All Forum Posts by: Christopher Phillips

CoC is personal in the sense that is what each individual investor decides. Inherently, each individual investor is deciding where to put their money. If you can do better than prevailing rates you would put your money elsewhere, like the stock market as an example.

Each area has a certain prevailing rate. Rents normally can only be raised on lease expiration and during turnover. If property values are rising faster than rent rates, it will push down CoC. So, there will be periods when you can't find CoC that meets your requirements. In that case, you have to either look elsewhere, dig deeper for bargains, or put your money into better earning investments.

In the long run, you might be able to upgrade the apartments and charge higher rents.  But this depends on the market dynamics. In areas where you can't do much about prevailing rents, it's usually not worth the investment to upgrade beyond the minimum.

Foreclosure is a court based process to take back the house. If there was a notice of default and eventual sale that sounds more like a shortsale if the owner was underwater on the mortgage. The other possibility is that the owner had equity but couldn't afford the house anymore so they just sold it.

Has nothing to do with being a realtor. If you start to buy or sell more than a certain number of homes per year you'll be classified by the IRS as being in the business of trading homes for a living and they will charge you self employment tax.

If you are going to bid on a property, you need to have your financing ready. 1> so you know what your budget looks like. 2> so that you know you can close on the house.

If you find a house you like, do your due diligence (title report, inspect the property, research the neighborhood/market, recent price trends, etc.). Auction.com does not guarantee a clear title. So, just like any house auction, if you buy the house with liens you'll have to do the work to clear those by negotiating them down.

Just like any home auction, you are also responsible for evicting any occupants.

You have to register and put down a deposit to participate. You can use a credit card for the deposit. If you don't win, the hold is automatically released after the auction within 2 business days.

If you are the highest bidder, you will sign the purchase contract, wire your earnest money, and provide proof of funds (bank statement with account numbers "X"d out is fine). All within 1 business day. When escrow is confirmed and you've signed the contract and provided proof of funds the deposit with be automatically released.Then start the financing process. Homes close in 30-45 days.

If you don't provide the above items on time, they will charge your card for the deposit.

NOLO's Quick LLC: All you need to learn about Limited Liability Corporations. By Anthony Mancuso, Esq.

Gives a lot of good examples of why some businesses could benefit from an LLC and why some would benefit from other structures.

Goes over taxes as well.

Yes. Deposits are transferred.

Depends on your market. In a seller's market, nobody is fixing anything. A laundry list of items (especially ones that were already visible during the previous home tour) is a sign of someone with cold feet or getting bad advice from their agent/family/friends. If you are in a seller's market you tell them you aren't going to fix anything outside of safety or hazard issues. Maybe even then you still won't fix anything. There is always another offer right around the corner. If your market is normal to soft, you have to gauge how long it would take to get another potential buyer that doesn't ask for so much.

Just print a bank statement with the account number(s) "X"'d out. The other option would be a sentence or two from a branch manager (on letterhead) that you have the funds.

Not even close, series 7 much harder.

@Brad Shepherd is correct. The average lender will not notice when you do the initial transfer. They will not notice as long as you're sending in your payments every month because those are still coming in under the borrower's own name.

Where they catch it is when they receive a notice of hazard insurance name change or notice of taxes paid under an LLC instead of the loan borrower's name.

Fannie Mae guidelines prevent originating with an LLC, but their due on sale guideline is only a recommendation and doesn't "prevent" the transfer. As long as payments keep coming in they won't force calling in the note. However, it's up to the individual lender. Most won't do it, but be aware of the risk.