All Forum Posts by: Joseph DiNardi-Mack

@Wendy Carpenter I have never used incorporate.com or any other online solution for filing an LLC so I can not speak for or against them. I do have to say though that I truly believe that finding a great CPA is invaluable, even for the small things, my families CPA has saved us a lot of money and countless headaches. I also just went to see incorporate.com for pricing for an LLC in Washington and with their fees plus state fees the total came out to be about $360. My account, an any reputable one, should only charge you about $350 for file for an LLC, so the costs are comparable, but I strongly believe that a CPA will provide you with a better service.

Hope this helps,

Joe

@Darel Ison while I don't use a VA for my real estate business I do use them for my online company. They are great workers and also have a price that cannot be beat. I use Upwork to find my VA's and have them do mostly financial accounting and have never had an issue. If you do decide to proceed I recommend finding ones from the Philippines as I found that they speak the best english and are the easiest to communicate with also they only charge $3 -$4 an hour, which is a phenomenal rate for them btw.

Hope this helps,

Joe 

@Alex Huang while I have never tried this myself, and my properties are in B-areas, I think this could be a really good tactic. If the homes are in A-areas then you probably have to repaint them after each tenant anyways. The only concern that comes to my mind is what painting over all those different colors over the years would be, most likely a slim to non exist concern, but I paint my rentals the same color so I don't really have any experience in that. If you do end up trying it, let me know how it goes! 

Best of luck to you,

Joe

@Taft Love disclaimer: I am not a wholesaler I am a buy and hold investor. I know just getting started can be a very daunting experience and it's never easy to venture into the unknown, but you just have to make the plunge and take action. What really helped me when I first got started was finding a local investor. It took a few phone calls to find someone who would actually mentor me, but once you do it makes the whole experience a lot more pleasant. While I read @Brandon Turner's The Book on Rental Property Investing, which is very helpful btw, there was no better experience then working first hand. The key to finding a good mentor is to offer up your time to them. Find a wholesaler in your area and ask what you can do for them in exchange for them just walking you through one actual deal. While you will have to put some time in for possibly no profits the experience is well worth it as you will be more confident and knowledgable on your own first deal. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Good luck on your investing journey,

Joe

@Lane Kawaoka I think these are great ideas, and I can't wait till technology finally catches up to the real estate sector. I believe that a smart home will help with keeping costs low on rentals and while maintenance of some technologies are on the higher side now I believe that should swing to where they are not only more affordable but reduce costs overall.

Hi Joe, what more do you wish cozy could do and what problem are you trying to solve?

Thank you all for your advice and wishes. Based on your recommendations I am going to go find a lawyer who has experience in HML who can lend a better hand when it comes to setting everything up and drafting the proper loan documents. I am also going to reach out to the AAPL as recommended @Adam Schneider and go to a few of my local REIA's to find a HML who may be able to show me the inner workings of being a HML.

Thank you all again for your advice, and best of luck to all of you in your real estate journey. 

Hello Biggerpockets,

I have a good amount of capital that I was originally looking to put into fix and flips, but the market in New Jersey has proven difficult to penetrate and I have just started a business that is taking up too much of my time, I could not run this business and manage flips. So I am looking to take the capital I would have put into flips and use it to become a hard money lender. I have done some preliminary research, but have found it hard to really find anything concrete in terms of requirements. I found that to be a HML for 1-4 family units to individual investors that a license is required in NJ but cannot find how to apply for such a license or what the requirements are. I have a pretty good knowledge base of fix and flips, and how to do due diligence. I also have a good lawyer (although he has no previous experience with HML so I would ideally like to find another) and a very qualified CPA, but again he has no experience with HML.

If there are any HMLs, especially from New Jersey, who could help by sharing some advice or even just tossing me a link to somewhere I could find more information that would be greatly appreciated. Also if you are a hard money lender in NJ who is willing to share your experiences and knowledge and would like to meet up for coffee or lunch, my treat, that would be amazing.  

Thank you all,

Joe

Hey Jackson,

This is right out of J Scotts The Book on Flipping Houses, hope this helps and is what you are looking for.

@Peter Tverdov Thank you for your advice, I did not realize the leases were setup that way. I'm hoping he'll realize he bought at the top of the market and can't expect such a high number, who knows maybe in a few more months he'll come down.