All Forum Posts by: Lien Vuong

Beautiful renovation and design choices! Its no surprise that's a great rental. 

Welcome! 

Congrats on getting started 20 years ago! You only have 10 years left of mortgage on it then it's 100% cash flow!

If you lived in the property you can sell it to capture the equity without paying taxes on those gains. Alternatively you can do the LOC (line of credit) on it so you can retain the home but are definitely subject to today's current rate environment. There's a few other others outside of it.

Welcome and happy to share some strategies in Greater Boston area that might work for you and your partner. Feel free to PM!

You can ask an attorney to draft one for you. Taking a boiler plate contract is not going to be helpful as they're typically customized to people's needs/wants. It'll be $500-1000 for the attorney to process it for you but its part of the cost of the wholesale business that people overlook.

CONGRATS on debt free life! Dave Ramsey is proud of you ;)

There's no 'right' time to pull out the HELOC bc its a floating rate until you draw so it might be 9% today and 10% tomorrow and 8% the day after. Since they do not require closing credits and you do not draw on the funds nor pay for the debt until you take the draw of the HELOC it is best to get started on it now so you have funds ready. Given the seasonality there's likely slow workflow from the banks so it would be a good for you to apply, get approved, and be well poised for the spring market!

Whats your scope of work or are you looking for someone in general?

Ayer, Billerica, Hudson, Maynard - those are going to be your best bet for cash flow in Middlesex County. You'll likely have to expand out further - 40-60m outside of Boston to get more cash flow. 

What is the most pain free (and, ideally, tax-free) way to accomplish this?

A 1031 Exchange looks like its the best plan here but you'll have to be diligent to find an exchange property that also meets your future goals and works with the timeline of your home sale.

1. Should I be looking for a tax attorney, a real estate attorney, or a trust/estate attorney?

If your parents have a Revocable Living Trust then the property would be deeded to them, depending on what their decisions are within that Trust, you can be added on at the beneficiary of that property. You will need a RE attorney to transact this sale. No tax attorney is needed, perhaps a CPA to confirm your basis and what your exchange would look like and if there are any potential tax implications with this sale.

2. The property is in Connecticut, I live in Massachusetts and my parents are in New York. What state should the attorney be licensed in?

Where the transaction is taking place which is CT. 

3. Given that my parents are elderly, what are the pros and cons of selling it to them vs transferring to a trust?

Pro is that you're able to recapture your equity there and move into another asset. They also have a 'turn key' annuity asset that they can count on for consistent retirement income. Cons are the liquidity event that your parents will have to do to purchase the home (I assume the funds are in some sort of investment today so there's likely some tax ramifications on cashing those securities). If you want to avoid this you can certainly just 'gift' them the asset and they can deed it into their Trust but I doubt you want to do that without any financial exchange. 

- thing that you'll want to think about is the step us basis and what this sale would mean for you when they pass? CPA/Estate Attorney question 

3-6 months is what youll have to budget. 1 month to serve them notice and if they dont concede then its 45-60 days to get into court and then some back and forth. Evictions unlikely take less than 60-90 days in Boston if you have formally evict. 

Welcome back to the northeast! Looks like you brought the California sun with you. If your plans are in late 2025 to 2026 I think its too early to engage with agents as well as lender honestly. What would be a good actionable for you now is to visit open houses in areas you think you like and starting talking with Listing Agents at those homes. They're already there and given the holiday season, probably the traffic is light, so you can chat then up for 10-15m about the area, rental class, as well as any remarkable developments in the area that would positively impact that home/area.