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All Forum Posts by: Ragnar Lothbrok

Ragnar Lothbrok has started 9 posts and replied 24 times.

Post: Michigan Real Estate CPA

Ragnar LothbrokPosted
  • Utica, MI
  • Posts 26
  • Votes 10

@Todd Vernon Chunn @Zev Jankovic

Thank you both for taking the time to respond. Todd, I will look into the contact you mentioned, Thank you.

Post: Michigan Real Estate CPA

Ragnar LothbrokPosted
  • Utica, MI
  • Posts 26
  • Votes 10

I have a tax accountant in Michigan. I do not believe he specializes in Real Estate. I have no idea if I'm giving the government more money than I need to. I would like to work with someone who identifies as a 'tax strategist', if possible.

Would anybody have any good referrals for Michigan tax accountant that specializes in real estate?

@Joe S.

Probably a good idea. I usually get some $100 beater from the 80's off Craigslist. Moreso if it's going into a nice kitchen, I might throw in an extra $25 to find one that looks brand new.

Post: GC Capitol Non-Accred. "Partnership"

Ragnar LothbrokPosted
  • Utica, MI
  • Posts 26
  • Votes 10

Grant Cardone offering "AAA rated, 92 walk score 456 unit apartment in Ft. Lauderdale with 4% cash on cash annual return"

Granted, I know the 4% is supposed to hold over the investment while rent 'matures', the property is refinanced and the investors get their money back from appreciation. Simple enough, right? I don't doubt the area, or the possibility, but the webinar to announce this opportunity was very off-putting for me. When initially I was intending to put down 10k, I'm not sure I even want to be part of this deal, GC Capital, or any syndicator in the future.

Forgive me for the rant, but what really irked me was: the lack of any concrete financial details at all. I wanted to know how much debt they were incurring on the deal, 25-35%, right? What was the interest rate? What are the expenses for the property? What is the breakdown for said expenses? How many units are currently rented? How many competing offers were there? etc.

I don't want to be rude, but the people on the call were just stupid. Multiple people asked if the 4% return was every month. Another said she doesn't have even a hundred dollars to her name, but would borrow $2,000 from their cousin. A lot of other callers seemed so hyped up they almost seemed like they were planted there intentionally. What was the most annoying part was that Grant just kind of fed the mob on this. Agreeing that you should borrow someone elses money for this investment, using silly catchphrases, and telling everybody unquantitative deails about the deal. The whole thing was an hour and a half, and all the financial details of the deal were discussed for ~3 minutes.

Question for you all. Should I be looking for more details on this deal, or just disregard entirely? I got the pigs being led to slaughter vibe- is this normal for investing with syndicators? Would you invest with GC or do literally anyone else who isn't surrounded by so much hype?

Post: Property Manager - Excessive Maintenance

Ragnar LothbrokPosted
  • Utica, MI
  • Posts 26
  • Votes 10

Good afternoon all,

I have recently put both of my rental properties in the trusting care of a property manager. Things seem to be going well, I drove by both properties the other day and they seemed to be in good shape. However. It seems to be fairly consistent that I will get a maintenance charge. For the past 5 months, I've paid out $730 on top of the 10% PM fee. Certain repairs include $100 to unclog 2 drains, and $125 for a garage door wheel replacement. The later having been done myself for $10 before the new tenant arrived.

I know maintenance is something to be expected, and it is budged for, but this goes a little bit over my most conservative estimate. At what point do you think I should I recognize this as excessive maintenance costs? If this is the case, is it too much to ask them to run every maintenance cost through me first? Or how would you best limit this?

Hello BP Bretheren,

You have helped me a lot in the past and I am very grateful. One question I have for today...

I am transitioning to having a PM manage my properties for me. Among other things, they are asking for my ID (I assume scanned driver's license) and bank account, routing number, etc. The stated intent about the bank info is for an ACH deposit of rent.

I wanted to see what you all thought about providing this information. Is this an industry standard? Or an elaborate, (and somewhat commendable) rouse to steal my information and drain my bank account?

@Jackson Long

Here: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.michigan.gov/documents/ag/Ltr.M.Landau.4.16.2020_687458_7.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjNo-TpxpjpAhUPna0KHQjRCSMQFjAAegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw2o1lSNwOQHQ-4cT8sUHOv8

Not an article, but a cease and desist letter from Michigan's AG forcing a Detroit landlord to allow 80 rent-striking residents to live for free.

Also, if you're putting somethint together for this, please include the following excerpt from the 5th ammendment: "No person shall...[ ]...nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

@Ujwal Velagapudi Lol, indeed.

She claimed she was moving in with her mom to help her pay the bills after being fired due to COVID19.

I understand charging her for lost rent. Is it possible to charge her for the cost to find a new tenant? Whether through a property manager or from us? My wife and I have put in atleast 4 extra hours a day screening through people including ~50 phone calls so far.

I forgot to also mention, due to the coronavirus situation, and every landlord being a bond-villan in the public eye, is there any other considerations I should be aware of? I understand some judges take personal beliefs and feelings into account when making judgements.

We've tried negotiating with the tenant already and it went about as well as you'd expect.

Hello BP,

I am looking for your thoughts on a bit of an issue I am dealing with right now.

A tenant who we've signed 4 months ago is break her fixed-term lease with a 30-day notice, with 13 months remaining. There is nothing in our lease that lists any fines for doing so, nor is there anything allowing permission to freely break their obligation. Email communications have shown that the tenant believes she can simply leave without any consequence. She would also like to pro-rate her rent for the last month, leaving on the 7th, and a full refund of her security deposit.

We intend to hold her fully accountable regarding damages, utilities, and lost rent-up until the the end of the contract, if necessary. However, my wife and I have already been putting several hours of work into finding a new, actually decent, tenant. In Michigan, I believe we cannot take advertising/screening costs out of the security deposit, but boy we'd love to..

Is there anything you would recommend we do, to be compensated for this? If we have a property manager find a tenant, costing the first month's rent, could we sue/deduct from the security deposit for that expense?

I suppose I'd just like to leave it open for anything else you'd like to add?