All Forum Posts by: Leon D.

Raw land isn't going to generate any income, by definition. It's raw. It has to be improved, somehow. Questions to ask yourself and get answers to, before you'll get any meaningful answers from the forum or your local real estate community: -How large is the tract/parcel? -What is the current zoning? What is the zoning environment (that is, can it be easily rezoned, and if so, what are the other options)? -How much can you personally spend to improve the land? This could be as little as clearing the land of brush, to having it professionally graded/leveled, to having municipal services (utilities/roads) brought to the site. -Are you looking to keep the land indefinitely, or sell for the right price? I'm sure there are a few I'm leaving out, but getting good answers to these questions will very quickly narrow the possibilities for your land, and what you can expect of it.

The first place to look is the Oregon Association of Realtors, or whatever it's called there, and the website of whatever government body or commission regulates realtors in Oregon. Between the two of them, they should have all the info you need. Illinois allows realtors to self-sponsor, but you have to set up a legal entity (corp, LLC, etc), and make it a sole-proprietorship (IIRC). Then, as the only employee of the company you control, you sponsor/manage yourself. Oregon probably allows something similar.

Sure, I'd happily come if I can make it work; I live nearby.

Even if the property's current use is permitted, be wary. In many areas, rooming houses or SROs are "protected," in that the municipality uses them to fulfill a social purpose (cheap housing). Once a building is classified as SRO, it can be very difficult to convert to something else; usually, that involves waiting for tenants to leave and not replacing them. Once vacant, landlords can usually repurposes the property, but that process could take years. And as already said, they are usually management-intensive. This building has been on the market for such a long time, for a reason.

If they already want in, there's no need to incentivize them, right? The basic flipping/rehab math is this: cost of house + cost of improvements + profit margin = sales price. Some people will argue this or that, but basically, that's it. You know the cost if the house, and you probably know for what you could sell it for post-rehab, so the difference between the two is the materials and labor to fix it up, and also profit margin. Since it sounds like your friends only want to fund, and not put any sweat into the deals, I would consider a flat rate for them, so to speak, like 25% of the profit (and you keep 75%). An arrangement likes this also means you're protected a bit if the project doesn't go as well as expected, since if you make less, they do to, and you're not beholden to a certain fixed interest rate or percentage of ARV or whatever. You'll have to get your own number depending on your circumstances, but the basic idea is to make sure YOU get most of the profit, since you're doing ALL of the work.

I've looked at them (I'm in IL), but have avoided them for the reasons you cite: everyone has a slightly different idea of how to deal with them. It seems that it's too easy to mess something up when there's no consensus (opinion, law, history, rulings).

Hard to say if what the HOA is asking for is normal, each one has their own quirks as far as deposits, etc. What they ALL dislike are cases like yours, absentee owners just renting out the unit. My building, for example, doesn't allow a unit to be rented for more than two out of every five years (consecutive or not). As far as the sell/hold question, that depends primarily on two questions: 1) would the new renter be covering all or almost all of your holding costs (property taxes, HOA dues, etc), and 2) do you see area real estate appreciating over the next few years? I wouldn't put too much faith in Zillow, you'd need an on-the-ground realtor for a legitimate value. Without knowing your particulars, all I can offer is my own opinion. I'd rent it for one more year, and over the next 6-9 months update anything amazingly out of fashion, fix anything broken, clean or paint anything dirty. Then, find a broker and list it for sale, assuming that you can clear a few bucks. It's one thing to be hassled for a few weeks or months, it's another to not ever see an end to it. You and your money have better things to do, I'm guessing.

There are, in my experience, two main reasons for unpriced listings: 1) the seller is messing around and using the public to get a free appraisal, instead of hiring a pro to do the analysis. They're then free to turn down all the offers as not being satisfactory. 2) listing a price puts a ceiling (generally) on how much the seller can get. By not pricing the property, they're hoping someone will come in way above everyone else, and that's the offer they'll take (assuming it appraises out).

The most important question to answer is, From whom or what am I trying to protect my assets? Once you have answered that, talk to an attorney (otherwise, they'll charge you for the time it takes the two of you to answer the question in the first place). But, keep in mind that anonymity doesn't actually prevent anything adverse from happening. Here's what I mean: say you set up several shell companies or the like, one owns the other, across several states, blah blah, until ultimately the lowest-tier LLC owns an SFR in, say, Cleveland. Months go by, no issues with the house or tenant, the rent comes every month like clockwork to a PO box or whatever. Then one day, for cause or not, the tenant files suit. He doesn't have to know your name, he'll sue the LLC. Through discovery, his attorney in Cleveland will follow the chain of ownership up several levels. At some point, the attorney will either find you, or the trail will run dry. If it's the first, enjoy your time in court. If the second, you have a choice: if you know about it, you can stay quiet/anonymous. Eventually the court may find against the LLC owning the house, and to satisfy the judgement, the house is seized and sold. You're now out a house and the money spent to set up all the entities and buy the house. Or, you know about it, you defend yourself/the LLC, and you're in court anyway. If you've done a REALLY good job hiding your ownership (rent paid by Bitcoin or something) you won't even know about the lawsuit, and one day you maybe discover that you lost the house. So, assuming that you aren't worrying about robbery or kidnapping, what matters isn't whether someone knows you nominally own something, it's whether that person can rend it from you. That's what trusts are for. You may have cause to sue Donald Trump or Warren Buffett knowing they are worth billions, but you'll never get anything because of the dynasty and land trusts and other legal vehicles used to protect those vehicles, of which they are merely the sometimes-beneficiary.

Honestly, I can't imagine that any conventional bank will lend to you. You have three big strikes against you: 1) You're not a US citizen, neither do you have a visa that might even begin to hint at long-term residency (like a student visa or better). If a lender can't find a way to use the legal system to enforce a judgement against you, they probably won't led to you. 2) Your partner has bad credit. This is self-explanatory. 3) Stockton is (in)famous for having high unemployment, low property values, and a bankrupt city government. All three of these things would have to change before you could get a loan, I'm guessing.