All Forum Posts by: Pete Harper

Yes to #1. I did the same with my first property. I purchased in my name and transferred to an LLC. Some lenders will trigger due on sale clause with transfer. I did some research and found that you can to the transfer legally with a FannieMae loan. I had to wait for the loan to be transferred to final loan servicing company. I contacted the loan servicing company and told them on my plan to transfer the property title to an LLC. At first they argued until I shared the link from the FannieMae website showing it could be done. I eventually did the transfer after some modifications to the LLC docs. Transfer part was easy. I drew up a title transfer document, signed it and registered with the county for $45. Title and insurance are in the LLC name and funds go into an LLC owned bank account. LLC makes mortgage payments but the loan remains in my name.
I did this for my first property to establish credit but wouldn't do it again.  It was a PIA for paperwork and took about 9 months to finalize.  This strategy doesn't scale well as you will hit your personal loan limit.  My next loans have all been commercial in LLC name.

I can't believe some of the estimates to demo an old pool.  Our first house had an abandoned pool. It was one of those ancient in ground pools with a vinyl liner, cinder block walls and sandy bottom.  We had quite the "wetland" in our backyard, the first Spring we found a giant snapping turtle in the pool.  I guess he fell in chasing the bull frogs.  

Anyway, I found a pool contractor who was building another pool in the neighborhood.  He was looking for a place to dump the fill from another pool he was digging.  He needed a close place to dump the dirt and I had an old pool to fill in.  Win-win.  He filled in the old pool and graded the back yard for next to nothing.  I knocked down the sides with a sledgehammer.  It literally cost me almost nothing to fill in the pool.  I see craigslist adds all the time for pool contractors looking to get rid of fill.  I had another project where I did the same thing.  Be careful to be on-site when they are dumping.  Ask to inspect the load before they dump.  That way you know you are getting clean fill.  Check with your local building inspector first.  In our town you needed a permit to build a new pool but not to get rid of one.

Pre-covid we tried to get a group started in Palestine.  I know a few folks who might be interested.  @Simmie Douglas

Thanks for the advice.  I'm thinking I need to wait and see how things play out.  I spoke with a representative and was told the program is voluntary.  They can not force you to participate.  That said the courts are not allowing evictions on people who have applied.  Even if I filed the court will sit on it until the application is either approved or not.  Looks like I'm stuck for now.  
I'm sure the tenant's plan is to say they can't pay November rent but that's OK since they have applied for the program.  December will roll around and we will still be waiting on approval.  Sorry, can pay December either.  Then about mid-December we will know for sure.  If they are approved I can get paid for the two months back rent owed.  If they are not approved I eat the cost of two months rent and file for eviction in January.  The sad part is I have qualified tenants calling me daily for a place to stay.  There is a shortage of housing in our area.  Last month I posted an add on FB and received 30+ inquiries and a stack of applications to choose from.  

Boots on the ground perspective on Killeen.  I own a 4-plex in Killeen have some first had experience I would like to share.  Killeen is a funny market, unlike any other city in Texas.  It is a one company town with Ft Hood Army Base being the primary employer.  You'll want a PM who is experienced working with the military and the rules on deployments.  Relative to other Central Texas markets the rents are low.  A 2BR rents for $700, the same unit in College Station rents for $800.  We've seen significant rent appreciation in the past year but it is still low.  Prices are also low until this past year.  Like the rest of the Texas Killeen is super hot right now.  Expect to pay over asking price. You also need to pay very close attention to neighborhoods.  A block or two makes a huge difference. I would highly recommend out of state investors come drive around to get the feel for the area before buying.  Trulia crime maps can help.  Old town North Killeen is particularly rough.  There are sections I would not go after dark.  We have friends who had a shooting right next door complete with a chalk outline in the middle of the street.  North of Rancier is not for the faint of heart.  The better sections are south of 14 and East Killeen.  Harker Heights is better yet.  Now that I've scared you here is the good part.  Price appreciation has been strong, our 4-plex is up over 50% in two years with light renovations.  Rents are growing steadily but you have to work for it.  We've been raising rents after light renovations; paint and flooring.  We have stayed fully rented.  There is a bunch of inventory, even now it is not difficult to find duplex and 4-plex.  There are even builders putting in whole neighborhoods of small multifamily properties.  

I wanted to see if there was anyone who has first hand experience with the Texas Rent Relief program.  I have a tenant who is in the process of applying.  How long does it take to be approved?  What is the approval rate?  This tenant has been habitually late paying rent.  I've served 3-day notice to pay or quit on three separate occasions.  They have always paid at the 11th hour.  Last month I was ready to file for eviction.  My plan was to not renew their lease when it runs out in January.  I'm concerned if they are approved I will get locked into a lease extension.

This is sad for a company like BP to not support their technology.  This has certainly curtained my use of the platform since 99% of my use was mobile.  

What happened with the BP App on iPhone?  I updated my iphone and can no longer find the App Store. 

@Wayne Brooks

Not exactly "simple" but doable. I did this on my first property. First you need to wait for the loan to settle with final servicing company. Four months in my case. Then It took about two months back and forth with Fanniemae to get approval for transfer. Fanniemae was extremely difficult with transfer requiring changes to my LLC docs. Whole process took about six months after closing. Transfer to LLC was the easy part. I drew up the transfer docs myself and it only cost $40 to file with the county.

@Ariel Nelson

I'm not familiar with Wisconsin laws. However in Texas you can do a partial title search yourself at the county clerks office or on their web portal. First research the property on the county central appraisal district. This will give you owners name and property details. In Texas there are special rules for owner occupied homesteads. Read your local regulations.

The sheriffs auction does not clear other liens, only taxes. To see if there are other liens you can search the county clerks office to see what other liens are recorded. I was burned on a building lot I bought after finding out there were weed abatement liens totaling more than what I paid. Fortunately I was able to convince the city to forgive the liens.

Or as others have suggested pay a title company to do a title search. This gets expensive as you usually bid on multiple properties and your win rate is typically low.