All Forum Posts by: Ned Carey

@Keaton Vols I know out of state investing seems popular right  now. However it means higher risk and higher cost. 

The best deals go to the investors who know their market the best. It is a lot easier to learn a market near you. 

@Jessica Troncoso Welcome to BP. We're happy to have you here. 

Know your market. That means looking at dozens or even hundreds of deals so you know the market inside and out - literally. You need to know the expectations of the renters and buyers. 

Just another way of saying what @Drew Sygit said. 

Go out and look at LOTS of properties. When they sell follow up with the agent and ask about the deal. I know my market better than most because I look at and evaluate 2000+ properties a year. 

@Zeni Kharel wrote 
              "My question is: Are there any tax considerations if I buy a home this year(my low W2 income year) vs next year(which will be my high W2 income year)?"

A simple NO. There is no tax consequence to buying a house. The tax issues come in owning and selling.  @Aaron Zimmerman please correct me if I am wrong. 

@Natalia Perlova 
     "I am worried that he will leave me with a repair bill and will be nowhere to be found. Is there anything i can do to protect myself now?"

This is one of the risks for real estate. As mentioned above try to get his new address. Say you  need it to send the security deposit back. Also act quickly the longer you wait the more you lose in lost rent. 

@Asef Obaid I know people who swear by Legal Zoom and others. i wouldn't touch it. 

You have basically three choices. 

1) Pay a CPA and Attorney to educate you. You should absolutely work with professional accountants, and attorneys. However it will cost a fortune for them to teach you everything you need to know. 

2) Educate yourself, take classes, read books, IRS handbooks, and even read the legal code online. Local real Estate Investor groups sometimes have classes on laws and taxation. I like NOLO Press which has lots of legal books

3) Ignore the laws and let someone like me take you to the cleaners because I know the law & contracts better. 

PS #4 Follow experienced people here like @Don Konipol and @Jay Hinrichs

People need to be careful who they are listening to. Some of the GURU attorneys are active here on BP. 
I've seen many posts from @Ronald Rohde who seems to know what he is doing. he wrote:
           "What we've done is make service more difficult and costly"

I have also made hundreds of thousands of dollars from people who thought they could not be served. Your company can be legally served and you may not even know it if you don't have a good attorney like Ronald or @Stuart Udis representing you. 

@Pradeep Ranganathan small landlords often keep lousy records. 

You should be wary of every seller and wary of every deal. Someone sending only the first page of a lease is a bonehead, possibly just lazy. The reason doesn't matter what matters is what is in the lease. 

If you can't get proper due diligence done in time, you have two choices.

1) Cancel the deal. This doesn't mean you can't continue negotiations and make a new offer but it tells the seller you will not accept his or her games. 

2) If the price is so good that the deal has great reward for the potential risk, move forward. My guess is this is not the case. A landlord that has unrealistic expectations on what to provide a buyer is also going to be unrealistic as to price.  Since this is your first deal. I recommend against this option. 

@Natalia Perlova clearly the tenant is not being fair or following your lease. If you are confident the tenant will leave you can do nothing. The risk is the tenant doesn't leave on time and no you have a bigger problem. 

I don't know what is in your lease, nor do I know the law in your state. I would do one of two options. 

1) Immediately start eviction or 

2) Use the right on the lease go go in and inspect the property. My lease would allow me to change the locks and charge them for the change. 

The fact your tenant has made the claims they have says they're unreasonable and my guess you are in for more trouble. I would not wait around.