All Forum Posts by: Dan Carver

Thanks for your effort!

John, this is not tax advice! The main reason you want a separate bank account is that it can provide more protection. If the property is owned by an LLC but you are accepting rent into a personal account or paying bills from the personal account for the property, it can make it easier if you are sued to claim the property was not entirely controlled by the LLC. If that can be proven, instead of them being able to go after the assets that specific LLC owns, they can try to go after personal assets. I have over 30 properties, each owned by a separate LLC and each with their own bank accounts and debit cards. I am not saying this is the only way to do it or you should only do it my way, but there is a better chance of protecting personal assets with the separate bank account and no commingling. I would also recommend getting at least a $1 million umbrella policy with your LLCs listed on it.

Most parts of Cahokia are tough; flipping is very difficult to do and rental is more of a cash flow play.  There will likely be very little appreciation in the future.  I think you are correct in that its very similar to the more unsafe areas of North County.

A new purchase price will usually result in higher future assessments, both in the city and county, so I would be careful using current assessment when running your numbers.

Yes, besides quick access to new MLS properties and the ability run more accurate comps, a real estate license is valuable for an investor. Just remember you have to disclose you have a license when dealing with the general public.

Rick (Richard) Abrams in Clayton; there's almost nobody better in Saint Louis

I think you will find that if they have already put the effort into listing it for rent, they probably are not going to be very interested in selling.  You would be better off to get some leads or find them yourself of out of town or absentee owners of multifamily properties that are vacant.  You would have a much higher chance with them as you will catch some of them that just kicked out their tenants and they don't want to have to rehab the property again.

Do you have a survey for the property? If so, you can at least tell where the property and easement lines are.  Also, call the local zoning department and they can tell you if you have any setback rules regarding the fencing.

Call a local PA realtor and have them run it for you.  Explain to them you are an investor and you are looking to start a relationship with a local agent.  You may even develop a relationship where you can do some business in the future.

I personally use a virtual assistant and love it.  First off, its much cheaper than paying someone locally and I find that many of the foreign virtual assistants are very hard workers.  I use upwork.com.  You can search for contractors by various criteria.  There are foreign and American contractors and you can use different contractors for various tasks.