All Forum Posts by: Lynne MacFarlane

Hi @Karen Margrave (Bend OR is very pretty)

There's a reason why California generates more income than the entire UK & the 5th largest economy in the world. 

I'm a proud SF Bay Area girl, born in SF, parents were young struggling immigrants (dad's family was interned in the horrible camps during WW2 sadly & mom became a naturalized proud citizen) but even faced with a lot of discrimination they loved America, JFK, the vision of dreams for prosperity. Both parents were/are very entrepreneurial, exhibiting a strong, self-sacrificing work ethic: owned restaurants in SF & a dental lab in SF then moved Palo Alto.  There's something about the SF Bay Area that attracts the brightest, the go-getters and the dreamers (very optimistic people; I attribute that to the great weather and diversity in outdoor activities and cultural diversity!) I know immigrants are not lazy (as Trump suggests) and it's this drive of doing better, the inner spirit/hustle that keeps a constant new crop of smart young kids, from top universities from around the world, to move here (and yes, its difficult, ageism in the Silicon Valley does exist, so developing a side-hustle, is important as we age)... that's why I enjoy listening to Bigger Pockets! This community is great because its a collaborative educated grp. 

• Do you live in California? Yes
• Have you lived in California in the past 5 years? No, but I moved back!
• If so, where? Raised kids on Bainbridge Is, WA (~15 yrs), it's a ferry commute from Seattle. Lived  everywhere in SF Bay  but college in Los Angeles, and Boulder CO.
• Will you be staying or leaving? Staying. Tech jobs are here. Husband is in cybersecurity.
• Why? The people are ambitious, growth mindset, optimistic, and the weather is great. WA was constant gray drizzle/high latitude/dark in winter months. 
• What is your full time income producing job? Studying real estate. Was an entrepreneur (maritime fleet monitoring/co-founder) & sales/marketing & former reg dental hygienist 

Hi BP Folks,

I am in the process of purchasing our first investment property (thankful for this community/podcast!). We will borrow 70K for duplex + 20K renovations. I have been pre-qualified for both conventional and commercial loan. 

Commercial loan, I'm looking at Finance of Am: 1m max., with min loan amt of 50K at 12% for a renovation (Fix/Flip) package...then following the BRRR (not sure how long their seasoning period is...but I'll ask) we can do a refi at their 6.1 conventional rate.

Conventional loan: McGloan, 30 yr fixed rate, 4.8% (not bad)

Im concerned with interest rates going up that perhaps we should lock in that low 4.8% rate (conventional loan), and pay out of pocket for the renovations ourselves? OR is it better to take the Finance of Am commercial loan, so we can buy not only this small duplex, but other properties? (Do commercial loans allow you to use that same loan, or do we have to resubmit another application each time?) I heard on one of the podcasts that there's some sort of line of credit...not sure if this is for all commercial banks, and if so, maybe then it would probably be best for investors to go with the commercial loan? 

Thank you for your input! 

Hi @Jason Weible, Are you a wholesaler in the Garfield Heights OH region? If you have a recommendation for a realtor in the area as well, would greatly appreciate it! Thanks

Thanks @Caleb Heimsoth, I'm new to BP and still trying to figure out these keywords to find the previous topic in search. I appreciate your response! 

Best, 

Lynne 

Thank you @Colleen Goldstein Yes, we are looking for liability protection. I've heard folks have been putting their rentals in LLCs and breaking them into different LLCs (different grps of investors). We will be getting a mortgage  on our properties. As David Greene says, I have to develop my "Core 4"  first but I think it should also include an attorney for that state as well as a CPA. 

Hi BP! We are starting out and would like your advice. We have been reading that there are definite tax advantages to having your properties (as their associated income) contained within an LLC. As we haven’t established one yet, can anyone comment on the difficulty in transferring a property from individual ownership into an LLC, or should we establish the LLC first and have the LLC “purchase” the property directly from the seller? We are just trying to figure out if we need to go through this process now, or if we can wait and consolidate the properties under the LLC at a later date? Thank you, Lynne

@David Neese Hah~ Yes, I like that analogy "Drug deal sitting around with a bag of cash"... lol~ ridiculous, but this realtor really did have an attitude (and I suspect she let it slip that she belongs to Berkshire Hathaway/Omaha's Elite real estate since her email signature was also on her personal email to me, perhaps it was her (expired?) workplace. Her photo is still up on their website. 

@Collin Schwartz Yep, definitely no deal... plus, she wasn't polite (minus points!) It's amazing how just being kind can go a long way! I've met several great folks at my Meetups but she probably viewed me as someone she can scam (without consequence) because I'm remote. The great thing about online is there is transparency.

@Matthew Paul I like that expression, but I've never heard of that one - does that come from the Indiana Jones, 'switching sand bags' as weights in replacement of a gem stone/chalice scene? (Maybe I'm mixing movies and it was Monty Python Holy Grail)

@Steve Hannibal If it's a true FSBO then she shouldn't misrepresent herself this way.

@Marc Middleton Thanks, yeah... slim shady business, non-refundable deposit... would you ever do that? Must be tough in Florida! :) 

@Chris 

@Chris Egan I contacted the homeowner (from Zillow) using the phone number, and the owner's daughter/agent was the one who told me should could represent me on this deal (and others). Why would any agent tell their prospective client that they will be paying for their brokerage chair fee - ridiculous. She wasn't professional, and thank you @Joe Lambert I was thinking of writing her a Google review (I did call Berk Hath office and left a message), but she just wasn't professional.  

Wow, thank you everyone. Yes, I'll definitely take everyone's advice here! 

HI BP gang! 

Greetings and Happy Spring!

This is my first time posting and I am new to the BP community & new to real estate investing, but have enjoyed listening and reading about Long Distance Investing and everyone's posts here on the forum. I hope to make new friends here and looking forward to connecting with as many investors (near and far) & maybe someday we can meet IRL. Let's connect!

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I have been using the BRRR calculator and assessing various cities/states (because where I live, it's too expensive to make the numbers work) and finally found where the math works out. I found a listing on Trulia/Zillow as For Sale By Owner (FSBO) but "Please No Agents"...and "seller is related to a real estate agent" and "pre-approval and proof of funds is needed". Rather than tell my agent (because it said, "no agents", I called and wanted to learn more about the property (there was only one property photo & I wanted to learn about existing renter, inspections, etc.) What I got was the daughter/agent of the FSBO and she told me that if interested I had to put 35-40% down as non-refundable deposit, and if she were to do the paperwork/representing me as my agent she would require a 2.4% commission and a $599 Broker flat fee commission, "my team allows the $599. to be paid one time per year for investors." I have never heard of the buyer having to pay an "investor fee to the seller's broker" (she belongs to Berkshire Hathaway/Omaha's Elite real estate grp). I don't know if this sounds right and maybe I should ask that brokerage about this investor fee(?), but because I've never dealt with an FSBO I don't understand the process.

I really want this deal to work, but I feel I should get a realtor who can do an inspection for me (and represent me), but mostly my question here is, has anyone heard of a broker flat fee commission on top of a 2.4% commission? And if I don't have an agent writing the agreement up, do I write it up, and then have an Nebraska attorney check it over?

I feel I was getting scammed. Was I?  

Thanks everyone, 

Lynne