All Forum Posts by: Casey Powers

@Alex Silang

If he is a great PM then he is probably very diligent - good quality for handling a sales transaction. If he will get help from his broker, that is good. PM is often much more tedious than a real estate transaction, so a sales transaction can seem much easier.

My concern might be in that he may not know much about how to write strong offers in a super competitive market. It’s often about more than just the price. There is also the fact that people don’t know, what they don’t know. If he does so few sales, he may not know when he needs to ask for help from the broker.

Also, will this person be expected to help you shop and analyze deals, or just handle the transactions? Does he know how to analyze potential deals? Does he have time for that, in addition to his other duties?

@Manas M. I do property owned by LLC and LLC owned by trust. For privacy. Some yahoo looking up county records on my rentals will find the LLC. When said yahoo looks up the LLC, they find the trust name (a very generic name).

It doesn't stop any authorities from finding me - I still have the LLC's EIN linked to me per IRS rules. It just keeps the random yahoos from easily finding my name linked to the rentals.

I used to be a Nevada registered agent. Nevada LLCs aren't cheap and they have changed the rules in recent years. You would have to pay to maintain the Nevada LLC plus the cost of registering the LLC to do business in the other state(s). You can accomplish simple privacy in all or most states by simply having a trust own your LLC in the same state where you own rentals. You can be the sole grantor and trustee of the trust (meaning you own the trust). You sign all documents to purchase the real estate as the Trustee of the Trust which owns the LLC. Then use a private mailbox company in the same state for the LLC's address. Then most people trying to find who owns your rentals, will find your LLC, the name of the Trust, and the mailbox address on the publicly searchable records.

Banking rules require the banks to know who actually owns the LLC. If you register a Nevada LLC for privacy, you have to use a Manager-managed type, so your "manager" would be on the public record and not you. When you go to open a bank account, some banks will not allow it because you aren't listed on the LLC record. 

To me it's easier to just set up a trust, make it the owner of your LLC in the state where you buy rentals, and open a business bank account in the same state for the LLC. Run all the rental money through that business account.

Ask a tax professional for tax advice on LLCs, and ask a legal professional for proper legal advice on how to structure it in the easiest way for you to maintain. Where people screw up with this stuff is trying to set up entities they don't really understand and then not knowing what's required to properly maintain them. Simple is best for most of us.

I still wouldn’t make any investment moves based on one specific person. If it’s a good investment for other purposes, sure, but don’t get caught up on one specific renter. 

$3k sounds well above market rent. Why would they do that, especially long term? If anything, buy based on numbers working at market rent, not the hope that someone will stay and overpay long term. 

Buying down the rate with 2 points, another 1% origination fee, prepaids (insurance tax etc). It adds up.

If you will have 20% equity you should not necessarily have to pay all those prepaids through the lender and could pay insurance and property tax separate. They will still have to be paid obviously so the costs don’t go away.

@Bill Brandt

Exactly. Write the offer to win it.

@Bill Brandt

We have a lot of landlords in Las Vegas who cannot collect still, and cannot evict due to moratorium. It has most definitely been an issue here. US Census Pulse survey I linked above tells the story pretty well.

By the time the lawsuit regarding “unconstitutional” eviction moratoria gets through appeals, the moratoria may be over. Don’t count on that one Texas judge’s opinion to save small landlords dealing with deadbeats.

Latest US Census Pulse survey estimates about 6% of renter households nationwide are still behind on rent. They break it down by state also, and estimate about 14% of renter households in Nevada are still behind on rent. Nevada also has much higher unemployment rate than other states. This stuff will affect some areas much more than others.

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/household-pulse-survey/data.html?fbclid=IwAR2sPH2YaqdGNtTxhJYqt7yGXeJqX_W2EPxmJ0rtynOFk3Igs7HMHOrB798

Totally agree we will see more desperate landlords doing desperate things.

It depends on the city for utilities. Henderson and North Las Vegas with sewer included on the water bill - keep trash in your name. Las Vegas with trash and sewer separate - keep trash and sewer in your name.

Pools increase potential liability on rentals. Need a fence around the pool to help keep little ones from getting in unsupervised. Increased insurance cost. Owner should pay for pool service to ensure it actually gets done. Leaving tenants responsible for pool service can lead to it not being done, things breaking, costly repairs and possibly decreased value.