All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Thanks so much for all of your advise, ideas, & time! We will be researching all of these options! Thanks again! Greatly appreciated! 

We've read many hours on BP throughout the last couple of years! SO much knowledge & great advise!

I'm hoping someone can make sure we're on the right track...My hubs & I have been part time flipping for a few years while he held down a full time other job. We've done around 10 flips. He's finally decided to pursue our flipping business full time :) I will continue with my 24 hr per week other job for now. We've got a couple rental properties & are looking to acquire a few more once everything settles down (moving, buying land & building a smaller home). We don't want to be rich, just live comfortably :) Our question is what to do with the approx $100k in his 401k? We're going to need at least half for our next flip since we're using our acquired cash to build our next home. Should we do a loan on the 401k? We were told today that we could roll the $ into an IRA & could take a loan up to 90% to acquire our flips with NO tax penalties if we paid it back within 6 months. It sounded to good to be true & everything we've read says that info is incorrect. Does anyone know? Of course everyone is not in the RE business says it's a terrible idea to use ANY of the 401k for RE investing. But you're going to get taxed on it eventually. The $ will be used to MAKE $. We realize it will put us in a higher tax bracket & essentially be taxed twice but it seems worth it to us (we're 38 & 40 yrs old). We'd love to go from 80+ working hours per week to around 30 within the next 10 years. We're currently living in a flip (for 2 years) to avoid capital gains tax but this is a one time deal since we're building. Also, we've currently got an LLC for our flips & rentals. We're looking into an S or C Corp to allow hubs pays himself to help with taxes? Any advise for anyone tackling RE full time? He's been at his "regular" job for 17 years so we're just trying to get a feel of self employment. I know the Obama BS insurance is crazy, so we're going to try & keep income under $74k per year to avoid the extra $1k per month on that along with the higher tax bracket. Ughhh! We're heading to our CPA next week. He's a good CPA with a good reputation but doesn't "specialize" in RE (we're in a small town & he's the best we have :) Any advise from the professionals would be GREATLY appreciated! *I forgot to mention I've looked into the self directed IRA but it doesn't seem like something that would be beneficial to us since hubs does 90% of the work on the flips himself. IRA? 401K? Loan? Cash out? Thanks, Nicole

Thanks Julia!!! Great tips! Much appreciated!!!

NC & SC both have beautiful beaches! I'm not sure about an investment standpoint as we aren't near the coast. We vacation in SC each year & love it, but haven't researched anything regarding investments in the areas. Good luck!

Hi, I'm not sure about "landlord friendly" as the only rental properties I own are in NC. The typical time frame for booting a tenant is around 45 days in my limited experience. If they damage the property, you pretty much have to eat the cost. Worse case, if you win in court for damages, back pay, etc, the courts will put a judgement against them for the money. However, rarely will you ever collect. We had a judgement on our first tenant for over $2000, but never saw a dime. I even found out she got herself a new car a few months later! We've since learned it's not even worth the hassle in most cases. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the tips Jim! I'll try the app for sure! We always carry concealed! Just want to take our dog with us while we'll be rehabbing the property (after all their belongings are out). We'll need his ears & eyes (inside with us of course) to let us know if someone were to come up while we have our backs turned working.

Thanks Brandon! I agree, it could be very dangerous! We'll be going locked & loaded ;) The sheriff handling it says the 'norm' in our area is to lock the doors for 7 days and if they contact us to get their belongings within those 7 days, then we will set a time at our convenience to meet them there, but the sheriff will not come back out at that agreed upon time. The sheriff only removes them & stays while we change the locks.

We cannot put their belongings out with them. We do have the option of having it all moved to a storage facility, but the cost is high & there's a lot of stuff! We may end up going that route, just trying to save $1000+. 

There's also a language barrier so it's difficult. There's been an interpreter, sheriff, & investigator all out to speak with them during the last 6 weeks, and they just don't seem to care. One occupant finally contacted our attorney, only to tell him to stop sending the PI out there because 'he was knocking on the windows & waking them up'!!! SMH!!! I'm hoping the Arlo Cameras will help us in the event they come back when we're not there. We'll also be taking our 150 lb Bullmastiff with us while we're working!

Thanks Matthew! How long is your battery life? What brand batteries have you been using? 

Hello from NC! I've gotten so much useful info from your posts over the years, but never posted. I need some help please. We've purchased a foreclosure property for a flip & it's taken over 6 weeks for our attorney to get the prior owners out. Well, tomorrow is the big day! Hubby is meeting the sheriff out there to change the locks. I've heard many horror stories of the prior owners coming back to destroy the property. We've purchased the Arlo wireless security system. Anyone used it? Any other advise???? We've got to keep it locked up for 7 days & also meet the prior owners back out there (without law enforcement) if they choose to come get their belongings in those 7 days. I'm a little worried about that. These aren't nice people and have boldly refused to leave for 6 weeks even though they haven't paid a mortgage payment in almost 3 YEARS!!!

The home is located in a nice neighborhood with a lot of neighbor's around, some of which are actually friends of ours. They try to keep an eye out for us when they are home. They let us know that "our new yard" is being meticulously cared for weekly! It's a crazy situation! Any advice would be greatly appreciated as all of the other properties we have purchased have been vacant. Thank you!

Hi Michael, we go to MANY auctions. I wish we did have some banker connections! My husband and I currently also have full time 'regular' jobs so it gets hard sometimes to find the time. We occasionally find one on MLS but we purchase most at the county courthouse auctions. Good luck!