All Forum Posts by: Bernie Lahde

David,

Thank you kindly. We asked for the disclosures, but our agent says that since it's an estate, there aren't any.  I assume she's right, but that it makes a really thorough inspection that much more important. 

Thanks again,

Bernie

We have an opportunity to buy a nice property in Georgia, but are told it's an "estate sale", with special rules.  Anybody know what the rules are, and what we're dealing with?  Is this like a foreclosure--i.e., an auction?

Mike,

I agree, let's stay in touch.  And whether you come here or to Florida, congratulations on your big decision, and on your wife's graduation.

Mike, you may find people as interested in your potential construction contributions  as anything else.  We certainly would be.  We're new investors, just moved to Atlanta, and are looking to flip in the North Atlanta.  We need a good contractor for small to medium size remodels.  Are you available, interested?

Bernie

We're in the same boat--new, getting ready to start, but wanting a contractor who's honest, reliable, and competent.  They don't have to be the best, but need to do acceptable work.  I signed up for Habitat for Humanity to try to meet some, but that's not as simple as it sounds--you may spend a full day with just painters, or sweeping the hall.   I know the contractors are pretty busy these days, but they can't all be unavailable, can they? Very interested in finding someone like this in the North Atlanta area.  

Strongly recommend Jana Hufham, at Keller Williams.  She's professional, straightforward, and very knowledgeable.  Find her at soldatlanta.com.

 You're in one of those very challenging and stressful events that happens to a lot of people at some point in our lives.  In my opinion, the best way to deal with this one is by getting a good, strong  lawyer.  I STRONGLY suggest you hire  someone who does a lot of real estate trial work. 

Finding the right one may be difficult, but you need to search. One way that sometimes works is to look for people in that community (could be a realtor, banker, business owner, etc.) who can give you referrals to an attorney  they've had fair dealings with.  Even if that attorney isn't in real estate, if they have integrity they may be able to help you  find someone who is in real estate litigation, who's honest and who isn't afraid of court.   

Mr. Sutton offers a complimentary half-hour phone consultation--or used to, and we took advantage of this several months ago. We'd learned about him after hearing him interviewed either on a Kathy Fettke (Real Wealth Network) or Holly McCann podcast. He was pretty impressive on the podcast, especially about limiting liability through the use of out of an LLC set up out of state--I believe in Montana--as well as possibly a second LLC in state (wherever you may be).

So we called and I spoke with him for just over 30 minutes, and liked him quite a bit.  I believe his charge would have been around $700 for the setup, plus a yearly fee of some type, although I think this depended upon the kind of business we were going to set up, whether we were going to buy more than one property, whether we were going to move, and probably some other factors I've forgotten.  

We were seriously considering going with his plan, and still may, but our progress on this step was disrupted by some medical issues, then by our decision to move from the balmy climate of So Cal's desert, to the balmier (IMO) world of Atlanta.  Since getting here we've decided to check out a couple of local CPAs first, and as much as I liked Sutton, having been here for a few weeks I'm wondering more and more about whether having an in state--better yet, local-- rather than out of state CPA may give us a greater comfort level.    I don't have the accounting expertise to  know if there really is a benefit, but I also wonder whether, although the business setup is very important, it's probably well within the abilities of a lot of competent CPAs, and that having a local (i.e., in state) cpa may  give us some greater advantages. Again, I'm not sure if that's really the case, and if so, what they may be, but it's our thinking right now. 

Anyway, if you haven't already, my suggestion would be to try looking up the Sutton podcast on Fettke or McCann's websites, and see what you think.  Either way, best of luck.

Dear Alan:

Thank you so kindly.  We'll look into that as we familiarize ourselves with this wonderful site.

Thanks again,

Bernie

We are new real estate investors to North Atlanta, getting foundation in place for business buying and renovating mid level residential, and need CPA advice regarding business formation, change of residence issues, inclusion of a passive family member/investor/limited partner (?),  SDIRA, and what other questions we should be asking but haven't learned yet.  Does anyone have recommendation for a very good, honest, experienced and reasonable CPA, especially one in the Dunwoody or Sandy Springs areas, with a  particular expertise in such real estate issues?