All Forum Posts by: Lucas Wacker

First thanks for reading!

I am about 3.5 years away from my military retirement date and want to transition full time into real estate. My wife and I currently own 5 multifamily properties in Anchorage, AK where am stationed. We initially thought about just using the next 3.5 years to pay down as much debt as possible and then just live off my military retirement and the income from the 16 doors we own, but honestly, I want more! I want to set my two preteen children up so they will be able to choose to go off on their own and join in the real estate game.

I have owned/flipped/rented about 17 properties in total and most of them I remodeled or updated on my own. I've been doing this over the last 10 years and have a pretty good understanding of when a deal is worth it or not and what I'll need to put into it to get it rent ready. What I don't have a good handle on is how to structure my future and current properties. I have read everything from a trust that owns a holding company that owns an LLC for each property to just owning everything as a sole proprietor. I want to protect my assets and my nest egg but could use some advice on how to properly set this up.

Any thoughts?

@Andrew Postell, Thanks! I'll repost there.  I do plan on staying in anchorage. Might snowbird for a few months in the winter but will spend most of my time in Anchorage. 

First thanks for reading!

I am about 3.5 years away from my military retirement date and want to transition full time into real estate. My wife and I currently own 5 multifamily properties in Anchorage, AK where  am stationed. We initially thought about just using the next 3.5 years to pay down as much debt as possible and then just live off my military retirement and the income from the 16 doors we own, but honestly I want more! I want to set my two preteen children up so they will be able to choose to go off on their own and join in the real estate game. 

I have owned/flipped/rented about 17 properties in total and most of them I remodeled or updated on my own. I've been doing this over the last 10 years and have a pretty good understanding of when a deal is worth it or not and what i'll need to put into it to get it rent ready. What I don't have a good handle on is how to structure my future and current properties. I have read everything from a trust that owns a holding company that owns an LLC for each property to just owning everything as a sole proprietor. I want to protect my assets and my nest egg, but could use some advice on how to properly set this up.

Any thoughts? 

appreciate the advice. I will inquire with a local bank this week. Hopefully the results are much different. 

About me: -I currently own 7 properties (3 are duplexes) -Only have loans on 2 duplex's in Alaska -Excellent credit score -Steady private sector job earning a decent wage The majority of my debt comes from my properties I own in Alaska. I would like to purchase a 6+plex and have been able to save up a substantial amount for a down payment (around 40-50%) if i need it. I called rocket mortgage and started the loan process. Eventually they came back to me and said that my debt to income ratio wasn't good enough and that 2 of the properties in my portfolio did not have 2 years worth of returns so they couldn't be included in the figures. Also, that the majority of my properties did not see very much (if any profit). I explained to them that I buy properties that are not updated and each year I reinvest a large amount of the rent into the properties to increase their overall value. For example; a duplex i bought from the muni a few years back, I put up a privacy fence around the entire property which ate up 65% of the rent for that year. The very same year i furnished one of those units and started to Airbnb it out. They did not care about any of it. Even when i asked if that they are taking into account the projected income i would make off of that 6plex, they said, "we cannot take it into account unless its been 2 years of reported income. " I think what frustrated me the most was that when i spoke to the rep who was telling me i was declined and explained to him that even though my "Debt to Income" was not as low as they'd like i have still been able to amass a huge down payment and able to pay off a portion on my portfolio on top of that. I wanted the human factor involved and not just some computer spitting out a percentage and everyone else saying "Well the computer says no." Any advice for someone looking to expand their portfolio with a commercial loan? Thanks!