All Forum Posts by: Aria Drexler

So I am curious what the predictions are. Since equity is high for many but financing ability has dropped, so you think that A. Prices will stay the same, houses will sit on market, owners will hold out or eventually give up on selling and inventory will drop, or B. Sellers will eventually need to sell for xyz reason and drop their prices until someone buys, or C. It depends on the region and the demographics?

To me it seems most young folks without equity can no longer afford to buy and corporate interests will keep buying up until everyone without familial wealth is a renter, or until interest rates drop back down to affordable levels. My guess is that prices will stay where they are at for the foreseeable future.

I will try to keep this concise - I own a duplex in North Carolina outright that is currently in an LLC and got married about a year ago. My husband has been having legal issues due to a vindictive ex, and may need to default on a business note that she took over (railroaded) as part of divorce settlement, for which he is also personally liable and would likely be sued for. I have concerns that she would then try to come after my assets if he files for personal bankruptcy. We do not have any joint accounts and he has no association with the LLC, but I still don't trust she couldn't come after me.

My concern is that since he and I do not own a primary residence, which an LLC is designed to protect, the duplex as my main asset and source of monthly income would be at risk. I have read that an irrevocable trust would protect everything placed into it, but that I would not be able to access the income or other assets. Where I am confused is that my father had 3 properties in an irrevocable trust (in California) and lived on the income and managed his assets as both the grantor and trustee until he passed. I am not sure if this would have voided any protections from creditors he could have had, or if this was allowed in California law, but he did it for years.

I know this is not a legal forum, but I can't find an estate attorney who will take me as a client or answer the question of whether acting as both grantor and trustee can get you around that limitation on a Wyoming trust. The asset protection people I have talked to advised me either to divorce or do an offshore LLC, neither of which I am willing to do. If I designated another trustee to manage the trust, is there a way they could pass the income through? Any tips or referrals appreciated.

The only reason I am getting by on my duplex (first and only investment purchase) is because I reinvested an inheritance sum and bought it free and clear…couldn't get a loan since I was new, so I figured this was my only way in. Even so, the rents were only bringing 6-7% ROI at the time of purchase, which was ok, but now is barely covering inflation. Am now grateful I don't have a mortgage, due to my current life situation I am living on the rental income, but that inflation is killing it. Shifted all utilities over to the tenants with the new lease, but felt I couldn't increase rents much with the utility takeover and wanting to keep amazing tenants. I am definitely waiting and watching for a bubble crash, hopeful to pick up another in the next few years, but I definitely would not advise anyone to jump in right now unless they are buying in a rural low-competition region.

The time has come - with Covid I have been laid off from my job, and have decided I've got nothing left to lose by building my business. There is a house a few blocks over from me that has severely blighted, overgrown and vacant for the last few years, with a window broken out, burn marks on the windows and roof looking like it will cave in, that I assume was a meth house due to the looks of it & history of my neighborhood (former drug problems but in an up and coming area last 3 yrs). Every time I walk by I just want to nurse it back to health, so am planning an outreach campaign with the owner. By the looks of it and with its small size and weird lot layout I think a complete rebuild would make the most sense. I am just curious as to whether the cost of meth remediation for a complete demo and rebuild is any more cost effective than one for a reno? Since most materials would be removed I would think this would be the case, but imagine there would have to be some cleanup of the property and proper disposal of materials. 

Currently looking at a meth house in NoCo - the quote from Bio Clean was strictly the clean-up? So you would also have to factor in redoing just about everything down to HVAC and plumbing and fixtures, correct?

Wow, that seems ethically (or karmically) sketchy, but I have to give them a two-clap for ingenuity on that one! Thanks for sharing, Jay.

Jason, kudos! Could you share the general pitch script you used when they answered the door? I wouldn't mind trying this out myself.

I am exploring a partnership with a local investor who specializes in buy & hold house hacking with 5+bedroom SFRs (the best way to describe it would be community-oriented boarding homes). He is looking to ramp up his acquisitions, so would like me to locate deals to his specs and essentially wholesale them to him. These would be market-ready properties at or a little bit below market value, so they wouldn't be considered flips. He has explained that due to the split with his partners, he wouldn't be able to separate out a wholesaler's contract assignment fee, but if I were to do a same-day double close and set a price it would be the same to him as what he normally does with his funding. So far I have found one local hard money lender that would fund 70% of the transaction, and am trying to find sources of funding for the other 30%. I am a newer investor without savings yet, and most everyone I know lives paycheck to paycheck, so I don't have many private lenders to ask yet. I don't have enough equity in my home for a HELOC to be worthwhile at this point. I have thought about focusing on owner financing, but not sure if that would be a solution for a double close transaction. The properties I would be looking at in my area would be between $300-400k. I am still learning about how hard money works, so I don't know if you can get multiple hard money lenders in on one transactional deal. Any advice or referrals are appreciated!

Hello,

This question is for fellow female investors out there, particularly those of you who are single. I have experienced nothing but respectfulness and helpfulness from the male investors I have worked with, which is awesome! (thanks, guys! ). However, I have been having issues interacting with male clients as I have been taking and assessing leads (my focus is on wholesaling for now). I am a single female in my late 20's, and recently had a client continually pester me, asking me out on dates, and acting as though we are in a relationship. He continues to pester me by phone. That particular deal ended up falling through anyway, but my concern is that this will continue to happen and I will end up killing many leads when I politely decline advances before a deal is finalized. I am working on my own and have no one to accompany me to sites when I am assessing a property. I already generally do not wear makeup and wear non-descript yet professional clothing.  I used to wear a pixie cut, so I went many years without men bothering me at all, but I would prefer not to return to that. Short of wearing a fake ring and attending assertiveness training, I am not sure how to handle these kinds of situations. I don't want sexism to prevent me from bettering my life, but this is really dissuading me from continuing. If you have advice or encouragement, I would really appreciate it!

Incredibly helpful thoughts, Byron - thanks a bunch!

Hello,

Newbie investor here. I am in the process of putting together my first wholesale, and have what may be a dumb question. The home has what looks to be an unpermitted add-on sun room that the owner built himself. It probably adds about 500 sq. ft., but I am unsure how that would factor into the ARV sale price if at all, since I have been basing comps off the base square footage of the house. I know I often see listings with descriptions like "non-conforming extra bedroom or sun room" in this area, so it happens. I am also wondering if unpermitted additions cause problems when flippers go to actually permit a renovation (e.g. if the city were to come for a visit, notice the room & make you rip it out).