All Forum Posts by: Josh Collins

@Daniel Kurkowski - Thank you.  I happened across that also.  By that website it looks as if I would need a real estate license however, it is from a property management company, after all.  Trust but verify, as they say!  I was wondering if anyone could verify their info and/or suggest a creative way around this.  I have a sister-in-law who is a real estate agent but I don't think it's super practical to bring her into the mix (it's across the Twin Cities metro for her to get to the property).  I'm trying to get tricky.  Legal, but tricky.  Thanks for the input!

@Erik Noordam - Thank you for the response but the house is in Minnesota, USA.  My friend is moving to the Netherlands.  Maybe he'll buy a place there and then move back.  I'd be happy to manage his rental in the Netherlands!  ;0)  Haha.  

@Bob Floss II - Thanks for the reply.  This is the route I think I'm going to go.  Hopefully it's the least painful.

Thank you @Trevor Lybbert , I'll check it out. 

@John Franczyk - Thank you for the great response.  I appreciate your time.  

Before people jump on our back as being numbnuts, we have another facility called Milwaukee Storage Garages and were thinking we'd just continue the nomenclature.  It's funny how it didn't even cross our mind that Madison Storage was a similar name.  Maybe foolish on our part but I will claim a bit of naivete as opposed to outright attack on our neighbors.  But all of our loan and company docs are now signed and processed as Madison Storage Garages which seems to add levels of complication.  

Thanks! 

If an existing mini-storage facility is named Madison Storage and I open a maxistorage facility down the street and named it Madison Storage Garages (and the Secretary of State approved our business's name), can the existing facility sue me for having too similar of a name?  

Ok, I know anyone can sue anyone for anything, but do they have a leg to stand on.  They claim it is like naming a fast food restaurant McDonald's Burger Joint.  I also understand that McDonald's is trademarked and Madison Storage is not.  Any quick legal help would be wonderful.  I get to respond to a letter I received from their attorney and I'd like to know the correct questions to ask. 

Thanks in advance....

My friend just took a job in the Netherlands and is moving to Europe in a month.  He wants me to manage his property for him while he is gone.  I have storage facilities and have had other rentals myself.  I'm wondering if, legally, I can do this for him.  My research says I need to have a realtor's license to do this for him.  Can anyone confirm this or suggest alternatives for me? Me and the house are in MN.  Thanks in advance.

@Account Closed

@Luc Boiron - I'd be curious to know what your expected time to flip will be.  I think that also tells a lot about the overall risk associated with the deal.   

@Account Closed What if he did the rehab and sold in 4 months? Then his return jumps to 36% annual ROI assuming he can keep his money moving into a new house every 4 months. I don't know if that's true or not but the annual ROI on his investment (how I think most people are comparing apples to apples on BP) using the shorter timeframe is much higher than 12% (13.89% actual). Just something to consider. In the end, it gets harder and harder to invest larger amounts of money on deals so making $100k in 4 months might be a pretty amazing return on his $720K. Also, average houses in the area are approaching $1.3M range so this seems low-ish end (I can't believe I just wrote that a $1M home is low end!). That seems like the OP is set up to fix and flip this in short order. Would an annual return of 36% change your mind on the deal? Maybe, maybe not. I was initially with you on your thought process that 12% seems too skinny of a deal. But if I put my money to work and I have a shot at a 36% annual return, I would be willing to chase a little more risk. Just a thought.

I have visited in September.  Weather was beautiful but it was also during the start of the hurricane season.  This should be something to consider if investing on the kayes.   

Also, my nervousness about the investment is that you are relying on foreign tourism to fill your investment. If there is an economic downturn, what options do you have to keep it full or at least break even? I would suspect that locals aren't going to be able to afford the rent in your place if you wanted to turn it from STR to long-term rental.

We stayed on Ambergris in lovely hotel/hostel owned by a British couple.  Wonderful place.  We are there at the end of tourist season and no one was around.  It was $75/night (probably closer to $125 now) but we were the only ones renting (out of 3 total units).  And it seemed like there were many other options.  

I'm certainly not trying to discourage you, I'm setting up my thought process a bit.  This is like investing in classic cars.  No matter what you are speculating (in my opinion - feel free to disagree) so buy the car (real estate) that you want to drive and hope it goes up in value.  If it goes up in value, you win.  If it doesn't you have a car that you loved driving.  

As far as the RE in Belize, buy one that you'd be happy to own (if it only turned out 1/2 as good as you hoped) and enjoy it.  If you wouldn't want to have it as YOUR vacation rental, maybe you should reconsider.  In the end, I feel like this is purely speculation.  I loved the idea of living there during the tourist season (similar to the Brits) and renting out a room or two and enjoying the place as if you were in vacation.  You can shutter the doors and return home in the slow season.  Or you can find a manager and just AirBnB it for now and then manage it yourself once you retire.  I know I completely changed subjects on you here but I think this option should be up for consideration.  Or at least looking for something with 3-4 rooms that can be rented as a mini-hotel rather than a one room villa.  

Lastly, another amazing option in Belize is an ecotourism hotel or STR in western Belize near all the ruins. Hurricanes are less of an issue and you could probably run some sort of tour company out of your place too and do day trips to Tikal in Guatemala (assuming political issues are settled). I know this is a way different option than your original post but it feels like an alternative to what every other RE investor is gravitated to in Belize.

Good luck!!!!

@Tanya Rooney - Congrats!  Now the real learning begins!  I'm super pumped for you.  Good luck!