All Forum Posts by: Bryan Zuetel

@Nick Clurman, if you obtained your real estate license simply for your own personal real estate investing, I would recommend that you go with the lowest cost broker that you can find and utilize the local Realtor association for classes and to understand the search tools and viewing of properties.

@Erik Bremer, unless there's a compelling reason not shared on here, I would not recommend that you do anything until you sell the property and have the assistance of a real estate professional.  Although it may appear to be an easy task, there are some very minor details that can be overlooked or small errors that can easily blossom into big problems.  I have unfortunately seen these too many times. 

@Erik Pacpaco, there are a few great chapters on this subject in Matthew MacFarland and  @Amanda Han's book, Tax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor (Bigger Pockets book).  I suggest that you pick up the book for some initial info on this somewhat complex area.

@Cole Evans, 1. you can decide in your offer how much you are willing to in as the initial deposit.  If the seller likes your offer but doesn't like the amount of the initial deposit in your offer, the seller can make a counteroffer with a higher initial deposit.  Generally though, in California, your initial deposit will be 1-3% of the purchase price.  To answer your question, yes, you must put in the full amount of the initial deposit into escrow.

2. You can make any contingencies on purchase that you want.  So, for instance, you can have a contingency that the seller must provide you all of the Air BNB receipts for the past two years within 17 days of the opening of escrow or you have the right to cancel the transaction and get a full refund of your deposit from the seller.  The escrow will request reimbursement of any out of pocket expenses and may have a small charge for their services, if you cancel.

3. Unfortunately, no, the realtors are not correct and do not understand California law.  You cannot withdraw or cancel a transaction for any reason.  You can only cancel the transaction for a good faith reason as provided in your purchase agreement.

4. Yes, you can request tax returns, in particular Schedule E, which should provide you the relevant information.

@Devang Patel, I have never heard of a state requiring you to set up two LLC's. Certain states do have foreign LLC requirements. Yes, if you are not in California, then you generally want to organize your LLC in the same state as the property.

@Nikki O., the post of @Katie L. above is spot on. You need personalized, specific information for your unique situation. To briefly answer your questions, generally, a personal guarantee of a loan would not pierce the veil of an LLC, but there are exceptions to that general rule. The use of a trust to avoid probate is a common estate planning tool.

@Codi Clausen, if you are still working on purchasing your first investment property, I would recommend that you purchase right, obtain sufficient insurance, and vet your tenants before you worry about setting up a couple business entities. If you still want to set up a business entity, one LLC should be sufficient for most purposes.

@Horacio Gutierrez, what you have described could be construed as a form of discrimination based on marital or familial status, which is a violation of fair housing rules.  I doubt that's what you're intending, but one could make that argument.  

@James M., even though the California Association of Realtors form is generic in some regards, it is a time-tested, updated, California-specific lease agreement with the backing of a statewide organization focused on real estate.  I have not reviewed the lease from the Bigger Pockets book.  But, I can tell you that I consistently have clients and potential clients come to me with unfortunate situations involving lease agreements (sometimes found on the Internet) that are simply not California compliant or unenforceable.

Each California county maintains its own court website.  As far as I know, every court charges a fee (sometimes minimal fee) for copies of the court filings and records.  Most will require you to pay to even search for a person or case.  If you have a specific case number, you can obtain detailed information, but it doesn't sound like that applies to you.