All Forum Posts by: Glenna Wood

Are you asking if you should convert your traditional to a roth or should you keep two IRA custodians?? Neither is a purely yes or no question. To convert or not boils down to numbers in a given year as others have already said. I personally like less "stuff" to track so I keep my IRAs at one custodian, Fidelity, and get one statement with my whole picture. As I worked for 40 years I rolled whatever retirement account I had into my Fidelity accounts. When I was self employed I also set up my solo 401k with them. That's a great opportunity for you to look into. Fidelity and others have lots of good online learning resources to start with. Best wishes.

So sorry for the double post! The first one reported failed but actually worked. "Too much time on my hands... "  Yes indeed with no traveling now.  Itchy feet turned into busy fingers.

Also..  you mentioned personal storage in your attic for the summer. The heat and humidity in that space will be rough.  You also mentioned that you will "skip the hurricanes" by renting renting Memorial Day to Oct. You will miss it, your house won't. 😎

I would go with a local property manager to start... You have a unique challenge. If you are in the old St Joe Country Club, you were a long way from any services even before the storm.  The area took a tremendous hit from Hurricane Michael so many rental houses were wiped out along with the tourism infrastructure.  Terrific being in on the rebuild but with the disruption in tourism, local folks have had a hard time making a living. Some of my prior contacts have moved on. At this time I believe you are better off having a local property manager hire the right people and oversee their work. Evolve charges 10%, local managers charge 15-20%. There absolutely is a shortage of rentals now so inventory is low.

Good news/bad news it's the only golf course in the county.  It was going bankrupt and has been for years. The county just bought it to try to hang on to the jobs since post-Michael jobs were lost.  They will lease operations and see if it's profitable in three years. The online reviews of this course are terrible so you'll need to be creative in marketing a golf villa. There are many competitive courses 40-50 miles away in Panama City.

Although the bay may be walkable it's the marshy end. (Maybe add kayaks or paddle boards you your amenities?) Otherwise it's a drive to the gulf beach access on the Cape or back toward Mexico Beach (if you have little kids or seniors there is never a rip tide there. Wonderful!). The beaches are spectacular. Crystal white sand, completely uncrowded, and very mellow. The gulf front or walkable access or golf cart distance rentals on the Cape, St Joe Beaches, and Mexico Beach are better located as a beach STR. You need to figure an angle or yours to compete. Or maybe with the wipeout of so many houses you might be in at the perfect time.

A local manager will know which restaurants and services are open. Many did not rebuild but references to them are still on the web.  Guests will need to know what to expect. 

I love the area and hope to rebuild soon from Michael washing me out.  If you like the pre-Disney, small town Florida, this area can't be beat. Best wishes!

I would go with a local property manager to start... You have a unique challenge. The area took a tremendous hit from Hurricane Michael 2018 so many rental houses were wiped out along with the tourism infrastructure.  Nothing wrong with being in on the rebuild but with the disruption in tourism, local folks like cleaners have had a hard time making a living. Some have moved on. At this time I believe you are better off having a property manager hire the right locals and oversee the work. Evolve charges 10%, local managers charge 15-20%. There is a absolutely shortage of rentals now. Also a local manager would be up to date on which restaurants reopened. Many of the best seafood places were leveled and haven't rebuilt even though there are many web pages still up referencing them. Guests will need to realize how far they will be from basic services. A dream for some folks, others will hate it.

I'm assuming you are on the old St Joe Country Club golf course. If not, ignore the rest of this post... If you have been working there you already know the good news/bad news.  It's the ONLY golf course in the county.  It was going bankrupt and has been for years. The county just bought it to try to hang on to the jobs.  They will lease operations and see if it's profitable in three years. The online reviews of this course are terrible so you'll need to be creative in marketing your golf villa. There are many top notch courses 40-50 miles away in Panama City as competition.

You are in the beach boonies on that stretch of coast. Although the bay is close and maybe walkable it's the marshy end. (Maybe add kayaks or paddle boards your amenities?) Otherwise it's a drive to the beach access on the Cape or back toward Mexico Beach (for little kids and seniors there is never a rip tide there). The beaches are spectacular! Crystal white sand, completely uncrowded and very mellow. It's also one of the few beach areas that allow horseback riding and off road driving. No boardwalks or carnival attractions here. As a beach STR you are competing against gulf front or walking access STRs in Cape San Blas, St Joe Beach, or Mexico Beach.

There was an airstrip at the Country Club. I think the county took this over too. If it stays open to private aviation, I always thought a fly in rental would be a unique opportunity.  I looked into this about 15 yrs ago. Problem was getting basic services (car rental, groceries, etc) once you land and it's too far to bike. Maybe there are Uber drivers now. 

Wish you all the best! I will always love the area and plan to rebuild. If you like pre-Disney small town Florida, you can't beat this area of the "Forgotten Coast". If you check out the history of Port St Joe it's been beaten up a few times and always comes back!  PSJ is the "Constitution City" since the FL state constitution was signed there. The two main FL cities in the mid 1800's were Pensacola and St Augustine. Neither of those cities wanted the other to host the signing so they met in the middle of the panhandle at little Port St Joe. Politics never change...

You can either automate from a smart thermostat or go bigger picture with a smart hub. At least one PM on the Outer Banks had this set up but IDK the brand they use.  I use Zwave devices on a Samsung Smart Things hub for home automation. Just needs sensors on the doors and windows you want as the trigger and a simple automation to turn AC off if sensors remain open more than X minutes. Any Zwave compatible thermostat would work and there are a bunch. Once you automate you can include smart lock operation, hot water on/off, etc. 

Just an opinion as I've not worked with commercial loans as I only buy land or residential RE... I've always done individual loans on exchange properties and just figured out the numbers mix between the 1031 proceeds, the new mortgages, and the amount of equity going into each property vs their future income. If it's a package loan it seems like it would be more involved to refi or sell one of the four in the future because each was offered as part of the collateral.  

HOA docs are filed in the public records if the county is online. Very long slog to read thru them though. And of course these can change any time the HOA so wishes.

Add on streaming devices can too easily walk off the property. Had DirecTV for many years but am now with the Roku TV crowd. Any brand TV will do. Hit Black Friday and Cyber Monday or Walmart any day for good buys. I do 32" wall mounted in BRs and the biggest TV that doesn't overwhelm in the LR, 65"-85" right now. On one house with a large kids BR I put in a too big TV with a sound bar and easy access cables for game systems. Got lots of raves from families with gamer kids. Have xbox, will travel... (Oops, dated myself)

My CPA advised me to set up an LLC taxed as an S corp for my one person consulting firm in MD. Used Fidelity Investments (have been with them for 40+ years) to set up my self employed retirement plan. Huge opportunity for self employed folks! Best wishes for your future.

I'll bite on offering an OPINION... He says several times he wants the QI to "accommodate". I take that as he wants the QI to change the records and substitute one of 45 day deadline replacements with a new more thoroughly researched property.  Surely hope I am wrong on that... The podcast was way too long. The points made could have been said in 10 minutes.