All Forum Posts by: Jim W.

Thanks, @Harjeet - I appreciate the helpful info. Not sure why I didn't get anywhere with the other lenders. I'll try again next week and see what I can do.

Hey everyone! I have a duplex in Stow, OH that's been serving me well since 2015. I have a 30-year note on it at 4.75% - not awful, but the lower rates have me drooling.

I think I have two problems though:

1) I'm an early retiree. I left my job at the end of 2018. I have a net worth that should cover our family for the rest of our lives, but a lot of the banks want W2 income. I don't know if I can just leverage the rental income as income - it brings in ~$1500/mo in rent and the mortgage with taxes and insurance runs ~$750.

2) I only owe a little less than $65k on it (it's worth about $125k-$150k). I think a lot of the banks don't want to bother with small potatoes like this.

We have excellent credit scores (800+). I had tried a couple of places before but didn't get very far (Quicken Loans and a mortgage broker). The reasons above were the problem from what they told me.

Any thoughts on how I could take advantage of these low rate opportunities out there? As a side note, we're currently living in Panama so in-person visits are a little more problematic.

Thanks, Adam - do I still need to submit the Foreign Company Qualification even if I'm not buying any properties in TX?

Cool, thanks, guys!  So since I don't plan on adding any properties in Texas, I'll leave it here.  And the Statutory Agent seems easy enough.

Thanks for your help!

-- Jim

Hey, everyone - I'm going to be changing my state of domicile from Ohio to Texas later this summer. Right now, I have an LLC in place for a duplex I own. Do I need to do anything with my LLC when I move or can I just change the mailing address and call it a day?

It's a good penny to domesticate the LLC to be a Texas entity, but if it makes sense, I'm good with it. What would you recommend?

-- Jim

PS  As a side note, I use a property mgmt company if that makes any difference.

@Edrin Shamtob, I currently use CC Realty to handle a house I have in Akron and a duplex in Stow (about 15 min north of Akron).  They're not a giant PM company, but they've done a pretty decent job for me.  I moved to them a couple years ago.

http://www.ccrealtyandpropertymanagement.com/  Feel free to tell Cheryl that I sent you or PM me for more info.

-- Jim

Jason, I'd love to know who you're using for a property manager here.  I have a single family in Akron, a duplex in Stow, and soon to be another duplex in Stow as well.  I have a property management company that's Ok, but I'm always interested in ones that are described as terrific! :-)

Thanks, Micki!  I'll do some digging and see what I can find on here.

-- Jim

Hey everyone, this is my first post on BiggerPockets - I've been a lurker for a couple months now!  :-)

I have a rental house that I've owned since 2003.  It's not a cash flow property right now... we probably make $50-$100/month on a quiet month (before accounting for any repairs or setting aside for things like a new roof).  Live and learn, but it will be paid off in 8 years, so it should be some good income at that time.

We just purchased a duplex a couple months ago to rent out both sides.  This one will be a nice cash flow property (see, I'm learning!).

I do have a property management company handle most everything for both properties.

Here's where I need some help with.  Up until now, I've always done my own taxes and it wasn't that big of a deal.  However, with this duplex (and I'm hoping to get a couple more in the next couple of years), it's starting to get a little more complex.

I'm sure I could just enter everything in and be good to go, but I'm concerned that I'm missing out on ways I should be structuring or handling things. For instance, there's the dreaded "should I put my properties under an LLC" question and if I go that route, is it better to have just one person under it or add your spouse as well. What I'm looking at though is more from the tax-advantage strategies vs the liability side. Other things like repairs - are there some strategies on doing things methodically to decrease taxes?

I know that I need to sit down and discuss this stuff with somebody, but I'm just not sure how to go about it.  I was thinking I should take my taxes to someone, but I've never done that before.  Do they sit down with you to discuss strategies or is that something outside of the scope of them doing your taxes?  Or do you talk to someone completely different to get guidance on this?

If anyone has any thoughts, please let me know - definitely appreciated!!

Thanks,

-- Jim