mortgage would be paid down whatever I didn't use from escrow and it would be, essentially, money in the bank I could cash-out refi later.