All Forum Posts by: Matt Sosa

Hey all,

So I have someone who has a chunk of change sitting around and is interested in putting it to work. They've approached me, since I have a few properties already, and wanted me to do the grunt work (and maybe provide some, but not all of the funds). 

I'd love to hear advice and experiences in different structures, as I know a bit but am far from an expert. The other potentially confounding variable is the fact that we reside in two different states, with me being in Las Vegas and her being in California. I know that Nevada is a lot more friendly as far as taxes go, but am not sure if her living in California would be a factor for just her, or if it would impede on the business partnership/LLC/etc, even if it's formed in Nevada.

 ~Matt

The direction I would recommend is towards Cugino's Italian Deli, right across Maryland Parkway from the student union. Delicious.

I think an important thing that doesn't get talked about enough is your own self assessment of your attitudes and values. Real estate is really broad with wholesaling, fix and flips, Air BnB, buy and hold, commercial stuff etc so forth you get the idea. And, if I can make the assumption that you're young (even though college students can be any age), it may not be something you're sure about yet. My life is very different from how I planned it being when I was at UNLV, and honestly I'm a lot happier than I probably would have been.

For example. I'm very lazy. I prefer time and freedom. I love long term buy and hold because it's (relatively) low intensity. Find a tenant that pays. Keep them. Wait. I could be making WAY better returns. But I don't wanna put in the limited amount of free time I have towards that. I don't wanna wash sheets in between Air BnB customers. I don't wanna do rehabs and manage contractors. I'm fine with the get rich slow schemes. That's me. 

If you ever wanna grab a bite and have a sounding board, let me know.  

~Matt

I just closed on a property with First Bank Mortgage. They worked really well for me, and were flexible as far as how I wanted to proceed. 

I've used a few inspectors, just based on when they're available. Ones that I'd recommend:

Inside Out Home Inspection 

Ennis Home Inspection

Sterling Home Inspection

Feel free to message me if you want contact info for them.

~Matt

Amy is with Remax Unlimited now.

Hey Joshua. I definitely can recommend Amy Williams. She's a realtor that I've worked with extensively in the Huntsville area. Incredibly knowledgeable about the area, and has given tons of great insight. As someone who has done this remotely, I can say she's been invaluable, and is always up to give me her honest opinion, which I can't value enough. And she's an incredibly hard worker. Follow up and communication is exemplary. 

~Matt

@Kuron McGraw as for why an owner would keep a vacant property, you're gonna wind up getting into a long discussion about human psychology, how bad we are at making rational and mathematical decisions, and our tendency towards hoarding. It's actually a pretty interesting phenomena known as the Endowment Effect whereby the mere act of owning something makes it more valuable to that particular individual (and no one else, unless there's celebrity status attached). 

You see it a lot with consignments and auctions. People get offended when someone presents a totally market appropriate offer, because they have all these experiences and emotions tied to these objects and tend to over value them. 

Plus we're really great at imagining all sorts of awesome futures, but never actually making them happen. Not gonna lie, I have a few motorcycles sitting in my garage that I'm going to "get around to fixing one day." Luckily they're not costing me property tax every year!

 Do you live in Vegas?

Always eager to contribute to research. The academic nerd in me 

Master's in Behavioral Psychology. It's a bit of a Swiss army knife of a field, so definitely applicable in lots of areas. Not to mention I love working in that field and have a steady, moderately high paying W2 job that I like doing. So overall would say it's one of the best decisions I've made. Especially since I talked my company into paying for it 😁