All Forum Posts by: Ned J.

Great post....

Crickets.....

Scary that the original post was 2 years old and it was basically "oh my god prices are out of control, how long can they just keep going up?'...... still waiting for that "correction"..... :)

Ok I've only bought 4 properties in my entire life and they have always been through real estate agents for both parties etc.....so this is probably a pretty basic question for you experienced people....

When buying an off market or FSBO property...

How exactly do you do the transaction without a real estate agent handling all the forms, inspections, paperwork, title company stuff, back forth offers, accepting offer, contingencies etc etc etc.....

I wouldn't even know where to begin to get all the forms and proper filings to get it all done correctly.... I have always paid agents to do it and do it correctly...and I don't mind paying for their service.....but say I find an off market property all on my own.... I hate to pay "full price" commission just to have them handle the transaction

So for the more "novice" people out there...if you find an off market deal etc, are you having an agent handle that stuff ?

I own 2 SFR rentals in CA and one in TX..... in my research and consultation I found no benefit to forming an LLC for any of them in either state. My properties are in our family trust and we have an umbrella policy......

Kind of a side topic but...... so I can see the benefit of an LLC when you start to get big MF complexes etc, but what is the true benefit when you are under say 10 SFR properties? As long as you place the ownership in a trust and have a decent umbrella, what's the benefit of an LLC?

Deciding on whether you accept the tenant application is on the landlord, so ultimately of the person ends up being a bad tenant then its on you..sorry. Unless the agent falsified info or didn't actually do the background checks, credit reports etc they claimed they did (I assume you looked at those right?), then its on you.

For 2k, its not likely worth the legal fight..chalk it up to a learning experience and move on...

I live in CA and have a rental in TX and its has worked for us.....mainly due to the distance issue and property self management. I ve had quite a fee items replaced and fixed over the years.... the biggest being the water heater. Tenant says something is broken/isn't working.... I call the warranty and they make all the arrangements to fix it and I pay some fee like $60-75.....

I haven't run into the "well we don't cover that"....at least not yet....... the ease of using it has made it worthwhile for us and I'm pretty sure we haven't lost $$, at least not much vs not having one...

Another factor............ sometimes if you want it done right, you need to do it yourself..... for me, sometimes the frustration of hiring someone to do it and then have them F** it up or just do crap work, makes me want to just do it myself. But it depends on the job....and the quality of the people you can hire and trust.

Just had my entire HVAC replaced with "oversized" Bryant unit and new ducts in my own home in CA....all for $6500....and my house is 2500 sq ft.....

My Texas house needed a new HVAC when I bough it, and that cost my $7000, and that's 2200 sq ft....

You place is tiny...... that price is WAY high..... I would seriously look at the wall ductless units

@David Faulkner... yes I factor all of those to some degree, but when the cash flow is negative or barely break even, its hard to convince myself that those other factors trump the poor cash flow. #2 and #3 assume you are getting a good deal and the likelihood of continued appreciation is high for the entire time you own the property..... buy at the high end of the market and those aspects fall flat. Plenty in CA keeps harping on "the prices cant just keep going up, so I'm going to wait until there is a correction".....and the prices keep going up.......

Plus its mentally hard to buy the exact same property at 259k that you bought 3 years ago for 160k....and it needs work.... but the markets still seems to think its a good deal.