All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Vishal Didwania

@Joel Florek

Without knowing the specific address, it is difficult to comment.  Going by your locates, sounds like you are in the 46601 zipcode which is erratic especially near downtown. Lots of old dilapidated stock and historic homes that need work. If it was built in '99 it is probably a Habitat for Humanity tear-down and rebuild. Some investors are putting money into the old stock and there are even some new builds in the area but it is still far from turning the corner in values, desirability and tenant quality. 

Unless you have a really good (and tough) Property Manager to deal with the rental demographic in this general area, I would pass on this IMO. For your first time around, $50K in South Bend/Mishawaka can get you a 3/1 in better area, better tenant quality, around $850.00/mo rent or more and $1,000.00+/- in property taxes.

You can PM me the details or call me to discuss.

@Joe Kim

Too bad, they must have closed shop. Was it on Grape Rd?

@Shanna Cox

The first thing you should do before you waste a lot of time is call the Planning and Zoning Department in the jurisdiction you plan on doing this and ask them what the commercial zoning classes are.

You cannot just switch the use of a property without getting zoning involved if you want to do it right. Depending on the jurisdiction, commercial zoning may have several classes and only certain types of use are allowed. Some allow multiple uses, some only allow specific uses. 

For example say they have C1, C2, C3 and C4. C1 may allow a property to be used as a day care, restaurant, bank, florist shop, bed and breakfast etc. but NO multifamily. C2 may allow everything under C1 and then some e.g. a shopping center but still NO multifamily. C3 may allow everything under C1, C2 and then some including multifamily. C4 may only allow gas stations with underground tanks.

In my example, if something you are looking at is currently zoned C3 but is currently being used as a bank, you know that you can convert it to multifamily of course with zoning's approval. 

However if you are looking at something zoned C1, you cannot convert the use without applying for a zoning variance or a conditional use.....which can be a long bureaucratic process to get approval and you may still get denied.

@Joe Kim

I googled it and found a Spaghetti Joes Italian Restaurant located at 26222 Edison Rd; South Bend, Indiana 46628. They have a Facebook page with a phone number (I just found out that posting a phone number outside of the marketplace is prohibited since the BP system kicked back my post with the number).  I have never been there. 

If it's them, maybe you can call them and bribe them with the 6 telephone size books of tax and reg books if you still have them and have no use for them, assure them they will be very valuable someday as a relic of historic tax code and exchange them for the recipe :)

@Joe Kim

I was certainly not diminishing other professionals, lol. 

I was just saying that it appears that Dave has to go through a new telephone directory sized book every single year that is loaded with new regulations or changes to this and that and revisions of this and that from everyone's favorite publisher - the IRS. How much fun is that :)

This is every year in addition to the original telephone books he probably had to go through to get the certification the first time round.

@Sarah Williams

You can check the following for loans in the $50K +/- range. Most are local. Two are regional. The national outfits were not much help as far as I can remember so I did not include any. 

I compiled this list a little over a year ago for potential low amount lenders in the Northern Indiana area more specifically - South Bend, Mishawaka, Osceola, Granger, New Carlisle and St. Joseph County, IN at large.

Local shops:

1. Centier Bank - https://www.centier.com/

2. First Federal Savings Bank - https://www.firstfederalbanking.com/

3. 1st Source Bank - https://www.1stsource.com/

4. First State Bank -https://www.fsbmiddlebury.com/

5. Lake City Bank - https://www.lakecitybank.com/

6. Mutual Bank - https://www.bankwithmutual.com/

7. NotreDame Federal Credit Union - https://notredamefcu.com/

8. Teachers Credit Union - https://www.tcunet.com/

Regional shops:

1. Key Bank - https://www.key.com/business/index.jsp

2. Old National Bank - https://www.oldnational.com/

@Sharita S.

@Shawn Pottschmidt

I second Dave Nieset. He is a member of the local REIA and is usually our speaker around November to give us insights to prepare for year end taxes.

Dave is actually an Enrolled Agent ....same as @Steven Hamilton II .

Forgive me if you already know this but if you don't, Enrolled Agents are the only federally licensed tax practitioners who specialize in taxation and also have unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS. 

“Enrolled” means to be licensed to practice by the federal government, and “Agent” means authorized to appear in the place of the taxpayer at the IRS. Only enrolled agents, attorneys, and CPAs have unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Unlike attorneys and CPAs, who are state licensed and who may or may not choose to specialize in taxes, all enrolled agents specialize in taxation and they are licensed at the federal level and can represent taxpayers in all 50 states.

Enrolled Agents know their stuff.  Hats off to both Dave and Steve Hamilton II. They have to go through a book almost the size of the old telephone directories every year I believe just to keep up with all the new "goodies" the IRS comes up with. Dave has brought a copy to the meeting the last two times he spoke.

You should be in good hands with either of these two gentlemen.

@Sean Edward O'Brien For the South Bend/Mishawaka area, the Aardvark name has been tossed around at our REIA on more than one occasion in a positive light mostly in relation to pest control. Actually, some of their reps spoke at our REIA meeting in February this year on the subject of mold and radon.

They are a multi-faceted company doing pest control, mold, radon, termite inspection/treatment and a couple of other things.

They also have a home inspection division. http://aardvarkinspect.com/

@Dean M. You are welcome.

It is pretty cool how many features Google Voice offers for free. I think one of the ones I like the most is call blocking.

I can give out my number without fear of misuse because if someone becomes a pain, I can actually block them. 

I have used Truecaller's call blocking but even after blocking a number with Truecaller, some times my phone will still ring once or twice and then get blocked. Some will not ring but somehow will leave a voicemail.

Google Voice's call blocking however, the few times I have used it is ironclad. One I block a number, nothing so far as I have seen slips by..... no rings, no voicemail, no texts come through.

I tested it out of curiosity by blocking my kids' phone. I then used their phone to call my GV#. This is what someone hears almost verbatim:

"The number that you have called has been disconnected or is no longer in service. Please check the number and try again."

I then used their phone to send  texts to my GV# and even though it showed sent on their phone, the texts never showed up on my GV#.

As soon as I unblocked them, everything was back to normal but the blocked texts never showed up.

@Carl M.

@Adam Meadows

I second on www.dirtcheapsigns.com . I was referred there by a very active wholesaler who buys his signs there.