All Forum Posts by: Christopher Phillips

@Robert Heydenreich

What do you mean regarding $10,000?

@Jared Hauf

Rental income is considered passive income. It will pass through the LLC to you personal tax returns. So, it doesn't really impact your tax liability.

You should speak with a tax professional to make sure you're setting up everything the best way.

@Cynthia Harrison

Purely depends on what you plan on investing in... You'll need to discuss with a tax professional and a lawyer.

Some setups will benefit you depending on if you are doing flips versus long term holds. You need to make sure you're doing the right setup so you aren't hit with tax issues.

@Charlie M.

Welcome to Bigger Pockets...

We are currently in a shifting marketing. We've moved from being a mostly seller's market to one that is closer to balanced. Some areas shifted earlier than others, but in general, things are moving to be more balanced.

Due to the shift, homes are taking a little bit longer these days to sell due to the large number of homes that came onto the market in late Spring. Plus, everyone has been distracted with Summer. But, the interest rates are still very low.

That being said, you have a few options...

If the carpet is really holding people off, change it out. If the property is empty, stage it with some furniture.

Two, hold open houses every weekend until it sells. That has become really popular these days.

Review the marketing plan going forward to get it sold. Do you have professional photography? Do you have a video walk-through? Does it have a dedicated website? Has your agent/son-in-law prospected the neighborhood to find buyers? Has he sent out postcards to the area? Has he run Facebook and Instagram ads? What are the statistics from Zillow (views, saved)? Are you offering a home warranty service to the buyer?

The rehab across the street shouldn't be a big deal. In fact, it shows that people are investing in the area.

Your house size is unusual for most areas and that means it will need to be for the right person/family looking for a house of that square footage. However, since you have been receiving offers, you are probably in the right ballpark for price. Now you need to drum up the right buyer.

From a search engine perspective, changing price does move you back to the top of the search results, so that was a good thing. However, you don't want to take too many quickly.

If you run open houses each weekend, that will keep you in the search results. 

@Grant Doyle

If you're in a flood zone, any lender will require flood insurance. It's not loan type specific.

@Account Closed

A lawyer's office. Anything else is asking for trouble, especially if you have to evict a tenant down the road and didn't include the right verbiage.

 Depends on the foot traffic, the quality of the flooring used, and how well it was installed.

The good flooring might last 15 years.

But, I usually see it looking pretty bad within a year or two because people buy the cheap stuff and do a crappy job of installing it themselves. It also doesn't handle high traffic and pets very well.

@Sai T.

Flat feet agents literally do nothing but allow you to be on the MLS under their license. Nothing more.

The highest offer isn't always the best offer. You have to look at the terms of the offer - contingencies, down payment %, etc.

How you want to handle offers and decide which ones are legit or not is up to you. 

@Daming Chung

Since you will be living there, you can use an FHA 203K loan. I will include the purchase and rehab costs plus budget contingency and mortgage insurance. Only 3.5% down payment is required. Lender will require contractors that are 203K approved.

 5+ units are analyzed using cap rate. It's considered commercial and lending will treat it that way.