All Forum Posts by: Julia Taylor

Thanks - the gains from the investment property sale were relatively small and we weren't ready to buy another one with a 1031 exchange. We did carefully weigh our options and we determined this was the best one, despite knowing that we'd have to pay a small amount of capital gains tax. My understanding is that the 1031 just defers taxes owed, it doesn't eliminate them. The 45-day window has now closed and we are not interested in trying to redo the sale (CPA said it is very complex and expensive). I was just looking for advice on how to store the money, not looking for advice on 1031s.

@Joe Homs what are the big 3 banks? The only big one we use is Capital One. 

My husband and I sold our investment property and are about to close on selling our primary residence. We have not identified a new primary or investment property to purchase yet. We will have about $1.3M we want to keep liquid so we are ready to purchase when we find the right properties. What is the safest way to store the money and keep it liquid? We have some high-yield savings accounts at an online bank, as well accounts at our local bank where the interest rates are pathetic. I'm not sure I fully understand what FDIC insurance covers, but want to make sure our money is protected from any fraud or cyber incidents while we shop for another house. I may be overthinking this - I've just never had this much cash on hand and it makes me a little nervous!

Thanks for your straight forward answer, @Bryant Brislin, much appreciated. We are listing a home in March so could be poised to buy land with cash as early as April or May depending on how quickly the home sells. We are just likely going to wait a bit to start developing/building. 

The tricky thing is finding a piece of land that truly doesn't have restrictions. I've been scouring Zillow but it's hard to tell. Is there another tool or process you recommend for finding unrestricted land? Or do you just have to call the listing agent for each piece of land? 

The other thing I've noticed is that some listings say not to attempt to view the land without an agent/appointment. Our agent who is listing our home for sale lives 2.5 hours away so we would need someone else to show us the land if we determined it met our requirements. 

We are looking to purchase unrestricted land and build a tiny home in 1-3 years, then a regular SFH for ourselves on the same land in 8-10 years. How do you find a local agent with the right knowledge and experience in this area? And what questions should you ask them / how do you vet them? We have never built before and are not sure what we need to consider both in choosing an agent and shopping for land. For context, we are looking in Western NC.

I talked to a 1031 exchange firm but left the conversation feeling more confused. Can I 1031 into a cheaper property?

We bought a SFH for $400K. We put an additional $65K into it. Realtor expects we can get $550-$575K for the sale. We do have a mortgage on the property, not sure if that matters in this equation.

We are looking to purchase a cheaper property (say, $300K), and put all the proceeds from the sale into it. 

Can you do a 1031 with this type of sale?

We own a STR and have decided hosting and the stress of owning a property 1500 miles away are not for us. We are not interested in hiring a PM or co-host. We are going to list our property for sale in the next 2(ish) months and want to invest in something more passive. No flipping or BRRRRing. We will likely have $150K-$175K to reinvest. We are not sure where to start with choosing a new investment strategy. My husband has romantic dreams of buying land for an eventual retirement home for ourselves (10-12 years for him, longer for me). But I'd like something that provides some cash flow, even if it's only a little.

I'm feeling overwhelmed with where to start my research. I spent an exorbitant amount of time (months and months) researching STRs and markets (I basically took it on as a full-time job while I was underemployed). I don't have as much time on my hands now to go crazy figuring this out (and let's face it - probably majorly overthinking it). 

I am not sure if a 1031 is going to be part of the equation or not since we are looking to purchase something at a lower price point than what we sell for (not clear on that, but I'll probably post separately in the 1031 forum for that topic). 

Any books you recommend on choosing a strategy? Any specific podcast episodes you recommend? Any other suggestions for how to narrow my research? TIA!

We are new long-distance investors and purchased our first STR 5.5 months ago. If there is a different forum that is a better fit for this post, please let me know.

The driveway is steep and gravel, and our handyman/cleaner (who worked for the previous owner and knows the house and its history well) suggested we have concrete poured to help with guests spinning out / getting stuck. We spent $7K to do this, and 4 weeks later we are discovering the concrete company did a terrible job. First, the concrete is only 8' wide, which is what the contract said they would do, but being totally inexperienced I didn't realize how narrow 8' is for a driveway (especially a steep driveway!).

Second, there is a significant drop off on the edges (4-5"), and our handyman's differential (of his Tundra!) dragged on it. I'm worried about future guests damaging their cars on it, or damaging the driveway. 

Third, we had a grading guy come to pour some gravel along the edges (an additional $3K), and his truck busted the corner of the concrete, breaking about a 1'x1' piece off. He said it's because the concrete company did not put 57 (3/4) stone underneath the concrete slab. The contract with the concrete company does not specifically mention 57 stone, it just says "sub-base". 

Both the grading guy and our handyman say the driveway needs to be ripped out and redone. Which probably can't happen till spring with winter weather moving in (we are at 4500 feet elevation in western NC).

The concrete company is not answering our calls or texts. I hired them in part because of their good Google reviews, but today discovered they have an "F" rating with the BBB (I didn't even know the BBB was still a thing). 

A friend said we should talk to a construction lawyer. My husband thinks it will not be worth the expense and headache. 

FWIW, we are on a financing plan through a 3rd-party company that the concrete company connected us with. I haven't even made the first payment yet. I'm wondering if there is some kind of out for us paying them since the work is unsatisfactory. There is a lot of fine print to wade through on the documents from the finance company. Unfortunately, the date the job was completed, I did sign off on the job being satisfactory from across the country (the project manager Facetimed me, but there are so many things I just don't know about concrete or driveways, I probably should have had my handyman be there for this).

Also FWIW, there is a 10-year warranty mentioned in the contract, but it does not say what that covers.

I'm trying my best to not let myself get bogged down emotionally about this, but it's so stressful. I'm worried about my future guests. We invested in real estate to make our lives easier, not harder or more stressful (probably our first mistake).

For those of you who are more experienced with projects like this (and things going awry!), what steps might we take or questions might we ask to get this whole situation resolved?

We’re headed to see the home we’re under contract on for the first time tomorrow! Excited and nervous!

In addition to walking the property with the agent and a contractor (to address a minor concern that came up in the inspection), I’m planning on spending our time documenting the house with photos, videos, measurements. The house is remodeled but I plan to make some design/decor updates this fall.

What else should i be paying attention to while we’re there? We’ll have about 3 hours there. We live 1500 miles away so this is our one chance to see it before we close in 3 weeks (remotely). We’re not planning to come back till September.

@Patrick M.  CFCU had looser residency requirements than SECU. However, the number of points they require you to pay was absurd. I ended getting pre-approved for a 10% down vacation home loan with Movement Mortgage. No residency requirements that I know of and the time you use the home for personal use is non-specific. I’ll be happy to report back if we actually close on a home in NC with them.

All equally valid ways to spend and grow your money - no right or wrong! I think it boils down to what feels most aligned for any one individual. I love hearing all the different paths - so if/when we sell our house and my husband quits his W2 (thus putting us in this particular position), we know what choices we have and can explore which one feels the best for us!