All Forum Posts by: Kelvin J.

Most counties seem to list their property tax rates as an amount per $100 valuation. But the calculator I am using to run numbers on properties needs property tax input as a percentage. So say Huntsville, AL property tax is $5.80 per $100 valuation… does that mean they have a 5.8% property tax? Because I was running the numbers on a $99k property and that method gave me $5742 in annual taxes but then I found a tax estimator on Madison Counties website and plugged in the $99k property and it chugged out $1148 in annual taxes….so…what am I messing up. I know this must be the simplest thing and I’m just a moron but this moron needs a point in the right direction please.

 So they called me yesterday and it was two part an error with the paperwork and also the seller left country for a week or so and he's old school and won't sign anything digitally. None of it was communicated to me however so I was just left in the dark waiting calls back. Thanks for the input. I'll temper my expectations on the next one and set a more realistic timeline with increased comms. I appreciate your response!

 Thanks for the insight. I'll set clearer expectations and do a little more front end communication next time. 

BLUF: Was supposed to close an off market cash purchase in <10 days and we're now going on 3 weeks. The hold up is at the title company. How can I approach a deal to ensure the fastest close possible in the future (beside waiving inspection).

The property is a BRRRR and I'd lined up a contractor who'd lined up sub-contractors and I've just had to have him cancel the drywall team and a few others because I can't hand him the keys since I haven't closed. This means his initial quote and timeline may no longer be accurate when I am able to actually get him into the property to start work.

Is this rare? Or are closing dates frequently un-met? Should I not even talk to a contractor until I have keys in hand? What steps in a BRRRR can you run concurrently and what should be left sequential?

Feeling frustrated with myself. Any advice would be appreciated.

While reading J Scott’s Book On Estimating Rehab Costs I transcribed his from $X to $XX estimates into a numbers spreadsheet so in theory you could walk a potential rehab and plug in square feet of flooring, linear feet of gutters, number of outlets etc etc and get a high/low rehab cost estimate for your own SA or to check against contractor bids. That being said, I’ve never actually executed a rehab yet. You guys have any feedback? Is this even remotely useful in a real world capacity? Link to the file is below.

If this is flirting with copyright infringement or something like that then tag J Scott or BP Publishing and I’ll remove the post with sincere apologies. I highly encourage everyone to buy and read the book. The data I transcribed to the calculator is a 0.006% of the useful data.

https://www.icloud.com/numbers/083nbAxWQug0l09tgEhH2GdTg#Rehab_Cost_Calc

Ah I understand now, extremely helpful! Thank you @Dave Foster !

@Will Fraser I appreciate your guidance and thank you for looping Dave in on this.

@Dave Foster Thank you for your time and sharing your expertise. So outside of a complicated lease hold improvement exchange, basically I can't alter my intent for a property part way through ownership? I have to commit to residence or investment at time of initial purchase? If it changes anything, I have not added any improvements to the land. I bought it with wellhouse on it and it has sat unmolested while I paid it off. The only change is my intention as I no longer wish to build on it and instead was hoping to use it as a jumping off point to get into a cashflowing investment property.

In a different, hypothetical scenario, how would this work for say a family that has lived in a house for 10 years but decides to move to another state? Now that their old house is vacant can they not 1031 because though it did appreciate in value, it was a primary residence and not an investment property?

Mornin’ BP!

I have a $150k piece of land (w/ well if that matters) that I intended to build my primary residence on. I own the land free and clear but I now intend to use it to help get into a MF investment property.

One option is sell it, reinvest the cash. But boooooo taxes.

The best option seems to be a 1031 exchange but I wanted to get clarification on a 3rd option.

When I originally intended to build my home there; the plan with the lender was for me to pay off the land(done) and then use the land as collateral down payment for the home construction loan. Could I also do this for an investment property? ie use the land as collateral down payment for… say a 4-plex?

In my eyes, the pro seems to be that I get to keep my plot of land. The cons are it’s not generating any cash flow and it is accruing taxes and utilities (heated well house).

Just looking for your experience and thoughts on doing a 1031 vs collateral style financing. Sorry if my terminology is garbage. Still learning.

Andrew thanks for typing your how-to series up and sharing. There's so much important info here and you present it in an easy to digest way.