All Forum Posts by: JJ Conway

This is a fun discussion.. one of the things that always strikes me as odd about people who call themselves real estate investors (as I do) is that it's the largerst group I've dealt with where most people can spend a lot of time talking about their amazing business, but when you ask how many deals they've done, the answer is zero. When you ask what marketing they've done, the answer is zero.

Cool thanks @Eric S.

So I guess we're the firce, fabulous, 40s investors haha

OH, and I agree with those who recommended having the LLC where it will be buying the property. This way you don't have to worry about being a foreign entity in the state you do business. Depending on the state, this could require extra expense and filing in both states.

And guess what? MD just rolled out an "online LLC" process so you don't even have to drive out there anymore (though when I did the process was quick and easy).

I originally opened up LLCs for real estate 10 years ago, and quickly discovered it can be costly and time consuming to keep up with the paperwork for all those businesses.  I ended up closing them down.  Since I was listing myself on the forms, it's not like I had much privacy anyway (hint: if you want privacy, you'll want a resident agent's name on the forms, not yours).

Fast forward 10 years and I only recently created two LLCs: one for my education business and one for my real estate holdings going forward. I did them both last year using the new online process and it worked REALLY well!

@Account Closed yep, that's the bill I had to pay at closing.  The houses were assessed at $70K. I appealed to drop it based on the purchase price being $3K and the fact that it's a block from riot ground zero.

@Kim Coleman it's in Druid heights.  Looking forward to doing more, but a job transfer looming in my future has me re-thinking. I don't feel that's the kind of place you want to be a long distance landlord

@Dmitriy Fomichenko it's a 3BR 2bth rowhouse. I was feeling awesome about the purchase price, but another one on that block sold for 1300.  Thing is, though, that one was boarded up and probably needed a TON of work.

@Nathan Peatrowsky thanks - I know that's how most people do it, but that burned me in the past so I'm sticking with cash deals.  Would love to hear more of what's working for you tho

@Bhekizwe M (and anyone else I may have missed) thanks!

@Mike S. I'll check it out. One thing I wish, that someone mentioned earlier, is that there was a way not just for those you had to evict (thankfully I've only had to do once) but also those who were complete headaches!  Problem is, the liability with such a system is probably prohibitive.

I've been a real estate investor for many years now, but mostly passively.  My biggest "active" success so far is an all cash deal I just rehabbed and rented out in Baltimore City last year.  Learned a LOT!

Bought property for $3K, plus wholesaler's fee of $3K and taxes of $1.3K.  Still waiting for Baltimore to respond to my hearing to lower tax value.  Put 11K of work into it (would have been 8K, but I lost control of the rehab for a bit b/c I was pregnant, got sick, and had to get another contractor to finish the job).  Got it rented at 900/mo just before baby was born.  And, yes, she paid over Christmas haha.  Which I've learned is rare for Baltimore City.  Am very happy and looking forward to doing more deals like this.

@Zachary Ngai cool idea! I've been to several restaurants with a 2nd story overlook of a nice view (though not in OH, lol) so that could work. 

One thing I can't tell from above: is this land you're building from scratch on, or is this a 4 story property you're renovating? I read it like you're building from scratch, in which case, you absolutely need to build in accessibility but you could check with the local jurisdiction to see if just having 1st floor accessibility is adequate or if you need accommodations for wheelchairs to make it up to the 2nd floor as well.  Near me there are several 2 story restaurants where I've not seen an elevator, but those are crazy old buildings which probably haven't been sold recently enough to trigger any accessibility laws (or it could be that I never paid attention honestly)

 Great idea... yet another reason I'm glad I joined these forums.  Is there an art to finding a good collection agency? Or is it as simple as interviewing folks from the phone book to find a rep you click with?