All Forum Posts by: Richard Chang

hi Vic Waln,

Seems like your workflow would be:

1. File with List of Property Address
2. Bash Shell Script to loop through each address and query the website and save the results
3. Script to analyze the HTML results of each webpage returned to find Owner name / address and save to a new Owner Address output file
4. Generate the Letter in Word and generate Mailing Labels

With some motivation, I could probably build something in .Net... with a little help.

Best, Rich C

Hi Vic Waln and Steve Babiak,

I was hoping you could share the "purpose/strategy" of the project for obtaining the owner name / address for Expired Listings ?

Are you mailing a letter to the owner ?

Are you a RE Broker seeking new listings ?
or RE Investor wanting to deal directly with owner etc .

I would be interested in the scripts that could run on Windows.
I see there is a Curl for Windows and Perl for Windows.

Best, Rich C

Hi Vic,

Why do you have to do a GET request and then a POST request ?

I think the main problem is to translate the street address to the
parcel number right ?

I'm guessing you need to issue a
POST request passing in your form data ( such as the address ) to get the Parcel Number ? and then issue the GET request to find the page by PID ?

Is there a page on the Adams Site to get the Parcel Number by Address ?

Best, LA Guy

Hi John Evan Miller,

Yes, makes a lot of sense and will we need to find one that will "guide / explain" all the steps, rules and issues involved.

So, we do need to consider what kind of realtor for investment projects would be most suitable for us.

Best to you, Rich C

Hi Vic Waln,

Just thought I'd try to understand what you doing with the
BASH scripts ? access individual properties by address, parcel number etc

I'm assuming this is the Adams County search page ( written in Asp.Net )
http://www.gis.adcogov.org/quicksearch/

I searched by owner: Smith
and got a list and chose a sample parcel here

http://www.gis.adcogov.org/quicksearch/doreport.aspx?pid=0157120316007

where pid is the assessor parcel number.

I assume you have the parcel number ?
or just the street address to do the search
and then extract the data.

In this case, the webpage HTML can be "scanned/parsed" by a custom program / script for that webpage and follow the links for the "Value" page etc.

Best, Rich C

Thanks : Charles Perkins

Here is a quick summary of that article below ...
I wonder if it will apply to a small project where the constructed units should all sell in the same accounting year and project duration should not be more than 2 years ?

Re: Land developer, IRS head for U.S. Tax Court on accounting fight

In a tax fight that could jolt the real estate business, Howard Hughes Corp is challenging the U.S. Internal Revenue Service over a $144.1 million tax bill stemming from land sales at Summerlin, an enormous planned community in southern Nevada.

The dispute centers on an accounting practice - known as the "completed contract method" - that the IRS has scrutinized for years. A Tax Court trial is scheduled for November 5 in Las Vegas.
The IRS contends, according to court records, that Howard Hughes improperly deferred taxes on income from sales of residential lots at Summerlin, which sprawls across 35 square miles on the western fringe of Las Vegas.
The company should pay taxes as
. . . . .
Developers beginning new projects may need to pay taxes sooner, adding an up-front cost for the businesses, said Richard Shavell, a vice chairman at the Associated Builders and Contractors, an industry group. "If the IRS wins, they could cause a lot of uncertainty," he said.

Best, Rich C

Hi Steven Hamilton II

I see, creating rental property first would allow a 1031 into the next project but building new units and renting for a year will hurt the sale value for buyers wanting a brand new home.

In this case, I don't think he will be buying any expensive equipment for development building since it will be contracted out.
( but I may be wrong on this ).

Thanks, Rich C

Hi Charles Perkins

Thanks for the feedback.

1. Build and Sell
The "ordinary income" would mean high taxes with Ca Fed / State.
Need to find out if all "costs of purchase, building, management" etc are deductible before hand. ( esp. since 2 of 3 would be sold ).
Any ideas on how Developers "shelter" some ordinary income ?

2. Build , Rent and then Exchange
I will find out if the build and rent then 1031 exchange to another project would be viable. This seems like a good way to go if there is NOT a need to "cash out" on the amount invested.
But in this case, the rental income would be a small return on capital invested.

Best to you, Rich C

Thanks Jon Holdman

1. I'm shopping for a local CPA with RE Developer expertise.
2. Ok, for RE Developer this is not an advantageous Entity.
3. Ok, Buy and sell doesn't qualify.
So for a 1031 exchange to apply, "rent for a while" means about 1-2 years as Rental Units ?

Best to you, Rich C

Hi all,

I was interested to find out the basics for tax planning for a real estate
project to buy a lot and remove existing structures and have 3 units built
with 1 being kept by the owner.

How would I find information on minimizing tax on the sale of the other 2 units
etc. I read that the units would be taxed as ordinary income ?
Is their a way to maybe do 1031 exchanges to a new project investment to avoid this etc.
Should this be done in an LLC etc.

Best to all, Rich C