All Forum Posts by: Debbie B.

Originally posted by Justin Schnettler:

I vote that political talk and off-topic threads not be shown on the dashboard. If folks would like to discuss that, then they can visit that part of the forum.

Justin, I second that vote. The political discussions are engaging, but they are also very distracting. I am very passionate about my political views, but I didn't join BP to read about and/or argue them. It's obvious people's views are not going to be swayed by a forum. I don't want these discussions banned; however, I agree they should be excluded from the dashboard.

Fox news IS the news! :rock:

What I find interesting is I have talked with people who will not vote for a party who will not let them make their own decision about their body (referring to the Republican's proposal to ban abortion), yet they think a system where the government would dictate their health care is great. "You can get that abortion, but the liver transplant you need to survive? Denied."

Mrs. Dorkin? I may be old enough to be his mother, but, please! She was my best friend in high school, though. OK, just kidding!

There’s a place called BP on the internet,
If you have a question about REI, you can find it there I’ll bet,
It’s run by a cool guy named Josh,
And he keeps everyone in line, by gosh,
‘Cause you see not everyone there agrees,
On the current administration’s policies,
The debates can become a little overheated,
It’s not for the timid, you might be mistreated,
But this guy Josh, he’s got a level-head,
“Be nice boys and girls,†more than once he has said,
He doesn’t take sides, but he lets people rant,
Let’s vote Josh for our next President!
:D

Josh,

There are two parts to the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan:
Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The servicer I work for just started participating in HARP last month. There was a lot of going back and forth with Treasury to work out the terms. Also, it took time to set up the processes and get the resources in place to participate. They are now working out a few points with Treasury for HAMP and will sign up for that program within the next month or so. Other servicers are probably dealing with the same government red tape and haven't started participating yet. The web site lists less than 30 participating servicers. I see a lot of big servicers still missing from the list.

Will,

I'm going to invest in a limited partnership that will aquire and own properties. We're looking to buy bulk REO's requiring rehab then lease and hold 5-10 years. I'm actually not sure if I need checkbook control for this or not. I'm still trying to wade through the all the information.

Originally posted by Jon Holdman:

I don't think Sterling offers checkbook IRA LLC plans. I have an account with them, and I'm not aware they offer such an option. I ended up moving most of my money out of Sterling because of slow responses on closing out a loan a while back, and into a IRA LLC set up by Guidant Financial.

Jon, that's good to know about Sterling. The representative I spoke to on the phone said they offered checkbook control. I'm planning to read through the info they sent me today. They were referred to me by a fellow REI, but maybe I'll shop around before I move my account.

Thanks,
Debbie

You might be able to close your employer sponsored account and open your own IRA. The drawback of that is you lose out if your employer does any matching. However, I watch my account closely and the performance is always in the red. I'm beginning to wonder how much that matching is actually worth.

I'm not sure if you can convert your employer sponsored 401(k). I was going to look into that myself. I just started a new job recently and messed up by rolling my last 401(k) balance into my new 401(k) instead of into my existing IRA.

I'm in the process of converting my IRA into a self directed checkbook account with Sterling Trust.

http://www.sterling-trust.com/

There are people on BP with more knowledge on this subject who can probably answer the question about employer sponsored accounts.

There's no need to cash in your 401(k) and pay the penalties. Convert it to a self directed IRA. Then you can invest your savings in real estate and still reap the retirement benefits. There are many posts on here about self directed IRA's. Do a search on BP or google it.

I hope you mean $140K. $140 won't get you far.