All Forum Posts by: Mel Cosio

@Felisha McCurry I agree with you that the slowdown is coming sooner rather than later. Same plan as you - switch to rentals when market slows down. 

My game plan is to stick to the flip game until I don't see my returns. I might get dinged on a house sale with this strategy, but I'm willing to take the hit.

Good luck.

yeah, foundation issues are a no-no for me, unless I can negotiate a super steep reduction on the ask price. Good luck if you're pursuing this house,

it's hard not to go over a budget because you just don't know what's behind the walls when you start tearing them down. You can't see what you can't see. Best advice I can give is overestimate, or, prepare for a cushion of 10-20% over your budget for unseens.

Wow, that sucks, sorry to hear your ordeal.

From personal experience here in NJ, house can't be sold until TCO or CCO is obtained, and town won't issue TCO/CCO until all open permits are closed. Seller or seller's agent can request the CO from the town. This process would have brought to light the open/expired permits on your property. Also, I usually perform an OPRA request when I buy a property; easy to do, no cost, and would show any open and closed permits for the house. This is one way you would have caught it. I would also have gone to zoning department in town and confirm that the house is approved as 2 family. Disclaimer - I don't know if our process here in NJ is the same as TX.

As far as financial compensation, my opinion (I'm not a lawyer, take it with a grain of salt) is that you can go after the seller for not disclosing.

Hope things work out.

Thanks @Dave Foster, appreciate the response.

TIC agreement question for the experts on this board:

A normal TIC agreement would specify the fixed percentages of each partner. For example, if the TIC is buying a 500k house and my company puts in 250k, my percentage is 50%, partner A puts in 250k so her percentage is also 50%. When future expenses come up (taxes, utilities, etc), I cut a check for 50% of the bill and my partner cuts a check for 50% of the bill.

So my question: if my partner only wants to contribute 250k and no more, can a TIC agreement be structured in such a way that percentages will change as expenses occur? For example, if we get a 50k bill, and my company pays the whole 50k, that would increase my contribution to a total of 300k, which will make my percentage 54.5%, and partners percentage to 45.5%. if another 50k expense comes in and my company pays it, my contribution will now be a total of 350k, my percentage will go to 58.33%. So when we sell, my keep will be 58.33%, and the rest to my partner.

Is this TIC arrangement possible / doable?

@Rich Hupper, I don't know, but mysolo401k informed me the TIC structure is what I need to do if my company is partnering with an individual. I will find out from my atty. Thanks.

thanks @Dave Foster.

I've seen a slowdown in action as well, in Middlesex County. There was a lot of activity during the summer (lots of lookers, but lots of buyers as well, looking to move before school starts). Now, not as much, seems like the action now is driven by more serious buyers. I've had to lower my ask on a flip house by 10k (buyer in the summer flaked on me) - thankfully found a new buyer, closing next month.

Thanks for the replies @Carl Fischer and @Stanley Bronstein. I will get together with my atty and figure this out.