All Forum Posts by: John Corey

There is no right answer. At least not until someone really understands your situation. 

One key question is how much do you want to influence the results based on active management? If you do the passive route, you are outsourcing all the decisions. Not a bad idea if you lack the experience or the time. If you want to earn more through great decisions, you are leaning towards active management.  

Sort of like a scale where you need to decide which side to weigh more.

It is not just about adding space. Does it add value. Basement space could easily be less valuable to many homeowners than a main floor. Rarely is the space seen as a premium. So, be sensitive to the cost of converting the space. You might not be adding very much value.

A rather general statement so take it for what it might be worth.

If there are a lot of foreclosures, it also means that there is a lack of demand in the area. Maybe a surplus of properties. A 'great deal' on a property with weak demand could just mean a correctly priced deal which will suffer from high vacancies and other issues over time.

Anyone can issue a Quitclaim for a property. It just means that if they happened to have an interest in the property, they no longer do. They are not making any claim that they did have an interest, that the title is clear of other claims or anything else. Just that the party issuing the deed is washing their hands of their (possible) interest in the property.

So, your ability to deal with the tenant or anything else involving the title is unclear.

You would need to list the properties. The buyer could be someone other than an investor. 

It took some time to build up to 200 properties. It will be a bit time consuming to sell individually. That said, a bulk sale comes with a different set of issues.

Most people are over thinking the situation. If I wanted to live int he area and was thinking of buying an SFR, a duplex might make the numbers work better. A person looking for a home barely looks at the returns. They are buying a home. The fact that the other unit helps pays the bills can be all they need to know.

As I have not heard of the method, explain it to me. Talking it through could easily lead you to realize where the limitations are. The fact that it is limited might be fine when using it as a quick way to eliminate the deals not worth investigating further.

Following on Danny's suggestion, you would be consolidating. Just because you can own something does not mean that you should continue to do so. If you are not seeing the cash flow you need, it is a matter of time before you blow up.

Given the Air Force start date, having a CF positive portfolio is better than a larger one which needs more care and feeding.

When picking any solution, also check to see what you can extract if you choose to move on. Will you be able to take with you all the history and to extract it in a way that you can use it with the next platform?

I have bought a lot of properties in states where no one used a lawyer for SFR and similar. The title work is done by an insurance company.

In other states, a lawyer is required. Granted, they will then sell you a title insurance policy to back up the title.