All Forum Posts by: Jeff Wydra

@Brian Davis

Both Mike S. and Joe Norman here above make excellent points. You could start in your personal name and not sweat it to start. Then when you get some money rolling in and maybe a second property go ahead and open one. On the flip side when you do open one, my mentor always told me to absolutely open the LLC that holds the property in the SAME state. If you have to go through some litigation or get sued, and your LLC is from out of state, the odds are stacked against you and you'll likely lose. Again as Mike stated, you can have a second entity hold the first entity and have that one in another state where its best for taxes. This illustrates one of the many, many beautiful benefits of real estate where you can get your cake and eat it too. Hope all this helps and congrats on taking your first steps.

@Alex J. I second what Winston said about making sure you don't buy in an area that is or has previously been a flood zone. This should be easy to find through either insurance or your municipality. This would apply to lower plains, areas near a river or creek that might swell up in the spring or with heavy rains, etc. As to actually buying near a body of water connected to the ocean, I would personally research what the projections are for rising sea levels over the next few decades and ensure you buy something that is high enough not to be affected by that. I did a quick google search and projections are anywhere between one foot and eight feet between now and 2100. So if there's any truth to that, I would feel safe buying waterfront property for the next few decades so long as it was several feet above the current water.

@Lance Bolen I know wholesaling sounds like you don't need a lot of money (because you aren't purchasing the property), but that's a huge misconception. It actually requires a substantial investment for your constant marketing and systems, and it can take months to land your first deal. All the while you are dishing out money to keep the machine going, but nothing's coming in. Beyond the money it is also a constant and significant investment of your time. I only have a few friends that have become successful at wholesaling, and it took years, and lots of capital. I would second Alan's suggestion of getting your real estate license. Other suggestions would be to bird dog some deals, or find someone who is successful and try and bring them value and work with them. That being said, where there's a will, there's always a way. When I was younger (before prop stream and the internet were a thing thing lol) I did some wholesaling myself. I found my deals through probate (actually went into the courthouse basement and went through all the deceased files, lots of fun) then put up bandit signs to find my buyers (pretty sure you can't get away with that much anymore), but it did work out for me, and didn't cost much. Depending where you live something similar could be an option.

Best of luck to you. I wish I had gotten serious about REI when I was your age. I'd be retired and living on a beach by now.

@Marc Rice

That's a very generous offer and I'd love to see it as well. Thanks Marc

@Felipe Lois Affini

Hi Felipe

Great advice and kudos to you for investing successfully from so far away. I'm an investor from Canada and looking to get in the American market next. How have you secured financing the states? I'm finding this to be my big hurdle at the moment. While I have amzing credit in Canada, I am a big zero in the US because I don't have an American social insurance # and no credit history. How have you overcome this? Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

@Jonathan Taylor

Dude, first off thanks for making this thread. Financing is such an important piece of the puzzle and it's always great to learn more. I've really been enjoying your comments so far. My question is a little more complex but it sounds like you're the man for the job. I'm an experienced investor from Canada (brrrr's, buy and hold, Airbnb, property management, etc) I have great credit here in Canada with an above 800 fico score, six figure w2 income and some pretty good savings. I'm going to start investing in multifamily in the united states but everyone I've talked to so far says financing will be difficult as I don't have a US social insurance number or credit history. I will more than likely be putting these properties in an LLC, and possibly partnering with at least one US Citizen. Please guide me oh wise one.

@Guichard Belton I would start by going to see the city and getting the 411. Find out if you can tear it down, and if you can re-use the foundation, what is the property zoned for and what else could be built there, if it will need any special type of soil samples or other things of that nature that could get expensive, etc etc. And most importantly, find out what the deal is from them on his taxes. Maybe it's about to be auctioned off or he owes more than its worth it. It could be a great deal from a distressed seller and definitely worth looking into, but it could also be a huge can of worms that simply isn't worth it. Let us know how it turns out.