All Forum Posts by: Kenneth Woodall

There's a house for sale in a city in Orange County with a deed restriction for eligible buyers. The city placed a restriction so that in order to be eligible, the buyer must not own any other residential real estate unless they sell it before closing.  

This is fairly common in orange county and LA to promote lower to moderate income families to afford a home.

If anyone is familiar with this program, my question is: can someone transfer their residential properties to LLCs. That way they won't technically own residential properties or does it still count as owning properties if a person owns the LLC that owns the properties?

California's AB 1482 law states that rents can only increase 5% + CPI (up to 10%) per year. 

The CPI must be calculated from April-April of the previous year.

1.) I have a tenant renewing their lease in 2 months, but the April CPI isn't out yet -- what's the best way to calculate the rental increase?

2.) If I'm using previous year's numbers, CPI looks to be 4.1%, so adding 5%, that would be 9.1%, correct?

3.) Does anyone have a simple way to find this info, or a free calculator online?

This is for units in San Bernardino County.

Can anyone provide some highlights on SB9 and SB10? Here's what I believe is the case, please correct me if I'm wrong:

SB9

1. "Upzone" is allowed starting 2022: SFR zoned lots can be split into 2, and you can build 1 duplex on each (total 4 units). Each lot much be 1,200 sq ft minimum

2. No parking/garages necessary if you're within 1/2 mile from a transit stop.

SB10

1. It's easier to get approval for rezoning a lot for up to 10 units.  Cities can bypass lengthy review requirements (CA Environemtnal Quality Act)

Anyone have more info or tips to share?

Thanks Ashisha!

I own a few properties (SFR, duplexes) in various states: CA (2 multis), FL (2 multis), TN (1 SFR). All are sole-proprietorship. Some are paid off, others have mortgages.

1: How would you structure these in LLCs (I know the answer varies, just looking for your personal opinion and why)

2: I travel to different sites looking for new investments. How can I write these off on my taxes? As sole-prop, I can only write off travel as misc expense which tends to be a red flag for IRS.  

I manage my properties online myself. I have a lot of write-offs like internet, office, websites, etc. However, splitting these write-offs into individual properties isn't realistic. Can I create a "management company" LLC that I own, then pay that LLC from each property, then pay myself from that LLC?

3: Main question: considering all the above info (I own properties in multiple states that I manage myself), what's the best structure to write off my expenses in a way that minimizes any IRS red flags?

Thank you!

Hello,

I self-manage a number of properties and a storage facility. There are very specific rules for sending notices to tenants (rent-controlled areas). The rules often involve sending a physical letter.

Question:

Does anyone know how to auto-send a template letter when a certain date has passed?

Example: Tenant A (for storage), is 5 days late. A physical letter needs to be mailed to their address.  Is it possible to automate this?

My current solution: Tenant A is 5 days late, an auto-email is sent to him.  I log into LetterStream and have them send a physical letter to his address. 

NOTE: I hope there's a software that does this sort of thing. However, this might require some programming on my end -- if you know how to program something like this, could you walk me through the steps (I assume it's Java?)

Thanks!

My brother has a rental property and has a difficult tenant who runs a home based business. It's an online shop with inventory scattered everywhere. He would like the tenant out (for many reasons) but the tenant wants to stay. 

There's no terms on the lease explicitly prohibiting home-based business, but there is no permission given either. The business is likely unlicensed but I don't know if that matters for this type of business (etsy-type crafts). 

Would this be grounds for eviction? Or could he submit a 7 day notice to have the tenant stop doing their business from home?

Or are tenants allowed to run home based businesses like this without permission? Any insight is much appreciated.  

Thank you Ronald that is exactly the answer we were looking for. 

When making an offer could I go directly to the trustee, or do I need to send an offer to the owner? (I understand that this isn't legal advice just a hypothetical)

I am approaching a multi unit that has been approved for chapter 11. Is the current owner allowed to accept an offer lower than the total debts?

Simplified example:

10 unit property with $1mil in debt. $800K is from a secured loan. $200K are from various vendors (unsecured). It was approved for Chapter 11. I want to offer $750K. 

Is the current owner allowed to sell for $750K, or does the sale need to cover the entire cost of the debts? What's the process of getting approval for the sale (ie: does each debtor get a vote, does the bankruptcy judge need to approve it, etc.?)