All Forum Posts by: Cortney Arenstein

@Gabriel Elias nope this is exactly wrong. Eeek! But I was definitely thinking that was close to what would happen. It wasn’t. As the first comment states, it doesn’t work that way. (And the way Kyle phrased it helped me Google better so I was able to find the info I was missing) she has to not pay for a long time before the taxing authority puts a lien on her property. Then once there is a tax lien placed on the property by the tax authority, if the owner still doesn’t pay, THEN there is an auction. And the owner has plenty of advanced warning about the auction. And everyone on the mailing list or watching the property lists knows about the auctions and can show up to bid. (After registering as a bidder)

And a lot of these get cancelled at the last minute when the owner finally begs borrows or steals the owed amount. There are even attorneys out there advertising to “help you deal with tax liens on your property.”

I am actually scheduled to go to a tax lien bootcamp later this month (more education is needed on my part for sure!) but I got a little excited when I saw she hadn’t paid her taxes yet—thus my reaching out here when I couldn’t find the exact information I was looking for.

Luckily Kyle saved me from a $5k mistake that would have stemmed from my incomplete understanding of the process. Thank god for this forum because I had literally been googling for two hours trying to figure out how this stuff ACTUALLY works to no avail.

@Ned Carey thanks! I did discover that the right of redemption is 24 months for a homestead property and 180 days for commercial.

We also consider "live-in flips" a "house hack." We bought a junky property we knew we could stand to live in (with minimal down payment because it was our primary residence) while we "rehabbed" it (basically cosmetic updates and a handful of small fixes) to get max value (ARV) when we went to sell. We sold it about 13 months later and made ~$40k (it was a steal of a buy and this was back in 2015). Used the "profit" to buy the next junky house at under market prices that needed cosmetic updates and will sell that for a small profit at some point in the near future. (We did all the work up front though so we could live in the nicer house this time around rather than a construction zone.) Some of that profit also went to seed our investment pot. So the idea that your primary residence is also in some way an investment (can be multifamily like a duplex, could also be renting out rooms or even AirBnB rentals in your primary residence) is the basic idea behind house hacking.

@Kyle J. thanks! That is what I needed to know--I knew it seemed a bit unlikely. 

Who here is in Texas and playing the "pay delinquent property taxes and then wait for the interest" game? I have had my eye on a distressed property (boarded up apartments) for a while, and the owner is in distress too (partner is being federally indicted for fraud, they are going through a messy and expensive divorce, this asset was recently moved from an LLC into a trust--if I had to guess there is some chicanery afoot). Well the property taxes are now late and unpaid and as far as I can tell, if I pay this $5k, I can expect to either 1) get paid back when the owner redeems the property--but with interest or 2) get the deed if she never redeems it.

What I am NOT sure of is A) the time frame of this process--I think it is 180 days +? and B) the actual percentage return I could expect if she redeems it. 

Also, the IDEAL end game is to buy the property. She tried to sell it last year for $250k (bought it in 2016 for $100k) and then withdrew it from the MLS. I can make the numbers squeak by at $250k but would prefer to get it at $125-150K and have some comps to support THAT price. Seems like paying her taxes might be seen as an aggressive and hostile move and then she might not be willing to discuss selling at a reasonable price...

Google is SOMEWHAT helpful but all the "experts" are selling something. ANyone have direct experience here with this?

@Matthew Rolf absolutely!

@Adam Metzler putting your biz contact info in my phone now! Been hunting an Htown rehab company!

Put this under “wholesaling” as I’m not sure where else to put it.

Found an abandoned 12 unit in an area we want to be in. Found the owner who lives in a house nearby. 12unit is listed on the CAD as being owned by “CADENCE BANK UNLIMTED MARTIAL DEDUCTION” (I assume that is a typo on the cad and it should be “Marital Deduction”) and then also the owners name. But with the bank’s address.

I was able to find the owner via her other property where she lives and she called me back. Nice older lady. But for some reason is not interested in selling the property yet. Even though she’s just paying the taxes on it and making no money there.

The area is not appreciating particularly fast—so it’s not like it’s going to be worth 3x as much if she waits another 10yrs. Plus she shared with me that she really wants to “sell up and move to [nicer area here in Houston].”

Anyone here have experience with this kind of trust (pretty sure an Unlimited Marital deduction is a trust, right?) and maybe have some insight as to how or why she wouldn’t be anxious to get rid of this drain on her resources?

Just trying to understand how it might be working in some way that she doesn’t feel the drain? (Maybe the trust includes other assets that absorb the cost of the taxes?)

Any insight?

@Eric Malone Thanks for posting this. Sure opened up a healthy debate and something we will ALL have to think about from now on. I found myself flip flopping on my initial position multiple times as I read through the comments. “Wow good point!” And “Huh. Had not thought of that!” LOL. Social media influencers are not going away any time soon. It’s a growing industry. It’s marketing. Just marketing that is accessible to anyone with a phone. While I am leaning toward the “Pro” contingent, (logical arguments abound) I do think there is a reason we sometimes get a gut check like the one you are having. 100% of the times I rationalized myself into ignoring that gut check I have regretted it. One big question though—how does she have a W2 as an IG influencer? Wouldn’t she be self-employed and getting 1099s from brands that pay her to mention their products? Maybe this is just my ignorance about how IG stars are paid but I would have assumed they were bot considered “employees” by any company but their own? (Is she maybe paying herself a W2 salary from her corporation?) just curious.

 willing to pay more for reliability and quality and speed. Thank you for replying!