All Forum Posts by: Dan Bryskin

@Angela Hansen

I suggest you find another contractor. I would not pay contractor, 10k to start, unless it is 400k project.Actually I would never pay contractor 10k to start :)  If it is a 40k - 100k remodel, they start with 1,000, and I meet them in the store to get materials. If somebody can get 10k before they do any work - why work? Financing materials / buying your own like @Jeff Sprunger is suggesting is not a bad idea, and you can get some stuff with 0 interest and 0 payments for 6 months.

@Dominic Scheck

I second @Amber Gonion. Put terms in PA, you as finance addendum. Do closing with the normal closing company. I use title smart - they are good and did a deal or two like that for me. Do money mortgage instead of contract for deed, and always get a title insurance. Good luck

@Isiah Ferguson

You get it. Except your  inspector can be full of you know what too. He can look at the little crack at the foundation and tell you you better use his brother to fix it. So, play one against the other, just like you said

@Isiah Ferguson

With home inspectors advice is the same. Find a best guy in town. In my state it takes 2 week course for them to get a license, and somebody fresh out of the high school, who completed the course won't be very useful. The best inspector I worked with, was a retired builder and an investor himself. Not only was he able to identify and explain the problem, but also explain what will it take to fix it, estimate a cost of repairs and suggest qualified contractor. This days I use my crew for the inspections, but if investor requests a report, I work with a 27 years old kid, who is a second generation inspector and loves what he does. I would not walk through the property with inspector and contractor at the same time, I'd use inspection report to validate a contractor, and walk through with contractor to gauge inspector. Everybody charges about the same for inspections, work with the best. Good luck.

@Isiah Ferguson

The reason you put your free and clear property under an LLC is to limit your liability and protect your assets. Good move. Now you are running into the issue. The cheapest finance product out where is 30 year home owner loan. You can have 10 or more of them. It is guaranteed and subsidized by federal government, hence offering the best rates / terms. The problem is this product is designed for owner occupants, and not available for corporations. For corporations, you are looking at commercial financing, and terms are not nearly as attractive. That's why banks are telling you to transfer property into your own name. The real question you have - how do I minimize my liabilities, taxes and risks while utilizing the best available financing. What's the appropriate holding structure, proper way to do business. To answer this, look at this tread for example:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/49/topics/426...

Good luck.

@Isiah Ferguson

If you want to do BRRR on 1-4 family properties - I advise you to hold first 10 or so properties individually to take advantage of 30 year mortgages. You can transfer them to trust later on, but you should get a written opinion from the bank, stating trust transfer does not violate due on sale close. Renting - that I do through the LLC, taxed as an s-corp. Financial adviser - in real estate you act as your own, but you do need accounting.

@Lee Warren

Are you seriously considering buying a property from some scam artists sight unseen? And on top of it, you are considering having them manage your asset for you? Man, I have a nice bridge in New York you should take a look at. Have an attorney write them a letter demanding not only your EM back, buy have them pay for your time and out of pocket expanses, threaten with law suite. It won't get you far, but you will get your EM back. Take everybody's advice and run. You will thank us later :) Issue is not necessarily a foundation crack, there are plenty of perfectly good foundations in need of the slight tuck pointing. Issue is - they are defrauding you by misrepresenting a property / transaction to you. Deal with honest people, there are plenty. Good luck.

@Ben S.. Where is always an opportunity. Can you sell one of your doors for top $$ and replace it with 2, getting more rent and an upside? That's the strategy I am after. I also realize my cash is more valuable then bank or investor money. They finance the deals, but it is my cash which moves my business forward. So I am looking to substitute as much of my cash as possible. But I agree with you, kitchen feels hot, time to move faster. 

@Isiah Ferguson

Start with the excellent realtor. You want some who is an investor himself, preferably in the similar class of assets as you are looking at and knows a thing or two about construction. I have one like that. It makes things so much easier. Good realtor is an adviser, a sound board, skilled negotiator and here to help you avoid costly mistakes. You want one who is humble enough to execute your strategy, not complain about you wasting his / her time. And your realtor can't be lazy. If I need 20 offers to go out at night, they will. Not everybody will do that, and it is important. The rest of it depends on how involved you want to get. 

• Accounting throughout a year is pretty simple, as long as you have a right setup. You may get somebody to help you set books up, keep them up, and have professional look at them once a quarter. Defiantly leave taxes to professionals.
• GC - I would not look for one before hand. Get something under contract and start shopping for GC's. Good one will be a godsend. But likely you will have to go through a few, before you find one or two you like. 
• Electrical, plumbing other trades - i'd leave it to GC in the beginning. Visit job sites twice a day, keep phone numbers for everybody on the job site. GC is much more manageable to start with. 
• If you manage a number of rentals, ether get a management company or some systems in place ( that you can start one before the purchase). Make sure tenants are vetted, rents are payed online, issues are logged in the system by tenant. You will need a good maintenance guy / service.

Good luck

@Christof Gardet

1. Call city, talk to zoning. See if it is zoned for a single family or duplexes  are allowed. If they are not allowed,  see if city would give you variance. If you are out in the boonies, it may not be a major obstacle. If you are in the bigger city or the suburb of the bigger city, that may stop you.

2. Each unit has to have 2 egresses. Obviously each needs kitchen / bathroom.

3. It is better to separate utilities. May be your locality will let you charge tenants for heat, electric and water based on the sq footage. Else you would need second furnace, water heater, electrical service / panel and that would be expansive.

Good luck