All Forum Posts by: Fletcher Caulk

I have a townhome in an HOA (location withheld for legal reasons), and there are new board members that are extremely toxic and very likely breaking the law, misusing funds, getting kickbacks on projects not approved by homeowners, etc. The horror stories are too long to go into. I'm coordinating with a group of homeowners that previously were on the board and have all lived in the community for awhile. They have gotten some preliminary legal advice from a friend, and we are talking through options for our way forward. Our goals are to remove the members (already had one vote, which the two board members that needed to go somehow were reelected by 3 votes, and we have heard they paid off people to vote for them), prevent them from further unauthorized spending (we do have a big, reputable management company that handles the money), and press charges for the legal side. Any advice for how to proceed? Also, I am not local anymore and keeping this as a rental. It is close to a new, very popular area and my value has exploded with more development on the way, so I hope to hold onto it, but am strongly considering selling. I'm not sure if having a lawsuit against the hoa will make it hard to sell though. HELP!

@Jeff T. It is definitely a difficult decision for whether to hold or sell. I know about the tech campus and also the rams stadium on the other side of us. I haven't really seen Rents in my immediate area going up so far (it's only been a year) and I am losing $250/mth in cashflow. The biggest concern I have is that I found out our hoa board was doing a bad job and/or embezzling, (on top of it being $570/month), so I feel like my equity could be doing more work for me elsewhere. I'll definitely keep reassessing, but I'd just hate to see the equity disappear if there's a market correction. 

Perfect! Thanks John

Thanks again for the recommendations Clayton!

Thanks Felipe... Funny I actually read that exact article. Thanks! 

Thanks for the clarification!

My wife and I own a townhome in Culver City, CA that is appreciating very well but not cashflowing. My renters' lease is up next summer and I'd like to do a 1031 exchange into a multi-family property. Right now, our loan balance is $435k and the townhome next to us just sold for $640k. So I'd need to find a property worth more than ours appraises for and carry a mortgage of greater than our remaining loan balance. 

Does anyone have any advice for markets to look at and professional help to seek? Are there any steps I should be taking now, or when should I start? 

I am purchasing my first rental property in Memphis, TN (Bartlett area) and am trying to come up with the numbers for that area for capex that I should be setting aside after a rehab (assuming all the items are new, will need to tailor for the specific property I find). I have the Book on Rental Property Investing and they have a table in there: 

Item - Cost - Lifetime

Roof - $5k - 25 yrs

Water Heater - $600 - 10 yrs

Appliances - $1k - 10 yrs

Driveway - $5k - 50 yrs

HVAC - $3k - 20 yrs

Plumbing - $3k - 30 yrs

Windows - $5k - 50 yrs

Paint - $2.5k - 5 yrs

Cabinets/Counters - $3k - 20 yrs

Structure - $10k - 50yrs

Garage door - $1k - 10 yrs

Landscaping - $1k - 10 yrs

Total: $183/month 

Does anyone have any practical experience with coming up with capex numbers, or have recommendations for how to estimate these? I do plan to buy/hold, but I theoretically could not worry about the 50/30/20 yr lifespan items if I think I'd be trading up properties after 15 years. Thoughts?

I'm a relatively new real estate investor (have one property that I kept after moving out and looking for turnkey rental to purchase within the next two months). 

I want to better understand tax and legal considerations for my current / short term situation and how to set myself up for success in my future plans of owning a large portfolio of rental properties. 

What tax deductions should I be looking for outside of the obvious (interest, property management, HOA, depreciation, etc)? Do I need a tax professional with just the single property if I'm using tax software (H&R Block)?

On the legal side, is there anything to consider with my current property? How critical is it to get legal advice if going through a professional turnkey provider/property manager? 

Are there any considerations to make now that will make things easier as I scale? 

I realize I have many questions, even if you have advice on one of the questions I'd love to hear it (with the understanding that tax and legal advice will ultimately need to come from a professional)!

@Corey Owen and @Account Closed

Thanks for the feedback! I signed a 2 year lease so I'm going to at least hold until then and see what the sales and rental markets drive me to do. Unfortunately I set up that rental property before really educating myself on the basics of real estate investing. One positive is that I'm still earning about $600/month in equity, so it's not a total loss. 

Maithy, where did you buy your turnkey rental?