All Forum Posts by: Linda Hastings

Here's the thread that @Beth Hale referenced:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

I don’t know of any books, but @Seth Williams has a lot of really good (free) info on his blog (retipster.com). If you were to put all the blog posts together, you’d basically have a book. I think it’s a great place to start to see if it’s something you really want to pursue or not. If so, there are several courses out there. 

@Ryan MacDonald 10am. If you are interested, send me a PM, and I’ll send you a link to the Facebook group. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to post it here or not. 

@Ryan MacDonald The meetup is always the last Saturday of the month. We are looking for a new venue though, so the location may be different next month. 

This month, we're delving into one of the hottest real estate investment topics of 2019 > Opportunity Zones

If you're unfamiliar with the Qualified Opportunity Zone legislation that was passed in December 2017, under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), you're still in time to learn about the amazing capital gains deferral and elimination benefits created by Congress, to incentivize real property development and business venture investment in the nation's lower income neighborhoods. 

Not since 1986 has the U.S. taxpayer witnessed such broad changes to the tax code. The TCJA revised individual income tax rates, minimized itemized deductions while boosting the amounts for standard deduction, child tax credit, AMT thresholds, and estate & gift taxes. In addition, the new tax provisions greatly favored businesses by permanently lowering the corporate tax rate and by providing tax deductions to pass-through entities (LLCs & S-Corps) through 2026. 

Section 1400Z (amended under the 1986 Internal Revenue Code) gave birth to the Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) as a new incentive investment program. Capital gains generated from investments in 2018 forward can now be deployed into real estate projects and business ventures in over 8700 low income districts, per the US Census Tract. At the heart of the tax incentive is long term equity investment, to create commercial properties and businesses, to spur on job growth in underserved U.S. communities.

Some of the highlights we'll be discussing include >

• - Recent IRS Rules & QOZ Compliance, since the legislation passed at the end of 2017
• - Using QOZ maps to locate potential properties
• - Long term commitment to real estate projects in QOZ communities
• - Structuring an Opportunity Zone Fund for passive investor participation
• - How the QOZ program differs from the 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange
• - IRS imposed Timelines and Deadlines that affect QOZ investments
  - Pairing other Federal, State & Local Tax Incentive Programs with the QOZ 
• - Additional QOZ & QOF Resources

Surrounded by controversy, the TCJA of 2017 has as many opponents as advocates. Tax breaks for the rich. The ACA penalty elimination. Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. One thing that did bring bi-partisan agreement was the benefit the QOZ could bring to America's low-income communities. That's where real estate investors can bring about positive change!

Since our first meeting in 2015, the Comal Hays REIA has been a nuts and bolts group, diving into the details of investment real estate deals and dollars. Some of the best information is shared informally, between those who show up. Come prepared to learn and to participate.

This month's venue, Summer Moon Coffee, is located right off of I-35 in San Marcos. They serve coffee, shaken, nitro & blended, along with pastries, sandwiches and tacos. Good seating, parking and access off of exit 205. Check out their website > http://woodfiredcoffee.com/

MAP LINK > https://goo.gl/maps/mUjqVpH2BAp

Whether you're a seasoned pro, looking to do your first deal or a total newbie to the real estate investment game, we invite you to come, participate and to network this Saturday!

Be sure to visit our website > www.comalhaysreia.com

Special thanks to meetup co-chairs: @Mike Walker and @Chris Koble

Keyword alerts: New Braunfels, San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Wimberley, Canyon Lake, Seguin, Dripping Springs

@Miles Stanley One thing to be careful about with smaller towns is the economic drivers and employers and how that affects the need for rental properties. For example, a lot of the smaller towns down near the Eagle Ford Shale have a much higher demand for rentals when the oil business is doing well, but then those people go away when the oil industry slows down. Stockdale is a bit too far from San Antonio to get the people who want to rent but who don't want to live in a big city. There will always be some amount of rentals needed for local people, teachers and such, but, in general, I think your renter pool is smaller. Right now, I haven't seen much that even meets the 1% criteria; housing prices have gone up, but rent is still $700-900 range.

@Heath Cejka I was waiting to see if anyone with more experience would jump in, but since no one has, I'll throw out my two cents. I've been doing vacant land investing part-time since last year. I've done two deals all the way from buy to sell, have 2 in inventory that I'm marketing for sale, and have 2 more under contract to purchase. So, definitely not an expert, but some experience. 

I don't specifically target recreational land, but I also don't avoid it. The best way to acquire these properties is to send direct mail to owners. Sometimes you can get a list of vacant land owners directly from the county (although those are often really messy), or you can just buy a list from a list provider like AgentPro247, ListSource, etc.

Valuing land is similar to houses in that you look for comparable properties, but is harder since there aren't always many comps for vacant land. Usually larger parcels are valued using a $/acre metric. Look for similar sized properties near the one you are interested in, and if there aren't any, you may have to expand your search. Take a look at both what has sold recently and what is on the market currently. If there isn't much that has been sold recently, but is a lot currently listed for sale, then that may be an indicator that you should look somewhere else because land just isn't selling there. Or, it could just be that everyone thinks their land is made of gold and has it listed way too high and if you have a parcel that you can list for much less than everything else, there may be high demand for it. :)

If you haven't already, I recommend you check out @Seth Williams's blog, retipster.com. He has a ton of really good (free) information about land investing to get you started. There are also several podcasts out there that focus on land investing (Casual Fridays REI, The Land Academy Show, The REtipster Podcast, The Land Geek, to name a few).

For what it's worth, you don't have to do a monthly subscription with AgentPro247. You can do "pay as you go" data dollars that you can use for data pulls at $0.05 per record (the cheapest price I have found). You have to buy the data dollars in increments of $15 with a minimum of $30 starting out, but then that money can be used for data pulls, property reports, whatever you want. No monthly limit.

@Anthony C Palacino Since my last post, I've done 2 deals from buy to sell, I have 2 that I purchased recently and am marketing for sale, and 2 more under contract to purchase. I've also had a couple more that I had under contract to purchase, but fell through due to messy title situations or lack of access. 

Again, I'm only doing this part time, so your mileage may vary depending on how much time you devote to it, but overall I'm happy with how it is going so far.

@Andrew Horner Sorry you missed it. We meet the last Saturday of each month, so hopefully we’ll see you next time. 

We’re trying to get better about posting the event on BP, but there is also a Facebook group and it gets posted on Meetup. PM me if you want links for either of those. I don’t know if I’m allowed to post them in the forum.