All Forum Posts by: Geo Tan

Most investors stray away from condos since you're paying money monthly on things a group of strangers want to spend it on. You don't have direct control over how your money is being spent for your investment. I had a condo property prior to my investment here and I definitely am against any investments with an hoa involved from now on. But there are also many other investors who thrive with condos and I did make money on my previous condo as well so to each their own. Hope to hear how this deal went! Cheers.

Hey Mario,

Not sure if you're pursuing this at all anymore but read some of your other forum posts as well and it all seems to be talking about this same property. Everything about this screams at me to stay away. I just recently purchased a multiunit in LA so I'm definitely not a veteran but I did do a ton of research. In terms of the airbnb idea, there have been some major changes in airbnb regulations and there's still a bunch of changes happening now in the la area so I'd definitely read up on it. It's getting extremely heavily regulated for people who want to do airbnb as an investor like what you have in mind. They're planning to regulate and limit a ton of things for hosts so I'd double check on how you'd go about that. 

Also, LA rent control is no joke. You really don't want to get involved in going against a protected senior citizen resident in a rent controlled unit. If all these real estate professionals are trying and failing you should definitely take heed of that. I'm glad you're using bp as your well of information since there are a ton of people that give you a ton of advice (I've received tons of help already). Hope you update us with how things turned out since I'm also very interested. Cheers.

@Nicholas W. Got it! Yeah I'm glad you understood exactly what I was asking since I was confusing myself with how I was wording it haha. Cheers!

I just realized how confusing I sounded above so I'll try to say it differently.

The property will be under my name and I do not want to place the property under a corp or LLC. But at the same time I would like to be seen as a company that manages the property to my tenants to avoid unnecessary harassment. What I'm still a bit fuzzy on is how I would make a DBA without creating a company. And if I do create a company, which you stated doesn't have to be related to a property management in any way, would it be a sole proprietorship? And if I do create a sole proprietorship and create a business bank account under this company would it cause any issues later on for tax purposes? Hope this is a little more clear than what I stated above. Thanks!

@Nicholas W.

Got it. Thanks for the easy answer! I'll look into getting a DBA right away.

So after the DBA (ABC Management for example), when I am creating a bank account to manage the funds for the property I can accept checks written out to ABC Management even without a corporation or LLC linked to the DBA? The whole point of this is to not have to create an LLC or corporation.

Thanks for the fast responses  @Jeff B. @Jd Martin I'm under the impression that you need an EIN or a business to create a DBA. Since the property is personally under my name and I am not a property manager is it still possible for a DBA?

So I just read up a little more and realized that you must be a broker to qualify as a property manager. Although I'm currently in the process of becoming an agent, becoming a broker prior to escrow closing would be impossible. I would like to keep things as professional as possible for the property nevertheless so would love to hear any tips or suggestions of landlords in how they personally manage their properties? My property will be situated in Los Angeles County in California. Thanks again!

Hello BiggerPockets family,

I am currently in escrow for my first multiunit so I am finally able to join in on this side of the forums.

I was just curious to how most of you fellow investors would setup the basics in being a landlord of a multiunit. I will have the property under my name and will not be placing it in an LLC since the fees seem too high for a young investor such as myself and I honestly do not have much to my name. The issue is that I would like to manage this property myself and would like to be known as the property manager and not a landlord.

Since the property is under my name, I was wondering if there was a way to have them write out their checks to a company name rather than my name for obvious reasons stated above. I've tried looking up this info on biggerpockets but there doesn't seem to be anything with heavy detail on this topic. Would I have to create a corporation or LLC as a management company to do this? Or are most landlords that manage the property themselves just having them write their names on the rent checks? And as a hopefully new landlord soon, any other tips or ideas in regards to managing a multiunit would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance and if I was confusing in anyway please feel free to ask me any questions and I'll try to give more detail!

@Eric Dowling That's definitely the case! There are no agents involved on either side. Can you explain what an FSBO is by chance?

Thanks again for the great info as always Eric! Great information that's easy to understand and fast as always. The two contingencies of the loan contingency and buyer investigations contingency do seem like the two main ones I will need. Do you know if I usually have to explain the individual inspections that would be a part of the buyer investigations contingency or is it common to explain all the individual inspections? The seller is making it seem like it is routine to list out the individual inspections for the offer? Not sure if that is normal or if I am being taken advantage of. Just checking all my bases. The property is brand new so I'm assuming I wouldn't need every single inspection that's possible.

And on a different note, were you able to attend the hearing for short term vacation rentals? I didn't catch you there but then again there were quite a few people when I was there. It seemed way too early to figure out which side it's leaning towards so guess we'll have to wait and see!

Thanks again,

I was also wondering how long a contingency period would be ideal as well? I heard that 17 days would be plenty. This property is a brand new, just finished in construction property so I'm not too worried in terms of issues that might arise but still figure I should have a few inspections. He did assure me that the general contractor does have a 1 year warranty along with the warranty of the individual material companies used for the property such as roof, hardwood floors, etc. I was curious to what the bp members in LA are used to in terms of an ideal contingency period that would be enticing for the seller but also be enough time for me to go through all the proper inspections even though it is a new property. Thanks in advance as always!