All Forum Posts by: Josh Prince

Hi @Russell Brazil - it's not the biggest but it's about $400,000 of gain.  I'd rather not waste even $50 if I can help it.  How about you?

Thanks for the advice @Dave Foster.  These sound like some bonehead moves!  I am sure those people you described wished they had not been "penny wise, pound foolish."  However, dropping $1,000 for someone to do very little rankles me as well. Between agents and escrow, adding another open mouth to the process is annoying.  I'm going to check out the treasury regs and see if we can't figure it out ourselves, but I might have to cry uncle and hire someone.  Anyone in Southern CA you recommend?

Has anyone had any experience using a friend as a QI rather than one of the professional QI companies.  In a standard delayed exchange, it doesn't seem too hard, and I know John T. Reed suggests not wasting money with a professional QI.  

Thanks in advance!

This article is little more than an advertisement. It has almost no substance. It is just trying to scare people and drive them to the author so he can sell their property.

Hi Mario, 

As others have said, you should be cautious in this deal.  Generally, you can owner-occupy a unit (or have a family member occupy) to evict a tenant under the LA Rent Stabilization Ordinance ("rent control").  

However, there are some cases where you cannot evict a tenant for owner occupancy. One of those situations is when the tenant is over age 62 or disabled and has lived in the unit for more than 10 years. So, in your case, the 75 year old lady who has lived there for 40 years cannot be forced out by owner occupancy.  

The tenant may voluntarily agree to leave in exchange for a cash payment or some other benefit, but you cannot make her leave unless you were completely removing the building from the rental market under the Ellis Act (and I am not as familiar with those rules to know whether it would work here).

So, with all of that said, if the deal depends on this tenant vacating the apartment (which, if she is paying $350/month rent, it probably does), then I would only move forward if the seller will agree to deliver the unit vacant at close of escrow, OR, if you can obtain a signed agreement with the tenant to move out for payment (and for that agreement to be upheld, the tenant should probably be represented by a lawyer).  As I see it, getting this tenant out is worth much more than $18,000, and I would be willing to pay at least double that if I was looking at an otherwise good deal.

Based on what you wrote, it seems unlikely you will get the seller to agree to deliver the unit vacant, or the tenant to agree to leave prior to close, so this might end up being a pass.  Please let us know how it goes!

About five or six years ago I was interested in this. I purchased the book of all parcels, went through by zip code and identified the ones I was interested in (over 100) and watched as the auction date approached and they were all satisfied and taken off the auction list by the time the auction happened. 

That was enough to discourage me from moving forward in future years.  What I observed was that any asset that was even remotely manageable (i.e., in a civilized area and had improvements or was easily improvable) was taken off the list.  Meaning that the owner satisfied the lien or that another potential buyer approached the current owner and took the property subject to the lien and then satisfied it.  The stuff that sold at auction was primarily undeveloped land in unpleasant or rural areas.

I would imagine in this current market, there are even more people looking to buy at tax sales than in 2009 and so I would be interested to hear if anyone has encountered success and found hidden gems this way.

@Juan Diaz

 - Thanks for the great post. I lived in Rockridge from 2005-2008 so I know the areas (I wasn't adventurous to move to West Oakland!).  Look forward to reading more from you.

I agree - I am a fan of this area.  Some dicey stories these days, depending on the specific block, but between the proximity to downtown and the hills, seems like a winner.  Please please please get a place with a view.  To me that is the best thing about the area.

if you are a CA resident and you will run the business out of CA, you will be "doing business in California" and will be required to register in CA and pay CA taxes.  It doesn't matter if you have a Nevada entity or a Delaware entity or anywhere else.  The only real reason to use an out of state entity for CA operations is if you prefer that jurisdiction's laws - and in that case, Delaware has a much more robust system than Nevada.

Hi @Luke M.

What do you want to achieve here?  The main reason that people think about using a trust to hold property is for anonymity.  In this scenario, as you anticipate, you probably will not be pleased with the outcome.  

First, the title record will show that Luke M. bought the property, and then transferred it, for no consideration, to Luke M. as trustee of the Secret Prosperity Trust.  Anyone who wants to find out who owns the property will see you on title currently as trustee, and they will see you in the title record as having transferred it into trust.  

If you want to use a trust to keep your identity secret, the property must be deeded directly into the trust from escrow - and you have to use a third party as trustee, because the trustee's name will be on title.

Good luck in your investments!