All Forum Posts by: William Petrisko

I have a fourplex that was damaged by fire, thankfully no one was hurt.

Property was purchased for $150k. Insurance check I will get is $80k.

What are the tax implications of each of these scenarios?

1) I sell the property as-is to another investor for $100k, and pocket the $80k insurance check. Can I take a loss from the sale of the property ($150k basis - $100k sale price = $50k loss)? How would the $80k insurance check be taxed? Or would the basis of the property be offset by the insurance proceeds?

2) I do general fire remediation on the property (spend $30k), then sell to another investor for $120k. Same question as above.

3) I do a complete rehab for $60k, then pocket the remaining $20k left over from the insurance check.

Basically, I am trying to figure out the best exit strategy for tax purposes.

I have a call in to my CPA as well, but thought hopefully someone else who has experienced any of the above scenarios might offer some advice on how they handled it.

thanks

bill

Thanks, Bryan!

Correct- I meant to say I chose "buyer pays", so I could use my own title company.

So then the title company is also the closing agent?

When would they be different? (ie: Why would they ask for the same thing twice?) Would this be for states that use closing attorneys in addition to a title company?

thanks

bill

So I went to put a bid on Hudzu, (Found listing in MLS, says all bids must go through hudzu.)

This is for an auction property with no current bids. I am a real estate agent registered with Hudzu, so I am using "Buy as Agent" option and then filling in my info as the buyer as well.

After hearing the horror stories of using their title company, I close the "seller pays" option.

It then asks me to fill in contact information for the title company (so far so good), but then it also wants me to fill in the "Closing Agent / Closing Company" contact information.

Wouldn't these be the same thing? Or would the closing agent be the MLS listing (selling) agent? (Or would the closing agent be me?!)

FYI This is for Arizona, where we normally just use a title company (not an attorney) for real estate purchases.

After talking to their customer service (ha) they can't answer the question and told me to just choose "seller pays" and correct it with their documents people if the bid is accepted... uh, ok.

thanks

bill

Thanks to Justin, Brandon and Alan for a fun and informative meeting!

I would recommend any future meetups with these guys, they are a great bunch of people.

bill

Just registered, have you had any more interest?

thanks

bill

Thanks for the detailed reply Matt.

I also seem to remember that if I want to be able to bid on/purchase HUD homes, that the brokerage must be registered with HUD, but it cannot be a HUD listing agent? (ie: If a brokerage lists HUD homes, agents in that brokerage cannot buy HUD homes.) Is this true or did I misunderstand?

thank you

bill

I am currently an investor in Phoenix AZ (I have purchased 3 multifamily properties and sold 1 in the past two years)

I recently passed all my exams and will be applying for my RE license.

At this time, I am not looking to be a "retail" real estate agent. I want to concentrate more on my own investing (buy/flip or buy/hold), and feel that a RE license may give me an advantage at this time.

Reasons for getting my license:

1) Run my own comps (MLS access) when looking at off market properties that I might want to purchase.

2) Direct access (lockbox) for MLS properties that I want to look at.

3) Collect referral fees for listings referred to other agents.

4) List an occasional property or act as buyer's agent for people I know.

Does anyone know any specific brokers in the Phoenix area that they would recommend? Obviously, I am looking for a broker that will be understanding of investor (personal) transactions, but willing to help me expand my knowledge and experience in both personal and retail transactions.

During my classes, there were a bunch of brokers that came in and handed out their fliers with the costs and fees, and I talked to several of them at the time. Most seem to use a $X/month (covers MLS/NAR fees) and flat $X/transaction (covers E&O fees) type model for low volume agents.

If anyone has any specific recommendations for a particular broker or brokers to avoid, it would be appreciated. Any input on the pros/cons of various brokerage companies would be great.

Also, if anyone has any questions that I should be asking potential brokers before signing on with them, please let me know. (Questions specifically related to being an investor, certain fees that aren't obvious, etc)

If you aren't comfortable posting in the forum, please PM me.

I appreciate any information anyone can provide!

thanks

bill

Holly- Thanks for the info!

MBA- I contacted them, and they sent me their package right away. I did notice that they have quite a few fees, but I have not questioned them further yet.

Dick Rosen- I contacted him, and he also immediately responded with his property management contract and fee schedule. He also took the time to answer several email's worth of questions well after 5pm. Very responsive and fees look reasonable.

Third property management company did not get back to me today, I guess they go home before 4:00pm :)

I will continue to try and find a few more companies to evaluate before asking them for other owner references.

My only concern is that these are lower-rent properties, so I am looking for someone that has experience with dealing with a higher-headache tenant that won't break the bank...

I appreciate the help, if there are any more property management companies anyone thinks that I should contact, please let me know!

thanks

bill

I currently own a few multifamily buildings (fourplexes) in Phoenix.

I recently obtained my real estate salesperson license, and am looking for a broker that is friendly to investors/wholesalers/non-traditional real estate agents.

Obviously, I am looking for a broker that charges minimal fees, but more importantly someone who "gets" what wholesalers and investors do, possibly even offering mentoring or at least open to an agent who doesn't deal in "traditional" listings and "traditional" buyer representation.

If anyone has any advice for finding a broker or knows of any brokerages in the Phoenix area that seem like they might be a good fit, let me know!

thanks

bill