All Forum Posts by: Mark Gibbs

@Sandy Uhlmann I was curious because I have heard differing opinions on what constitutes an arm length transaction through the SDIRA. I guess it is the differing opinions about what is considered 'working on' a loan or property.

I suppose more distance is probably better so you don't break any rules. Again, how do you go  about identifying an asset manager.

@Sandyuhlmann, are you using the approach of a asset manager or attorney to keep this an arm lengths transaction due to IRA rules Or is this just a preferred approach? And where did you identify an asset manager to help work out loans?

Hey Paul, from one RN to another welcome to bigger pockets. If you haven't already, listen to the BP podcast with Dave Van Horn, also the book Performance Anxiety by Gordon Moss  and another recent e book by Sherman Arnowitz the art of investing in distressed properties should provide you with a good starting point of education, it definitely won't be an ending point though.

Good luck, keep us updated.

Hi BP people-

Any recommendations for a property manager for the Olympia Washington area? I need someone with commercial property experience.

Thanks,

Mark

I'll chime in a little late on Cozy. I have been using them for a number of months now. The user interface is nice but there are still multiple issues that they are working through. I felt like I signed my tenants up and then found out about a bunch of items that couldn't be done through cozy automatically such as adjusting the rental rate or terminating a tenant from the system. Instead I need to email support and have them make changes which they do pretty fast, it just takes away from moving toward simplicity and automation. 

As far as the payment processing, yes, it takes a long time, I have emailed them about this, got the standard response about why it takes so long. They just moved to stripe payment processing which I am hoping will speed the process up. One example from this month is debting starts on the first, just had confirmation yesterday that processing was complete and that funds should be deposited in two days to my account. Well, my late fees start on day 5. Do I bill the tenant for late fees when the payment isn't arriving to me until the 12th or later. Why did this rent take so long when my other tenant payments were deposited to my account a few days prior? That is frustrating for me. 

@bobmalecki just curious, is it an LLC that holds your share of ownership in the trust or do you have it directly in your name? Seems like good protection if you can skip the LLC altogether but I am always concerned about reach through with litigation.

Interesting buy. I own a building where we do something similar with 11 individual offices up and retail below. I'm lucky, Regis has just come to town but they cater to a different cliential so they have not affected me. Probably a few things you should consider before the co-working route. 

1) throw up a craigslist ad advertising the co-working space and all of the amenities/pricing you are planning. Push it a few times and see what your response rate is to let help you decide if it is viable. Depending on how much you supply to the co-work space it can be really hands on.

2) because of the number of offices we have there is constant turn over, be ready to be more hands on. I don't like to let other people screen my tenants because I don't get as good of tenants. I have found I can generally figure out who is going to work and who isn't before they've even applied and before my credit and background check. I might have brought on more of the work because I started out with month-to-month leases but people like the flexibility mindset-hey if I don't like it I can leave. This year I started transitioning to a month-to-month or term lease option where the term lease rent is cheaper. It's been 50/50 what people choose.

3) my biggest mistake, and one that I feel lucky about still is that I didn't plan multiple exit strategies. You list housing as an option. Why not lease out the entire building to a single tenant? You mentioned basement and courthouse. How about legal file storage for area attorneys? (Ok many are probably electronic by now but they still always have a ton of paper)

4) lastly, make sure you have that price point dialed in if renting offices is the way you want to go. Test it in the craigslist ads. Our building is in a much larger town I'm pulling in 150-375 per month per office which puts me close to $19 psf in a town that gets no where near that type of rent in other buildings. I can do that because the offices are small providing an a lower overall price point. How do your expected rents match with the local market?

Good luck it's exciting though.

I don't know how many of these conversations you have face to face with this person but I would definitely do so this time. If he isn't used to seeing you in person it will give him a better sense about how serious you are. It will also give you a chance to assess the situation with the trailer and the tenant, if he looks to be sleeping on a mattress on the floor he's a candidate for $200 bucks. If he's got matching lazy boys lined up in front of the flat screen I would say he's not. Extract yourself as cheaply as possible because you aren't going to get that money back.

Don't beat yourself up over it, we've all had the tenant who didn't pay on time and we let slide a little. For me I got the guy out and he was making up payments after he left - then he died and I ended up eatting the loss. Live and learn.

Thank you for the speedy response everyone!

@Scott Arpan I appreciate the spreadsheet. This seems like the most straightforward way to go. 

Hi BPer's I've gotten myself into a situation that I need some help with. Short story, I signed a tenant to a commercial space lease and that tenant has notified me he is not able to complete the terms of the contract. When I initiated this lease I had the tenant sign a personal guarantee for certain portions of the lease should he fail. I am now needing to execute on the personal guarantee. 

The tenant has agreed to sign a deed of trust against his personal property and a note to pay the amounts due. This isn't a huge dollar amount but I will need to keep track of payments against the principal with interest calculation and apply additional payments toward principal. I can't justify handing this to a servicer and I am not sure they would even take it. 

Can anyone direct me to any online tools for tracking this type of debt? Private message me if preferred.