All Forum Posts by: Jeff Copeland

The is usually dictated by How you are planning to finance the property.

If you are paying cash, or using commercial financing, then yes - Go ahead and create your business entity. You're going to need it anyway. 

If you are planning to use conventional residential (Fannie/Freddie) financing, the asset and the mortgage will have to be acquired in your own personal name (these loans are not for corporations or LLCs, they are for individuals). 

In the latter scenario, you could still create an entity to manage the property and/or to be a "customer facing" buffer between your guests and the property, but this is going to be a discussion with your attorney and CPA to determine what works best for both asset protection and taxes. 

 
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What are you lumping in with "closing costs" to come up with this number? Without knowing this we can't answer your question. A buyer's closing costs typically consist of:

Lender and loan origination costs - Are you paying an origination fee, points, doc prep, or other fees to your lender? These should not come as a surprise, as you would have agreed to these terms in advance. 

Transaction related costs - You have to pay for transfer taxes (sometimes called doc stamps) on the deed, title insurance, title search, attorney fees, courier services, and other fees related to the title work and/or associated with actually closing the transaction. 

Tax prorations - Depending on the time of year and the date of the closing, the property taxes for the year of closing year typically get split between the buyer and seller based on the number of days of ownership and whether or not the taxes were already paid. For example, for a closing that took place on 10/31, the seller would be responsible for ten months of the property taxes (January through Oct), while the buyer would be responsible for two (Nov and Dec). Whoever actually ends up paying (or already paid) them would get a credit at closing, and the other party get a debit at closing. 

Impounds or prepaids - These are not really costs associated with the loan or the closing itself, but they do sometimes require cash at closing. The buyer often prepays things like several months' worth of insurance premiums or property taxes at closing, and in some cases these are held in escrow by the lender to be paid when they become due. Whether or not your lender is escrowing these funds and paying them for you will depend on the lender and the loan details. 

 Understood. I never mentioned any specific temperature requirement. According to the OP, there is no heat in the room (only a window AC) and no central heat available. So it seems we are on the same page: a heating source is required. 

First of all, it's worth noting that in most municipalities, you are required to provide heat for your tenants. As far as options:

1.  You can get window AC units that also have a heat strip, but frankly the heat strips aren't very reliable and often die long before the AC does.  

2. You can provide electric baseboard heaters that plug into regular 110V outlets. 

3. You can provide space heaters, but some types can pose a fire hazard. 

4. You could upgrade to a mini split system with heat, which often has the added benefit of allowing you to regain use of the window. 

As @Jon Kelly explained above, you don't have to refinance 100% of your original capital out of a deal for it to be a successful BRRRR (and such homeruns have always been a needle in a haystack). 

I can show you case studies of SFH investment properties that were ultimately purchased with only 10% equity left in the deal, and small commercial multifamily properties with less than 4% equity. Happy to share these with anyone who is interested, and they are certainly not failures! 

Admittedly, it's a longer and windier road to get there, but there is almost no other way to acquire these types of assets with that type of down payment. 

Unless you are upgrading appliances for style purposes (to match a new kitchen, for example), the best play is to use them until they break. Get to the end of their service life, then replace. Some old Kenmore refrigerators (for example) last forever (and require fewer maintenance calls than new high tech models), and you might get another decade out of it, which reduces your overall costs considerably. 

Definitely standardize your paint colors and finishes. 

Not sure I agree on the water line to the icemaker. If the fridge has an icemaker, the tenant has a right to expect it to work.

I understand it may depend on the class of property, but I tend to install icemakers, disposals, and dishwashers (when updating kitchens) to attract higher-end tenants and a bigger tenant pool (once you've lived with these amenities, it can be very hard to go back, and many prospects will turn around and walk right out of a unit that has no dishwasher, for example). BTW - Despite popular belief, these actually cause very few problems, from a maintenance standpoint, in my experience. 

In most cases, the tenant's lease will survive the sale, unless there is a terminate on sale clause in their lease. So you need to be familiar with the lease(s). 

In general, a vacant property is usually much easier to sell (because it can be sold to owner occupants as well as investors). 

For investor buyers, it will depend on factors such as the current rent (versus market rent), the condition of the unit, the terms of the lease, and what they intend to do with the property. 

 This would have to be worked out with the lender, based on why they have concerns or won't allow it. I would venture to guess in some cases it's because the buyer doesn't have any money, or enough cash reserves, rather than the fact there is a second position lien (as long as they are in first position, why would they care?)

Property tax rates will vary considerably from market to market. 

Also be very cautious about using the current owner's property tax bill from public records. In some areas where owner occupants have a homestead exemption and/or an annual cap on tax increases, there can be a huge spread between what the current owner pays, compared to what a buyer will pay after the property is reassessed at the new sale price. 

Many county property appraiser's/assessor's offices will have an online calculator where you can plug in a purchase price and get a tax estimate. Here is one example from Florida: https://pcpao.org/taxEst.php