All Forum Posts by: Michael King

My first property bought in Missouri. The title office filed the transaction with the wrong county. No one at the county, nor the title office figured that out. I only found out by being proactive in paying my property taxes on time and found that the county I had the house in did not have anything on file for me. 

Clerical errors happen.

I would airbnb them.

Lawyers attempt to bully through words, as in your example Nathan. Knowledge is power.

I would tell them no chance. If you walk it's going to cost you money, maybe they want you to walk so they can pocket the deposit?

I had a 3000sf house near Houston that needed a roof. Bids were in the vicinity of $18-20k. Shingles.

I have a 3200sf house near St. Louis that is getting a new roof through insurance. Existing roof was @ 2years old and insurance paid us a check for $18K. This will sound weird, but they paid exactly how much it's going to cost their recommended roofer to fix it. 

What a great opportunity to get into a multi family. If the repairs scare you, walk. I think you mentioned all 4 doors bring in $2700 rent (have you verified that via bank statements and not rent roll?). Supposing you spent, wildly, that it cost $250k all up to fix. I don't mind those two numbers at all, I think you are still making money. 

I know some here are nixing the idea and wanting the best deal they can find so turn their nose up at it. Well, they're the ones that miss this deal. 

For me, at the end of the day, if it's making me money each month, I want in. Someone else is paying your note, the place is appreciating, and you'll have another form of 401K. Don't be scared of it. But only you hold all the info on this transaction. I would not hesitate. PM me the address, maybe I'll take it off your hands.

Ryan I borrowed some cash from my mother in law at 2%. (I got a family discount on the rate). Initially it was used to buy a house my wife and I lived in, and we provided her a 1099 for the interest. I suggested I reimburse her for the tax she would have paid on the interest for the year, but she said she would have been taxed on it sitting in her account the same amount. 

In your case it seems to me that the $1600 income for the year would maybe be $200 in additional taxes? I don't know how the IRS does their voodoo with numbers, and every case is vastly different. Just my best guess for you and probably nowhere near accurate.

I thought about doing long distance but after analyzing it, I figured I would only do it somewhere I wanted to vacation, and make it an Air BnB type dealio. Other than that, I prefer to keep a close and watchful eye on my properties. I guess I'm more hands on - if a water pipe burst, I don't want to drive more than an hour to turn off the water while waiting for a plumber. Sure there are long distance markets out there, but sometimes a decent market is just around the next corner. Anyway, that's my perspective. You're welcome to come to St. Louis and share this market.

Got to pay for the green new deal. Or Bernie's new Mercedes.

This is a very interesting thread and I have some input. I have a buddy who is an agent part time. We are both pilots full time, and working alongside him in Africa is how I first met him, and know him. I considered using him, but his online presence is really poor, which means unfortunately I'm not going to take a gamble with a huge investment, on him. He has very few reviews, and they are mostly from people I know that I also used to fly with, and they were just reviews for showing properties, even though they didn't purchase. My buddy is a super nice guy, works very hard for his family, and I get along well with him. But I didn't use him when I had an opportunity to buy and a year later sell our home. I feel if I had, I would have been more willing to accept poor performance for the sake of a friendship.

When looking for an agent, I look for one that offers me exceptional value - either I've worked with them (in their capacity as an agent), or their online presence (reviews) tells me they're gonna work hard for my dollar. I've bought about 12 houses in 12 years and only 2 agents so far have gotten business from me more than once. I seem to keep finding more than my fair share of agents who only give a rats about the commission they can get from me. 

As others have said, don't take it personally. In fact, quite the opposite I think, respect your friends for caring enough about you where they don't want to hang your friendship in the balance. And definitely continue to give advice when asked for it, that will pay off dividends. 

Chris this is a really good thread and has brought some great information out. Thanks for posting your scenario.