All Forum Posts by: Michelle S.

Thanks for the suggestions. They are very good advice. We'll use this property as an educational opportunity to get our feet wet. We don't necessarily have to buy it in the end. It'll be interesting to get involved in the real life ins and outs of the mf investment.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, we definitely will be looking at the south as we'll be moving south in a few years. For our first property, we are looking somewhere we can easily get to if needed.

We plan to use a broker now. What questions do you think we should ask to help screen for a good agent? 

I'm also concerned about the truth of the seller's numbers. But how can I get to the bottom of the real numbers? Will the detailed tenant roll, signed lease agreements, and rent payment status, etc over past 12-24 months help?

Thanks a lot for the info,  Hattie. We are looking at properties in TX as well, too. So if we end up with something in TX, it'll be a big bonus to form an LLC there.

Thanks for the great info,  Joel.  So we don't have to be in a great rush to set up an entity so we can focus on property research right now instead. 

Yes we will have to discuss extensively to draft an operating agreement since it's not just me and my husband. The separate tax ids info is great to know. Would never have thought of that. Will probably ask more later in regard to LLCs setup as we get close to that. 

We are all over the board as to what property to get. Our friends started out very ambitious and wanted to look at 200 to 300 units range to take advantage of economy of scale. The wife had a fair amount of successes with SFH or one unit apts over past decade in Australia. She just moved to the US. The rest three of us has almost zero experience In RE investment. Her idea is to bring in silent partners for financing. 

We are not quite comfortable with starting out so big, and not confident that we will be able to get the fund we need with our background even with what we think a killer deal. So we have kind of convinced her to look into anything under $2million at the moment while keep our minds open for big deals as well. 

I am a numbers person. I try to follow the 50% and 2% rules, but find those deals are hard to come by unless in a war zone. So not sure how strict we should follow these guidelines. Our partner seems to be more focused on property conditions that are renovated or in good repair. 

Also thanks for the book recommendation. Will check that out too. 


Originally posted by @Jesse Waters:

There are some states such as Nevada that offer better LLC benefits than others. From what I have experienced you can use a LLC from any state to do business in any other state, you usually have to register with that state's Secretary of State as a foreign company. I do most of my work in SC & have a SC LLC.

Since you seem to have some time & are starting out, I would give Garrett Sutton's book "Loopholes of Real Estate" a read. He covers most the basics of LLC's, how to structure your partnership & how to protect you assets.

Best of Luck!

JW