All Forum Posts by: Anna Buffkin

Despite being in South Carolina, I have been blessed to not deal with this much in real estate.  

@Linda Weygant, I too am an accountant.  I was the controller for a foundry in rural South Carolina.  I got the job because my retiring boss recommended me for it.  I was his assistant/ office administrator at the time.  I was 28.  Also, I'm a mighty 5 foot even, 125 pounds.  I was often confused for the administrative assistant or people assumed I had a secretary.  It came in handy at times :-)

My contractor always calls me Ms. Buffkin and when one of his crew finally met me in person, he said he was surprised.  I wasn't what he expected.  My husband is my silent partner and not involved in the day to day.  As my husband is never mentioned or talked about despite the volume of business we do (they did a gut job for us in March/April), he assumed I was some 75 year old widow who inherited my husband's properties.  

Being a woman has been an advantage for me in tenant matters.  I am a small landlord with just 8 properties (though I am looking at a 6plex on Thursday).  I self manage and in 6 of my 8 units, a woman is the head of household.  I have 4 single moms, an older widow, and a mother of 2 who lost her husband to a car accident the year before she began renting from me.  I chat with them when they rent from me.  They all know I buy and rent real estate to allow me to stay home with my 2 boys.   This makes me more of a person rather than a faceless business.  

 @Marcus Maloney. I think you tagged the wrong person.  

The owner probably wants the earnest money as a show of good faith that you are not going to back out of the deal except by any means allowed in the contract.  I am not a wholesaler nor have I ever done any wholesale deals on either side of the table, but I have purchased off market.  On 2 of the 3 off market purchases, I have put earnest money down and had the closing attorney held the money until closing.  

The dollar amount seems pretty reasonable.  

I am in South Carolina. I use the 1% real as a quick disqualifier on SFHs. If it doesn't meet the 1% rule it probably won't cash flow in my area. I use 2% on condos to account for HOA and relatively low rent.

Once a property meets the 1% rule, I check the property tax.  That is the biggest deal killer for me in SC.  If the property tax is not astronomical, I run a proforma using an excel spreadsheet I made to see if it looks like it will cash flow.   I already know my lender's basic terms to estimate the mortgage amount and use a vacancy rate of 1 month's rent and base my maintenance estimate between 5 and 10% depending on the type and age of the property.

Note: I have 8 rentals and am by no means an expert.

I would just use your personal account.  I assume you are a sole proprietorship anyway.  Keep good records via Excel or similar spreadsheet software.  

You can use any of the free electronic payment options for payment other list.   A lot of people will say electronic payment only, but I accept just about anything but an IOU.  I will not pick up payment though unless I happen to be there and they give it to me.  For this occasion, I keep a receipt book in my car.  I have 2 older retired tenants who still pay old fashion check in the mail.  I also had a young deeply religious family where the husband worked and the wife stayed home and home schooled the children in their faith.  They did not have cable or internet except on 1 phone.  They were great tenants and stayed for 3.5 years, mailing the check monthly.  This gets harder if you have many units, but if you goal is to stay small or grow slowly, I don't think it matters how you accept payment as long as it is not time consuming for you, causes tenant payment issues, or causing problems with your bookkeeping.

I test drove Cozy for the bookkeeping side.  It was ok, but I prefer Excel.  I have 8 rentals.

Thanks.  I installed it to my phone last night.  I think I will give it a try.  I am always the last to try anything.  I only got paypal in 2016 per tenant request. 

@Pete M. The hurricane track shifted over night.  It looks like the remnant may go right over Columbia.  There is definitely going to be a lot of rain and possible tropical storm force winds.  I am not too worried personally about the rain as none of my properties flooded during the 2015 flood, but there are a lot of low lying flood prone areas in Columbia.  The biggest risks inland, like Columbia, are flooding and possible tornadoes.  

Make sure your tenants know to take their lawn furniture and other outside items inside.  You would be surprised how many need to be told to do this. I'm from Myrtle Beach originally and have ridden out quite a few storms including Hugo. I evacuated to Dillon years ago for Hurricane Floyd and the hotel across the street did not bring in the pool furniture.  With nothing to do and no power, we made bets on which pool chair would go airborne first.    

What is cash app and should I accept it? I did a Google search, so I know the basics, but what makes it the next best thing so to speak. 

3 different tenants have asked if I accept it in the last 6 months.  I don't know much about it and am curious to see if anyone else uses it.

This message is a little late, but as I just did mind, a reminder to contact tenants ahead of Hurricane Florence.  My rentals are inland in Columbia, SC, area, but anytime there is a major weather event I send reminder emails to my tenants.   

If you are not sure what to put in the email or whatever form of communication you choose, this is what I say:

• Be sure you follow all recommendations for the county by local emergency officials.
• Please remember to bring in all outdoor items ahead of the storm including things like patio furniture and children's toys.
• Let me know if there is any damage to the property as soon as it is safe to do so.  
• End with be safe, give my name company name, and cell number as I self manage.

Prayers for those on the coast. 

There is really not enough information to give any advice and all advice here should not be consider actual tax advice.  

It sounds like the family member needs to contact his accountant for the best tax advice regarding his specific situation.  He may find it in his best interest to hold it longer to avoid short term capital gains or he may have better use for his money to cash out pay the tax and move on.  It would be worth his money to pay a professional.

Also,  I see you are from Columbia, SC.  My husband is from Columbia, and I lived there for 8 years. We invest in Irmo, the Bush River area, and Rosewood.  I only have 1 in Rosewood, but I, like most investors in Columbia, would love to buy more in that part of town.