All Forum Posts by: Eric Lefebvre

A light bulb just went off in my head. I put 10% of my check to my retirement fund. Once I found out u can move the retirement fund tax free to invest in real estate... that was my plan. I'm trying to save for more down payments on rentals. Im about to take my percentage to 30% of my check to my retirement fund from work to shift into investing in real estate. UNCLE SAM takes a ton out of my check anyways to why isnt this talked about more? Save so much but putting it in your retirement tax free then shift over to real estate purchase with no taxes taken out. I am relatively new to investing but can anyone see any drawbacks to this? It seems like a no brainers. Only thing I can think of is the bank will see ur take home income lower so they wont give u a higher loan. Thx for your help in advance!

Looking for reputable home builders in Berkshire county Massachusetts or who will work In Berkshire county Massachusetts. Wifey and I want to get out of the city of pittsfield and build our home in one of the surrounding towns. Thanks for your time!

@bob collett that's why I keep doing research every day. Has this passed in the cleveland market to date or is still being voted on? I've been looking in cleveland and suburbs around. Trying to be safe but risk is good too. First time I'm hearing of this. I know being lead compliant in Massachusetts takes a bit to complete and I'm sure it's probably the same in cleveland. In mass if u dont have an inspector come check u can say its unknown if there is lead so a lot of people are scared to be lead compliant due to inspector coming to inspect and saying it's all over the place.   Going to add @James wise and @Tom ott to the conversation also.  I know all of u guys are deep in the market info. What's your take on how much a ball park figure is to get lead compliant. I know everything is case to case basis but thoughts on an average. Or worst case scenario. Thanks for your time guys. 

Great idea Russell. Thank you!

I should have specified further. Zombie house as in no one lives there or takes car of it. Just sitting there rotting away. They let the houses go to ****. Probably needs to be knocked down they are so bad. Both houses were inherited by family members. Both moved out and payed the land taxes for 8 years now and haven't been there. The city says there is nothing the can do about it cause they pay there taxes on the property.  And on top of that the last 2 years I've been calling the city about the junk that's in the yard and nothing's ever done. My city sucks when it comes to doing anything about them. I literally have the worst luck cause there are no other houses like this within a mile or so and houses are going for some good money on the street and around the block. 

I'm selling both of my rental houses in town so I can invest out of state. First...There is a zombie house next door  then a wetland probably 100 ft long and another zombie house past the wetland. So technically 2 zombie houses on each side. The only 2 in the neighborhood. I already lost the first 3 showings due to this. It's a great neighborhood. The other is in a flood area so I need extra insurance and home buyers run away once they hear that. In both situations what can I do to help the buyer not freak out and actually want to acquire the property?  This covid19 is screwing me too becuase showings are shut down for another week or 2. So I put 2 homes on the market and bam. The virus struck. I'm worried about all these low ball offers also if I even get one. 

@James Wise I have been following you for a while now and really like how straight forward and transparent you are. I have just one dire question becuase I am investing in Cleveland in the upcoming months after I sell some of my local properties. I know you have a huge portfolio so when renters want to rent will it be fair between my own properties and yours to get rented out. Like would try to fill your vacancy at your building first then look towards mine to fill once? Or It's not even an issue becuase of how many people are in Cleveland? What are your thoughts and how do you go about this becuase here at home PM companies will fill there vacancy before they will even consider showing my property. I'm not sure if this is a dumb question or not. Thank you for your time!

@Aaron K. Thank you that makes some sense now. I'm guessing they put that law in due to homeowners already living there so they can actually pay a reasonable tax rate. It's crazy how far off they can get.

I dont quite understand tax assesment and value of homes. City does the tax assesment but what people see and are getting for homes are much much higher. I thought tax assesment was the value of the home. I know comps are what get compared for pricing but is the city slow to get the correct home value? Like it hasnt been even close for 5 to 8 years. I see in some places in the US that have 25k tax assesment value on the house but it lists and sells for 90k? And that's everywhere in the city so it's not a typo. I'm just baffled on how this works. Does anyone have a logical answer becuase I feel like I'm getting either a deal cause taxes are low or in getting screwed cause market shot up and is way out of range.

@Jeremiah Akindele I'm a newer investor from a crappy western Massachusetts town. I saw all the paid training and thought it was ridiculous to pay anything for it. All my training was free. YouTube and bigger pockets podcasts mostly. Even bought 3 bigger pockets books and is reading them as we speak which are all great. Only money I spent was about 100$ on bigger pocket books. I have a wealth of knowledge and feel very confident. I have 3 properties right now and going to sell them to invest long distance becuase this is not a good place to invest. It's been 2 years since I started and haven't stopped listening and watching for free I remind you. Get the drive to find it yourself. I could start a real estate training class if I had the ambition to do it which I dont. They are just telling you what's already out there and their own experiences. So is there experiences worth 4000? No. Someone else will tell their story for free on the internet. So spend that money you have left on houses! Not training u can get for free!