All Forum Posts by: Jenn N.

@James Carlson Thank you! I think I overreacted at bit. :-) We have talked to a number of people and it sounds like it will be settled through insurance. In my 18 years of being a landlord I've never had this happen so I automatically though I needed a lawyer. I do have some leases I'd like to have looked over so I'll keep your recommendation in mind. Thanks again!

Hello. Received a summons from a former tenant. It's full of lies and I do have most of that documented. Anyone know of an EXCELLENT landlord tenant in the Colorado Springs area? Thank you!

We did exactly that in 2015 and 2016. We sold our Ventura, CA properties and bought a duplex to house hack in CO. We added a few more rentals here too. Before settling down we spent a few years traveling the country in an RV to pick a place that would work for us. We narrowed it down to Indiana where my family is from, Louisville KY, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville TN, outside of Austin TX, sort of thought about Florida, and Colorado Springs. Quality of life is very important to our family. Being from the Midwest (Indianapolis area) I know it it just doesn’t have what’s important to me: beautiful scenery (subjective I know) and endless outdoor activities. (Also our family dislikes humidity, bugs, and constant grey winters.) Also in Ventura people loved living there. It was a daily part of life to talk about how great Ventura is and we hoped for a similar attitude about the new location.  It’s just different in the Midwest you don’t have that type of conversation often. I find it (a general attitude in the population of loving where you live) really makes a difference in quality of life. In general it seems to me that people love living in CO. Although I hear lots of complaining about how the cost of living has gone up. It’s true the prices have skyrocketed since we moved here. Personally, I just think there is so much more to consider that COL. If I were going to move to a lower cost of living state I’d probably consider the Black Hills area of SD or Chattanooga again…both places are beautiful with lots of outdoor things to do. The northwest west corner of Arkansas is another place I might consider as well. I personally think the reasons some places are lower cost of living are the same reasons I don’t want to live there. Being from the Bay Area I’d really think it through. You live in a gorgeous part of the country with endless activities, outdoor and cultural! 

@Dave Foster Sorry for my slow response. In addition to real estate, I also homeschool a couple kids so my time online is limited. :-) I wanted to say thank you for the helpful response. I talked to my tax guy and if I do the 1031 I carry my basis over (as you said too). The current property was also acquired from a 1031 exchange so it's basis is super low around $140K. The original property exchanged was bought in 2002 in CA. I've spent all week running numbers and it seems like it may be most beneficial to "start over" so I can take advantage of the full depreciation of the new property that I'm buying for $425K. It seems like that will provide better tax relief. Am I understanding everything correctly? In this case I'll hold onto the multi-family. I don't really have a good reason to sell it. I'm mostly nervous about the eviction moratorium and future of our economy. It's in a lower income area. 

@Arn Cenedella Thank you for your contribution. We have already identified one property for $425k. The second property would need to be around $200k. The problem is there aren’t a lot of options at that price point. 😊

Hello everyone! We just went under contract for a property for $425k. I'm trying to decide if I should just use my cash for a downpayment or 1031 one of my properties for the downpayment. The one I'm thinking about 1031ing is a multi-family worth about $575-600K. After the sale, I'd have around $225K to push forward. The new property does need work. I've been reading about the "investment 1031" and it sounds expensive and stressful with the 180 time frame. :-) Plus we like to do the work ourselves because A. we like it and B. we know the quality of the work. Also I don't if we could even do the work ourselves with an "improvement 1031"? Anyone know? I acquired the current multi-family property through a 1031 exchange so the basis is quite low around $140K. I'm trying to understand how this might affect the new property basis? If we didn't do an improvement exchange, we would have to find two replacement properties but (if I'm understanding everything correctly) my budget would be around $200k-ish for the new property. There is VERY little around that price point in my area. My 4-plex cashflows well but I'm feeling nervous about the economy and more eviction moratoriums under the new president. I tend to be pretty conservative/cautious because I wasn't in 2005-06 and paid for it. The multi-family is in a lower income neighborhood and, while, I've not had a lot of problems, I'm just sort of over it. I almost sold the multi-family and take the tax hit to pay off my personal residence but my realtor convinced me that was not a good idea (we'd owe about 60k taxes that way). I thought it over a long time and then my dream property popped up and offer was accepted even though we weren't the highest. So now I have to make a decision within the next day or two. I'm not looking to build excessive (<--I know,that's relative) wealth I just want to retire comfortably and early. Any advice or thoughts are welcome! (Note: we have an extra long escrow for the new property so I have time to sell the old one.) :-) Thanks!

I'm considering getting my Colorado real estate license so I can buy and sell my own properties and have access to the MLS. I saw that the first 2 years need to be under a managing broker. Right now, I have zero interest in representing buyers or sellers, i.e. being a real estate agent. (Perhaps in the future but right now I'm focused on raising my kids and investing so I don't have time to work as an agent.) I want to be able to see properties quickly and write my own offers as well as sell my own properties. Will I be able to do this with a new license? What other sort of fees should I take into account for keeping an active license? Someone posted on another thread that it costs 7-10K yearly to keep a license active? That seems excessive to me? I would appreciate any thoughts. Thanks! :-)

Thanks! (Sorry I didn’t scroll up the first time.) 

When will you be holding this call?