All Forum Posts by: Mark Beekman

 Ned- Have you ever made a deal from tracking down vacant home owners? What was your approach with the owner when you found them? I've tried once via phone calls and snail mail, but the woman never got back to me.

I've never rehabbed a house in a township that required a U&O, so I suppose I've been lucky in that sense. I am, however, currently looking at a property in a township that does require a U&O.

My main question is: How long is a U&O good for? In other words, if in an auctioned property where the buyer is responsible for the U&O, and one is received soon after closing, can that same U&O be "used" again after the rehab when I resell the property a short time later? Or, would I have to get another one?

How does the REO U&O process work? Does the U&O inspector come out before or after closing? If before, do the corrections need to be made in order to close?

I'm resurrecting this thread for some clarification.

I'm looking at a property subject to these guidelines and I'm told that a Corporate addenda will apply once offer is accepted.

What exactly does this all mean? Just that they won't go below appraisal price?

So you removed the radiators and switched to forced air heat? Did you find that that reduced the character of the house at all?

It depends in what you're doing and I'm not sure how realistic it is, but what about tax consequences? Couldn't the IRS determine that anything you do real estate-wise to be "business activity" if your are a realtor?

Is there nothing that Steve Babiak doesn't know? :)

I'm analyzing my next rehab, but one big, unfamiliar issue I have comes in the form of 7 exploded cast iron radiators. Some are upstairs, some are downstairs, but all of them have huge chunks blown out of them (presumably from freezing). I'm looking to replace them with radiators of similar style and era (1920/1930s).

Is this going to be a crazy expensive fix? I have no idea how much to factor in for rehab costs because of this. Any advice?

My wife and I are looking to purchase a SFH to rehab and flip. We want the gains from the sale to go to me for tax purposes. We originally had the idea of me buying the property and having the deed solely in my name, with her using her underwriting-friendly financials as a cosigner/co-borrower. From what I've been told, any co-borrower has to be on the deed as well, so that wouldn't work.

If a jointly owned property sells with a gain, is there a way to designate that gain to a specific owner? Or, does the IRS treat it as an automatic 50-50 split? We'd like to stay away from doing this through an LLC in case we decide to rehab the house and stay there for a few years (to take advantage of the exclusion).

Any ideas?

...except for eligible single-owner, disregarded entities (like a single-member LLC). If it's you and your wife/fiancée, I guess that doesn't help, though.