All Forum Posts by: Chris Weiler

Chris,

I hate to sound like the boy scout here, but you should steer them toward honoring their loans. Short-sales are for people with no assets and down on there luck; not independently wealthy individuals who want to strategically default on a loan they willingly took out. Unless, they can show hardship, they will have little to no chance of getting a short sales approved.

Rich, to my limited understanding there are 3 ways to possibly avoid usury. I say possibly, because usury law tends to be very vague and up to interpretation. Some states have increased protections for individuals and is why you will often see transactional funders/lenders insisting investors purchase with an entity.

Of the three ways I mentioned above, one is be a broker is the state in which you are lending. In Cali, that means a DRE or Dept of Corp license. Two, at least for CA, is to have a lending license under the Dept of Corp. Again, loans are limited to the state in which you are licensed. Most other states provide this form of license as well. Three, is to not provide a loan at all, but instead to have a contractually based funding agreement that does not involve a promissory note and a deed of trust. There is a lot of lawyer speak that goes into these contracts, but basically it's an agreement that states multiple times the purpose of the funding and how profits, if any, are split. It's not a joint venture agreement, but similar. To my knowledge, Aegis follows this last model.

I just heard this tip the other day. If the house is vacant, put a for sale sign in front of the house with your name and number. This should attract the owners attention. :mrgreen: He will likely be a bit irate, just let him know you couldn't think of any better way to get in touch. If others call you will have a good buyers list if you are interested in flipping the property. :lol:

Martha, I am in the same situation and decided to invest out of state. I did it by partnering with a business colleague who lives in the same city as the properties we own. I contributed the capital and he does the day to day work. It is much more expensive then straight property management, but I have seen huge benefits. He is much more invested in the success of the rentals then a property management co. would be. I have great piece of mind knowing the rentals are being managed well and I have the time to devote to other projects.

Hey Colin, would you mind explaining how land trusts provide anything more than anonymity? It was my understanding the only way a LT provides asset protection is when you have an LLC be the beneficiary. Please email me a copy of 30 benefits of using land trusts.

No fee to join. There website is http://www.facebook.com/orangecountyinvestorsclub. Once a month there is a meeting with a speaker. If you like the topic and want to come it's usually $25 and includes lunch. I have made some great connections there. In June, the speaker is Bruce Norris. In my opinion, he is one of the best speakers on the so cal market. (Admin, I am not an organizer of the club and get no financial benefit for meeting fees)

I have a number of rentals under multiple LLC’s. Does anyone have experience setting up a separate entity to manage the properties? I heard 2nd hand from an attorney that we would need a broker’s license in the state of the properties to do this. Is this correct? It seems a little absurd that I would need a license to manage my own properties. The reason I was hoping to set up the management company was to avoid having to write multiple checks from all the LLC’s. For example, if I have a guy mow a few dozen lawns, it would be quite obnoxious to have to write him 10 separate checks per month. I figure if I have one management company, I could just write one check. Before I shell out more money to talk to another attorney does anyone have any practical experience, thoughts or recommendations?

Hey Mitch, It was great seeing you again at the OC Investor Club meeting (one of our local REI clubs) Feel free to contact me anytime.

You will need enough capital for current deals and any potential concurrent deals. Nothing will kill your business and reputation quicker than not being able to fund a deal you have made a commitment to.

Mitch, financialexaminer said broker because most people who offer any type of loans in califorinia, including transactional lending, need a brokers license to avoid usury issues.