All Forum Posts by: Mark Fitzpatrick

I'll echo what Minette said, but add that you shouldn't do a job change while attempting to refinance. I don't know if your friend is currently in the midst of a refi or is going to start the process in the near future, but it's a good idea not to change jobs while in the loan process.

This kind of stuff is a good reason to network with other investors in your area. The area where I invest has a private Yahoo forum where landlords can ask other landlords about certain tenants and alert others about deadbeats and troublemakers. It's a good system that saves us all a lot of grief and helps keep trouble out of our neighborhoods. The local police department is also involved in the online discussion because they know that keeping out deadbeat troublemakers reduces crime.

We rent to college students and have found them to be good tenants as long as you have good management. Consider getting parents to cosign and be sure to check rental history with not only the last landlord, but the landlord before that.

I think most people know this. The term "printing money" is just the archaic way people still refer to it, kind of like "record store" or "tape" a TV show on your DVR.

I'm too am not as concerned about massive inflation right now. I think we'll have deflation first, then inflation later when the economy starts to recover and all that new money starts circulating.

However, the debt ceiling issue is still a concern. I don't know that the Republicans have the will to stand firm against a debt ceiling increase without major spending cuts because the consequences could be significant. If we do see a default - even a short term one - it will likely lead to higher interest rates, which could negatively impact the fiscal position of the government and hurt the economy. We have to get spending under control at some point, but I don't know if Congress has the will to do it yet.

With the specter of a US default growing over this debt ceiling issue, how do you think all this is going to work out? Republicans are firmly against tax increases and want steep spending cuts, but Democrats want tax increases and are resistant to steep spending cuts. Republicans also don't want to raise the debt ceiling unless it is accompanied by steep spending cuts. Democrats want to raise the debt ceiling right away.

Both Moody's and Fitch have warned of debt downgrades if Congress doesn't come to an agreement, which could have serious ramifications in the financial markets and push up interest rates. Chinese ratings agency Dagong is saying the US is "already defaulting" by printing money to inflate away our debt.

How do you think this is all going to turn out? Though Speaker Boehner has been holding a hard line on the spending cuts issue as a condition for approving a debt ceiling increase, I think he'll cave on it.

Texas is a wonder right now. I work with a lot of clients in TX, and while there are still some economic issues, by and large the state seems to have weathered the downturn pretty well.

A contingent of CA legislators recently headed down to TX to find out why the state is doing so well compared to CA. I'm sure that alone could be a pretty involved topic! :D

This is exactly what a very good attorney told me. LLCs for passive investments like rentals, Corp for active businesses like flips, wholesaling, etc.

Also, I would highly recommend consulting with an attorney to set it up instead of a LegalZoom or something like it. There's no substitute for being able to ask questions and have them set up the proper structure based on a conversation with you.

I can give you a referral to who set up our entity if you like. We've been very happy with them.

Hi Jordan, you might also consider refinancing into a 15-year fixed. Rates are so low right now that it would tremendously reduce your interest costs and the payment increase is not that much.

Your payment will increase by between $100 and $150 per month if you can get a 15-year fixed in the low 4% range (assuming good credit, owner-occupied, adequate income, etc.), but you'll reduce your remaining interest on the loan by between $50K and $60K and have it paid in full in 15 years.

I may be a mortgage guy, but I believe the best mortgage is none at all.

Oops, next time you invite your friends over via Facebook, make sure to mark the invite private or you might experience what this poor German girl did! :lol:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/05/facebook-party-out-of-control_n_871473.html

Thanks Jake! Do you have some contact information for Squar Milner? Feel free to email me separately if you like. Thanks!