All Forum Posts by: Mike Mitchell

If any of you out there are buying/selling away from your home base, could you tell us how you handle the logistics? Do you pay someone in that town to show the house anytime there's an interested party? It's always seemed like a lot of running around to me and I do enough of that
already :D

Our idea of retirement as a society is to work hard for 40-50 years and then abruptly stop working and tinker around your house. For me, it's the ability to yank my own chain and thereby do what I want to do. One way to look at what you'll do in retirement is to observe what you do with a free day now. I'm working on deals for myself while my buddies are watching sports etc.. Most re investors are very self-motivated it seems to me and aren't the type who want to stack up a bunch of cash so that they can sit and do nothing. Boring! :protest:

Charles,
I was researching a property today and found that another property owned by the same person that owns the house I'm trying to buy is being pursued by the county tax office, while the cheaper house (mine :lol: , I hope) is not. I couldn't get a straight answer as to length of time that the county lets things go before they call in the attorneys. Obviously they pursue the higher value property taxes with more priority. I have found an heir's name, but as of yet haven't located him. Thanks for your suggestion on the search. The ladies at the courthouse really are very helpful!

Jimbo,
Are you into it enough to spell out the advantages? You mentioned less restrictions, are you referring to number of deals allowed or what?

Madabney,
There are companies that specifically deal with this type of IRA. I happen to use Equity Trust Co. in Ohio and have been very pleased. One can transfer all or a portion of an IRA into a self-directed account. The funds are then availabe for investing into real estate at your direction. The option is available for up to 3 properties per year. The properties can be partially or wholly funded by your IRA. This is a real zinger of a way to quickly restore one's IRA which was decreased by the internet bust (things will keep appreciating, beware!). The contribution limits are $4000 per year right now. I'm using my IRA to hold the mortgage notes for me, so each month when I receive payments, I forward them for deposit to my IRA to be used on another property later. Some companies will pay a small amount of interest on the cash account, but the interest rate on the investment is determined by your abilities to find undervalued properties, sell at a profit and possibly hold the note in the account if you the buyer can't obtain financing elsewhere. There are some strict guidelines for example; all expenses on the property have to be paid out of the IRA fund, remodeling, taxes, etc.. Best of luck :D

I just returned from a closing (not a double), and asked my beloved closer about the topic. She reported that there had been a large case in San Antonio recently where investor "A" bought a property for very little money, then got a fraudulent (exagerated) appraisal, sold the property to an entity for a huge price. Apparently the entity was not valid so "A" walked away with a chunk and it turns out that the mortgage broker who set up the loan using the hyper-inflated appraisal knew what was going on and was getting a kickback from "A". You'll notice in this story that there's no "B" buyer! My title company is still doing these for a select few guys whom they know to be upright and honest. Part of that is disclosure to your rehabber (it happens when you assign a contract) of what you're paying. A wholesaler who wants to be in business next week will have no problem with this as he has to build trust with his buyers. Will the guys, who lie awake at night trying to scam people, kill this procedure the way they did the lease/purchase?

madabney,
I did a double close within the last 6 months in Lubbock, TX. Ryan states that they are not illegal and I understand that to be true. Perhaps (back to my previous question) title companies don't want to do them. Think about the financial ramifications for them; loss of revenue with pass-through title insurance and perhaps other fees that are lost. Again,
when you find a closer and a title company that understands our ways you should kiss them on the lips! I like the way you guys think about things. Is it illegal? Is there a loss of revenue for someone? Is it uninsurable? I'll place my bet on loss of revenue for someone!

Aside from state requirements varying, one has to wonder why a title company would refuse to do a double closing. When one finds a title company that understands our ways we should fall on our knees. I had to go through several title companies before I found one that is a joy to work with. It seems that this boils down to who gets to choose which title company to use and what is the time that each deed is filed. The last one takes precedence whether it was filed a minute after the previous one or thirty days. Is it the seller's choice as to title company? I agree that if you own one it doesn't pass the sniff test

Charles,
I like the idea of deferring taxes until death :lol: I plan to enjoy the mula while here! I'm not big on leaving a chunk to anyone. You might be right about the deferment, I'll check

charles,
I have run across several properties in Lubbock that have back taxes for years! I have not had time to research the procedure to see why some are sold while others languish and the rest of us just pay on time. What is the time limit in Amarillo?