All Forum Posts by: Fernando Domingo

Sorry for the lag, but I found an agent that was able to help. He found a company insure my primary resident in CA and helped with policies on my properties out of state as well. So far he has been very responsive and goes over and above for sure. He's worth giving a call.

Liron Cohen
Clear Cut Property & Casualty Insurance Services
O: (818) 495-0494

I am looking for a new property manager in Birmingham, AL. 

Any help with this would be very much appreciated...

This is a bit embarrassing, but I'm sure that I'm not the only one that hasn't done their due diligence.  

I'm an out of state investor.

I purchased a home through a company that had a property management. I went to Birmingham to visit and see the operations. They had everything very well organized and knew how to present the whole package. They made it seem like they were going to make it easy for anyone to invest in the area. After about 6 months I purchased a property that had tenants in it already.  They sold it to me as they were going to renew the lease. I was excited since the house would cashflow right away. Well the tenants only paid rent on time 2 months. They were over a month late after that. The PM did minimal to get them caught up. It turns out they would collect the late fees first then apply the rest to the rent. They didn't count late fees to disburse to the homeowner. That was the first year. I should have gotten rid of them then, but I was lazy and allowed them to take over 2 months to place another renter. During which time they would find random things wrong with the vacant property and make the money on that as well.

They placed the next tenants who put the deposit and first months rent down to move in. They never paid rent once they were in. The PM still charged their monthly. They didn't start the eviction process until 2 months after the renters didn't pay rent. They have been in the property since May and it is now December. The eviction is finally happening, but I need to find another PM. I'm sure the property is going to need work. I will be taking possession of the property in the next week or 2.

If anyone has any guidance for me I would greatly appreciate it. I obviously didn't do things correctly, but would like to be able to work with people that can get things going in the right direction.

Well this thread has solidified my thoughts. I have a property with them and it has been a total mess. The tenants they placed haven’t even paid a full month of rent and are behind by over a month. How does someone move into a house for less than a months of rent. I need to find a different property manager in Alabama. Any suggestion?

@Joe Homs thank you I will contact her.

@Jeet Sangha No, it is several insurance companies that are not providing insurance in the whole state of CA. I heard it was because the state is not allowing insurance companies to raise prices so they are stopping new policies in the whole state.

Does anyone have a recommendation for an insurance company that will write a policy for a CA property?

I'm buying a duplex to house hack, but I've contacted a few companies and all of them said that they are not writing policies in California.

I am trying to purchase a property creatively where I can essentially take over current payments until I'm able to sell the place.

This is the immediate need.

I will also need to set up an LLC structure in the near future.

The property is located in Los Angeles. I'm not sure that matters.

Any recommendations for los Angeles lawyers?

@Alan Bostick

Thanks for letting me know I’m going to listen to that podcast now. I know that trying to protect yourself is important, but sometimes I think that some of the things suggested are unnecessary and it gets pretty costly. (Fees, higher interest rates, accounting, etc…)

@Nathan G.

That is so much less than going through an attorney.

I was researching LLCs and how to set them up when you are an out of state investor. There is so much information and it's getting confusing and seems to be pretty costly to organize everything. 

It seems like anonymity, inside protection and outside protection are the main reasons for setting them up. I live in California so Setting up so many LLCs can get costly, but I'm sure that the protection that LLCs offer are well worth it. 

There is a lot on setting up a primary LLC in Wyoming and having LLCs in the states that your properties are in with the Wyoming LLC as the managing member.

Does anyone have other advice as far as setting up a LLC structure?

Congratulations! Great for a first deal! Next deal should get easier.