All Forum Posts by: Kama Ward

How about pay for your friend to go to a no bs financial counselor?The tough kind that will lay out all his assets, liabilities, and income and help him get real on what it will take to get solvent short and long term. That's the crux of this guy's problem, he does not know how to manage money. Many guys know how to make a bunch of money, and mistake this for knowing how to manage it. Let the counselor do the tough talk, and if your friend listens, it will be much easier to help him with the real estate part of it. (ie buying for a reasonable price Not lending him money).

Thanks Bill for the tips. I will check into the culture/laws of short sales here more deeply and put an expiration in my offers as well. That should make it work for me.

This thread is more about the OP's fear mentality than a possible future scenario.
If an investor is afraid- get out. If an investor sees an opportunity- get in.
No use wringing your hands. Analyze, Accept, Act!
Analyze the situation, accept that's the way it is (not the way you want it to be or that it used to be), then act on your best scenario!

I currently have the capacity to do one or two deals at a time. For various reasons, I won't be ready to expand that for about a year. I'd like to offer on short sales, but I'm wondering about my obligations.

1. If I make an offer, what are my legal obligations- if I offer and they accept months later- is it a legal contract just like a regular offer? Or if they accept- is there some step where I need to reaffirm?

2. What are my "reputational"/moral obligations- What if I make an offer and then they accept months later and I cannot perform? Each large bank gives all their short sales to one attorney and re agent. I'd hate to get a bad rep.

I'd take it slow and read here for at least a few months on all different forums. Once you really get it, you might have a better chance with convincing your wife- and if you really want to get into it. I took my husband to the bigger pockets investing summit, so he would understand the ground rules, lingo, potential and pitfalls. This was even after he wanted me to do more real estate investing!
You must get her to really agree or it will be trouble. Not just say "well fine". There WILL be unexpected trouble and setbacks with real estate. It's very much worth pursuing if you figure out it's right for you.

The success of appeals depends on the local government. I have appealed in several markets in NC and gotten a reduction every time. I have not needed much documentation even. I just called and talked to them or went down there in person. It was pretty much just ask and they'll do it.

Maybe you could try it on your own at first, but if it doesn't look like it's going well, go with a service.

California is not like Greece- as in if you think California is bad, Greece is literally 100 times worse. I read a few economic policy blogs in my non-real estate nerd time. There are problems with California governance for sure, but from time to time they post articles about the myth of the California decimation. California still has a lot going for it. I couldn't find an example article from a quick search, but they are out there. If by "welfare consumers" you mean immigrants, they have been an engine for economic growth since our ancestors got here.

News outlets like to create that sense of drama. What? There's an opinion piece in WSJ that says taxes, regulation, and public transport are bad!? Surprise Surprise! I'd be more interested in an article that has some hard data about the demographic trends. Remember Bruce Norris from the conference? What does he say? He was awesome predicting the long term Cali trends!

I do agree that the state has it's problems, but even those problems will create opportunities for smart RE investors.

Home stagers charge here $30 and hour to give you a consult. They charge about $900 a month to bring furniture and do the whole house. The upscale furniture store in town charges $750 for two rooms for two months, very nice non-tacky stuff. I did a small 3/1 for about $2500 with mostly ikea, some thrift store/junk store and slightly damaged new furniture sales. I'd be able to do better next time, but I think I'm going to try the furniture store. $750 for two months is not bad.

Yes, my house was an in town house. It was a 1911 farm house, most of the houses are 1920's though. Actually, most of the 20's houses have dining rooms (even though the houses are small- down to 700sqft 1/1). But it's all about charm indeed- they put up with other quirks. People buy buy buy here for 150-200K, up to 275K in the nicest section of town for a small older home. We have lots of people move from cali and other parts who want the cool without the 650k price.

I'm sure there is a better person to answer this, but I have done one 1031, so I know a bit. A 1031 is for an investment meant to be held, not bought and sold quickly. So I don't think buying and selling a house to you will be an option. (holding at least one year and in some cases more) Plus if she sold it back to you for nothing- I believe the transaction would not be considered arm's length and that would get you in trouble. Our atty. was careful about making sure my transaction was fair market value and arm's length. Also the property must be a 'like kind' exchange. I did land for a house (both residential), but not entirely sure if going from residential to a hotel would work- maybe depending on if the value was in the real estate of the hotel (real estate to real estate) or running the hotel (from real estate to business). Looking forward to more replies.