All Forum Posts by: Elaine Jordan

Hi BP members! 

I have a self directed IRA with one rental property. I am looking for a second property now to buy within the IRA. I need to find a Florida attorney familiar with self directed IRAs to assist me in creating a LLC for the self directed IRA so I can obtain checkbook control. I live in the Orlando area, but any Florida attorney knowledgeable in self- directed IRAs would do. Thank you for the referrals! 

Hi Florence, assuming that you are fairly new to investing, I would recommend that you have a title search done and then have it reviewed by a real estate attorney. I purchased a property on auction from Orange County this past June. It worked out well for me, but it was my first foreclosure auction and I wanted to be sure all my due diligence was done. The property was a condo that had a lien for unpaid HOA fees. But the amount of the dues owed was small enough that I didn't mind paying it if I had to. In the end, the HOA decided I was not required to pay the previous owner's fees. So no complaints from me! And I got a beautiful 1/1 condo $28K below the retail price in a desirable part of town. I virtually need zero work done to it! Good luck with your auction!

You can also get a Residential Lease Agreement form free from The Florida Bar. Then just tweak it to fit your needs. 

Jeff and Mark, 

Wow! Thank you both for such detailed and awesome advice! I appreciate it so much. I printed out your replies so I can review it and ponder the best course of action for me.  I would not be doing any of the work myself as I work a full time job and would depend on others to do any repairs to a property. Based on your advice, perhaps instead of a flip I should focus on buy & hold rentals. I am just getting started in this business, but I want to keep going forward as I can afford to. 

Write Hello BP community! I am a newbie. Joined BP last year and closed on my first rental half duplex this past November. The duplex is rented and is cash flowing almost $300 a month. But - after buying that rental with a conventional mortgage took most of my savings. I am thinking about doing my first flip to acquire capital. Since my savings is now very limited, I was thinking about taking some money from an IRA and moving it to a self-directed IRA for down payment and/or closing costs (about $40K). Since I won't have enough cash to purchase a property outright, I was hoping to use a private lender or hard money lender for the rest of the costs. Can I do this? I could use some advice from the BP community if you think using a self directed IRA is a good way to go if I also need to use a private or hard money lender. Is this a reasonable way for a newbie to do their first flip?

As far a location, since we all live in different corners of the area, perhaps we should try to be as close to the downtown area as possible. It is central to all of Orlando. I live on the east side of town and a meeting place in the west such at Dr. Phillips or Windermere would not be possible for me to get to with traffic and the I-4 construction issues. Just my 2 cents...

Hello, I've relatively new to RE investing, but I am member of CFRI and would be interested in a BP meet-up. Please keep me informed. 

By the way, thanks for the info on GOREI - that's new to me. Can you tell me what part of town GOREIA meets in? I find it challenging to get all the way out to Casselberry since I work full time downtown and live on the east side of town. 

Ivan Vargas, thank you for your comment regarding savvy sellers. That's the first time I've seen a warning about FSBO sellers who would not allow realtors. I just ran into that situation last weekend. I found a small home FSBO at an open house. It was perfect for me; in a good part of town, great school district, small home that would rent well. The couple had bought it as a foreclosure, rehabbed it and were selling. The price was high for the neighborhood, but had been completely renovated including new roof and a/c. I knew they had another offer and so I offered slightly over their asking price. I also told them from the beginning that I would financing it with 20% down and a generous earnest deposit. They submitted the contract to me the next day and I had a real estate lawyer review it who found inconsistencies. To make a long story short, the negotiation process failed and I won't be getting the house. I believe the sellers wouldn't allow realtors in the hopes of taking advantage of an inexperienced buyer and passing on closing costs to the buyer that the seller typically pays. So glad I had an attorney review the contract!

Thank you all for your replies! Love this website! 

Yes, I know I am late to the game, but I still believe I can make a go of it (hoping, anyway!) I have a realtor that I like and he has numerous investor clients so I feel he understands my needs and understands that the numbers have to work to make a property work as an investment. I have searched "for sale by owner" and I think I may have found a 2/2 condo that may possibly work. Going to view it tomorrow. Fingers crossed! 

Suzanne Mark, thanks for your suggestion to consider other towns in central FL. I would love to consider Lakeland, Deltona, DeBary, etc., but since I work a full time job, I feel like the distance is a hindrance to me right now. But perhaps in my future endeavors that will work. Good suggestion though. 

I am thinking that I do want to learn more about auctions, how to properly research the property, etc. There is a big learning curve in this business! 

Thank you for the replies. As a newbie, I am surprised at how much competition there is for investors. There are hundreds of foreclosures in this area and I suppose I was naive to think it wouldn't be a challenge to find the right property. John, thank you for your thoughtful response. I had forgotten about Craigslist! I will do a search there for sale by owner and see if there are any properties that fit my strategy!