All Forum Posts by: Joe A.

@Victor SmithCurios what brokerage did you end up going with? I recently passed the exam and looking to join a team as part time. I am not looking to quit my current job, but looking to do this on the side as I am an investor myself and got a couple of other investors/friends who are looking to utilize my service.

I can't seem to find brokerage's compensation structures online, other than Skyline properties as follow:

 80/20%....$79/Month....No Transaction Fee

 100%....$129/Month....$495 Transaction Fee

 100%....$199/Month....$269 Transaction Fee

 100%....$299/Month....$139 Transaction Fee

Curios what plan most brokers here are on?

@Jason Bott It's part of my learning curve. 

Thanks @Tony Castronovo. Just sent you a PM.

Hello BP!

I am under contract to buy my first out of state property in Cypress, TX. While I love everything about the property and thought I did a ton of research, I apparently failed to research Homeowner insurance cost in Harris County!!

I called AAA insurance to get a quote today and was quoted $4,800/year for a 178K property with 1% deductible!!! WOW! just for reference, I own a $1m+ house in WA state and I pay ~$800/year for home insurance. 

Questions:

1) Is there a reason the insurance rates are so high in Harris County? this type of rate would kill the deal.

2) Any recommendation on a good insurance agency that would provide a reasonable quote? 

My credit score is excellent, no other factors are impacting the rate other than the fact that it's in Harris county which would make most of the Houston area not profitable for me. 

Cheers!

Thank you @Steve Vaughan and @Louis Chan for the quick response. 

The property is not located in Seattle, it's actually in Auburn. Hired an experienced inspector and will get a list/idea of what needs to be replaced/services. 

As for the LLC, I thought if the LLC has one member (myself), then I am except from the quarterly tax filing. the IRS site says you can add a few schedules to your 1040 filings at the end of the year, but guess I will ask a lawyer/accountant to be sure.

I requested to meet with the current owner to find our more about section 8 and its process and requirements. will try to research it online too, but I am not finding a whole lot of helpful info. 

Hi BP Investors! 

I spent the last few months reading the forums and learning from each one of you, so wanted to start off by saying THANK YOU! you helped me land my first deal.

So, I just got an offer accepted over the weekend on a multi-family (4-plex) unit in South King County. I am pretty excited about putting all my learnings into action but want to learn more from you. what are the gotcha with having a mutli-family that you're aware of? here are some of the questions I am debating:

1) should I manage it myself? it's 30 miles away from where I currently live but more like 2hrs in traffic (gotta love Seattle traffic).

a) if I would to hire a prop mgmt company/person, do you have any recommendations?

2) Inspection - It was built in 1978, is there something specific that I should look out for given the age of the building? 

3) Section 8 - Most of the current tenants are section 8, would you say this is good or bad? Is there a best practice on transitioning section 8 units?

4) Should i put the units under my name or open an LLC? I started the LLC process today, but not sure about the pros/cons here.

Thanks again for you continued support of this community!