All Forum Posts by: Dennis Tierney

Aaron CarrollBe very cautious about using a realtor for a manager. Just because he can sell real estate don't assume he knows how to manage it. I strongly recommend a third party professional management company. No matter how good a buy you make on a property you have to have good management to make money on it.

Aaron Carroll I also am a professional and have invested in real estate for the tax advantaged income, free from the vagaries of the stock market. I use professional third party managment companies as I also don't have the time/ability to also manage property. One way I have invested is to set up a syndicate with other investors to buy an apartment that is larger than I could afford on my own and this allows the economies of scale to support the management. Good luck.

Josh: I agree with Scott that I would use a RUBS method fpr the utilities. It is used successfully here and my managemnt co. uses it for the water usage in the apartment building that has wahers in each unit, saves a lot of $$.

We have smaller (24-48 units) apartments and have an agreemnet from the cable company that they are preferred but not required for our residents and from that get a quarterly income from the cable co. Helps for cash flow.

My son's high school math teacher called the lottery a tax on those who are math impaired,but, someone eventually wins. Less odds than lightning striking 6 times in the same place. I'm still gonna buy a few#'s, take the lump sum, and get lots of apartments that someone else manages while I collect the checks!

James VermillionYes and no. The reason I'm not going to Denver next week is that I'm going to the ACC meeting in Chicago. Smoking and obesity are the biggest contibuters to my business. Everbody has to make their decisions, but , if you have a wife and kids you're not doing them any favors with the stogies.

Great to hear it! Please get as many to smoke as you can. More smokes for you and your friends = more heart caths/angioplasties for me = more apartments and early retirement! :)

Jon K.When I did it in 2006 they charged about $5,000 for the whole services, including the LLC setup, registration in the state of choice, setup with the trust co. and one hour of consultation with a lawyer to go over the do's and don'ts of the non allowed transactions etc.. The trust company now charges me $250/ quarter to have the trust, which I think is more than others, but, I like the hands off approach they use and can deal with the cost.

I had my SDIRA set up by Guidant Financial and it is a checkbook for the LLC and I would recommend this approach. It has worked well for me. Trust Company of America is the trust company. They are hands off, which I like. Some others are somewhat "sticky fingered" and create more hoops to jump through to do your business.

Before my county went online I know people who hired 20-50 peolpe to make bids for them. They each had to have a registered # to bid,but, I don't know any of the financial legalities involved, if there were any.