All Forum Posts by: Eric Thornton

Hello,

I am a new investor looking to make my first commercial RE investment.  After working with an agent of a little over a year, I have been unable to find a suitable investment property as most in my area are which are listed are overpriced for investment.  I am now looking at off market properties and still have a commercial agent  who can get information for me.  That said, I'd like to evaluate properties myself.  Any advice regarding resources to evaluate and assess the value of a prospective property would be appreciated.  I've looked at the calculators on Bigger Pockets but they all seem geared towards properties that are listed and/or already have a selling price.

Thanks,
Eric

Great advice, thank you everyone.

Thank you very much for the excellent advice.  I will look into the Solo 401K.

Hello,

I am new to REI and looking to invest in commercial real estate. I've done a whole lot of reading and have a solid business background. Ready and excited to start. That said, I know there is still a lot to learn and I am looking to have the right advisors/experts on my team. I currently have an LLC that I am the sole owner of which I use for my consulting business. Likely I will start additional LLC's as I look to slowly build a small portfolio over five or so years. Any suggestions on:

1) A good commercial broker in the Eldersburg/Sykesville, MD area that deals with smaller properties.
2) A real estate lawyer in the Eldersburg/Sykesville, MD area.
3) A CPA experienced with REI (does not have to be local).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have and any advice is greatly appreciated.  

Eric

Hello,

I am following up to my early post regarding using a 401K loan for REI. In hindsight, I wish I kept some money out to use for other investments, but I was always very diligent about contributing to my 401K. Five years ago I left that large employer and am now an independent consultant. I currently have a rollover IRA and a SEP IRA through T Rowe Price. The SEP is tied to my LLC for my consulting business of which I am the sole owner.

Are there any provisions to take a personal loan from either the rollover IRA or the SEP IRA that I can use for REI. Unfortunately, I've tied up a lot of my money in those funds before deciding to get into commercial REI. I don't really want to do the self directed IRA approach because I want to buy and hold eventually for income, not just inside my retirement account(s).

Thanks,

Eric

Thank you Casity, George and Justin.  Great advice and very appreciated!  I am going to focus on using a participant loan.

I am looking to make my first investment in commercial real estate. In doing a lot of research here on BP and elsewhere, there is so much information regarding using 401K's and self directed IRAs for real estate down payments. I need some $'s for a down payment (no more than $50K). My CPA told me that using a self directed IRA would limit my ability to invest in the property to the annual contribution limit. Also, I can't take any money out before qualified retirement. Additionally, the administrators of the self directed IRAs tend to charge high fees.

Would a personal loan from my 401K be a better option? What are the limitations with that beyond the $50K limit. Is this allowable for an investment property owned by my LLC? Any help/advice would be appreciated!! Thank you.

Thanks Corby.  Great advice!!

Hello, I am new to BP and very eager to get into real estate investing.  I'm a seasoned business person, but totally new to real estate.  I've spent the past several months talking to agents and reading as much as I can, including several BP books.

My two ongoing questions are 1) I have an interest in commercial real estate, but should I start in residential? and 2) how do you take that first step, especially financing w/o prior experience.  My goal is to buy my first property by the end of June 2018.  Is it a mistake to focus on commercial real estate (small offices or small retail) until I have more experience?  

For many years, I found myself thinking that I should have gone into building or real estate development because of my aptitude and interests.  Over the past couple years, that got me invested in becoming an investor.  Thanks in advance for any expertise/advise you can offer to help go from thinking about it... to doing it!  

Thanks again,

Eric