All Forum Posts by: Cindy Chan

Hi all,

I have a semi complicated case and thought about a bunch of different options and would now like to hear what everyone else thinks or would do.

My mom has a property that has been vacant for about 10 years now, in another state from where we live. I was thinking of using this as an opportunity to get into real estate, and renovate, and rent this out. My mom wants nothing to do with the property and don't care what I do with it. My original plan was to:

1. Renovate the property (would cost around $40k to do the major renovations such as getting the plumbing and electrical up to code, redo the siding of portion of the house (there's some rotting wood), install new cabinets and redo the bathroom, etc.

2. Rent it out.

That sounds like the easy part from a top level view. However, getting into the details, and tax parts of it. I will not be able to use it as a "business" if it is under the name of my mother. What do you think would be the best option for making it into my "business"? Transferring the property into an LLC? Have my mother sell me the house (This would probably cause my mom to have tax issues, with capital gain)? Gift the house to me?, then I started thinking about gifting the house to me, but then there would be do more depreciation for tax, right?

I am very mixed with what my next steps should be, the property is a 3 hour flight from me so it is not crazy far, but I wouldn't be able to manage it on my own and would of course need a property manager.

I'd love to hear from everyone to see what more experienced real estate individuals think. Hopefully someone else has a similar situation and this could help them out as well.

Thanks in advance,

Cindy C

Good job Robert for making the move!

Thanks Maxwell, I think I might actually go that route too since it is pretty far from me and finding even realtors and property managers in Waycross is a bit challenging. I will get an updated market analysis for that location to see what numbers look like before I actually do anything.

That was one of my options as well. I would probably be better off selling this property and then investing it in a property in Atlanta instead. Thanks for your advice!

@Ethan Atkinson @Eric Cross @Ryan Johnston Thank you all for the responses!

The property is actually located in a pretty remote area (Waycross, GA), I wish my parents purchased in Atlanta instead. I am willing to either buy and hold or repair and resell, whichever option is the best for this situation. My first thought was to sell it as is, so I contacted a real estate agent a few years ago and she said it would probably sell for about 30K. After hearing that, I was thinking, why sell it if I wouldn't get much from it? Maybe I should just renovate it and rent it out since it is also close to one of their biggest hospitals there (Mayo clinic).

Please let me know if you could help or know anyone from around that area.

Again, thanks for your help!

@Ryan Johnston I'm sure you don't miss the snow, I wish I was somewhere warmer. One day..I believe I'll get there, ha.

Hello, I am new to investing and have been reading books as well as listening to the BP podcasts almost every day. I think I have the basics down but definitely need more advice on how to start. I live in NY and I have a property that actually is in my mom's name down in Georgia, and it has been vacant for years. She doesn't care what I do with it as long as I take care of it. It has already been paid off and my mom has been paying tax all these years for basically nothing. If someone could give me any tips or guidance, I'd greatly appreciate it and I'm willing to help you if at all possible with your real estate needs. Cindy

Hello, I am new to investing and have been reading books as well as listening to the BP podcasts almost every day. I think I have the basics down but definitely need more advice on how to start. I live in NY and I have a property that actually is in my mom's name down in Georgia, and it has been vacant for years. She doesn't care what I do with it as long as I take care of it. It has already been paid off and my mom has been paying tax all these years for basically nothing. If someone could give me any tips or guidance, I'd greatly appreciate it and I'm willing to help you if at all possible with your real estate needs. Cindy