All Forum Posts by: Chad Westfall

 @Tom O. In my experience, many commercial lenders won't do personal loans on commercial properties. They require an entities (LLC, S or C Corp, etc). Your a perfect example of an exception, which is why I said I don't know if I totally agree with that statement. There are exceptions in every case.

I did misspeak that all loans require an entity. I used LLC as an example but should have kept it more broad.

As far as the LLC conversation, there are tax strategies that make LLC's favorable. They are not just for protection, although that is the most common reason people use them.

So, here is the thing. In this environment, laws are favoring the tenant. While a 5% raise is not unreasonable, especially after nine years; was it the smartest thing? They are now $20k in loss rent trying to make an additional $100 per month.

This eviction moratorium is well known. I think raising rents in this environment is risky. Then when the tenant offers to pay the old rent but not the increased rent, you have to ask yourself, how much is it worth. Risk is something people have to manage.

On the flip side of things, shaming is something I do to my kids to get them to do the right thing. When they won't, I'm the parent that will embarrass them. I go out of my way to show lots of affection in front of their friends. That is a better motivator than punishing them.

So, if the court are failing landlords, this is a legal tactic. They didn't identify the tenant name, so I don't think it falls under slander. Even after the eviction moratorium is over, how long will it take to clear the backlog? 

I have been seeing landlords paying deadbeat tenants to leave. While that seems ridiculous, a $1,000 now can save you tens of thousands later. We have to be problem solvers.
 

Not sure I agree with this for all situations. I buy multifamily (5+ unit) properties. The LLC is required to start any type of financial conversations.

@Christopher Tokarski

A lot more info is need to really give you good advice. I get you are trying to figure out the financing portion of the equation. But as others have mentioned, what type of credit do you have, what type of property are you looking for, what is your strategy, etc are all key data points that are needed to give you sound advice. 

Otherwise you end up with people telling you this or that based on their experience and their focus. If that differs from your goals, then it becomes bad advice. If your goals are similar, then its probably good advice. But without knowing, its hard to tell. 

I just closed on a 14 unit apartment building in the Charleston, WV area. Anyone know of a property management company in the area?

For me; I want cash flow. I would prefer to invest in MFH, but have trouble finding deals that I can afford. I'm just starting out and don't have a lot of cash to leave in deals. So, I'm focused on BRRRR SFR's right now. Planning on building up a small portfolio then selling and investing in larger MFH deals.

I think a lot of it depends on where you invest. I live in Pensacola, the market down here is "HOT." But hot here means the cheap homes here are appreciating a few thousand a year. When I lived in California, even a crappy year, the homes appreciated tens of thousands per year. So, investing in a SFR could help build wealth a little faster because they aren't constrained by NOI like MFH.

For me, appreciate is nice but I don't plan on it at all. I look at ROI (cash left in a deal vs profit) and cash flow. I have certain targets to get me where I want and each deal is analyzed against that.

I feel stupid asking this, but I cannot find or figure out what to search to check if there is a lien against a property.

I live in Pensacola, FL, which is Escambia County. The country clerk's website is https://www.escambiaclerk.com/338/Official-Records . Through this site, I reached the official records site https://dory.escambiaclerk.com/LandmarkWeb1.4.6.134 .

I'm pretty sure it is somewhere in the official records site, but cannot figure out how to find it based on property address or the owner's name (based on county property records). Does anyone ever search for this stuff online when looking for at a foreclosure or do I need to go to the court?

I'm concerned about buying a foreclosure and there being liens against it. I'm also, interested in determining what the final judgement amount is. Thoughts?

No way. If you are having issues getting work done, incentives work. X% bonus if finished by x date. But a piece of the action is crazy. He has no risk, but wants the reward. 

I'm in Pensacola looking for another GC. My guys are hitting me with prices, (rather high) but not one has come up with crap like that.