All Forum Posts by: Richard C.

 Then how is your post responsive to the question, which was specifically about foreclosures?

 I expect the reason is that the credit union carries the loans on their portfolio, and doesn't sell them in the secondary market.  What exact features of the secondary market make it harder for the banks, I do not know.

One of the great things about a decent credit union is that it is easy to develop a banking relationship.  I have a loan officer I use for everything.  There are not ten different departments like at the banks.  So I just tell him what I want to do, and he tells me if he can do it.

My only trick isn't much of a trick.  

I have found that my local credit union is much more open to cash-outs than the local banks.  Consider using a credit union.

 And how often do you do that with a foreclosure, which requires dealing with a bank or servicing company and their lawyers?

 Exactly.  It is always about the numbers.  Which is why there is not hard-and-fast answer to most questions like this.

I would not pay a higher price for a non-operational pool.  I would inform the the seller that I would need to either repair it or fill it in, and so that would have to be reflected in the price.

Let me answer as someone in professional services myself.

We get paid to give advice.  To answer questions, if you will.

We get paid for our time, which is all we have to sell.

We get paid to do the research necessary to answer those questions.

We get paid to take on the liability (and carrying the E&O insurance) of possibly answering those questions incorrectly.

I don't get charged, nor do I charge, for simple questions that can be answered instantly from prior knowledge.

But determining what your tax liability is, if you should sell some properties, could be a fairly complex question to answer.  And it certainly opens your CPA to liability of he answers incorrectly.

If he has to spend time answering your question, and assume liability by answering it, you should expect to be charged for it.

 Not "fill" the pool.  "Fill in" the pool.  As in, with dirt.

She actually did you a huge favor with that 6-digit social security number.  Keep showing the house, get it rented, and then send her a note saying you have rented it to someone else.  If she wants to know why, it is because you were unable to validate the social security number.

Let's say you have a requirement that prospective tenants provide pay stubs to prove income, because you prefer that people have stable jobs rather than renting to self-employed people or freelancers. And you explain that to prospective tenants. And a prospective tenant provides those pay stubs, from an LLC. And you later find out that they own the LLC, and are in fact a self-employed freelancer.

Would you feel like they have been honest with you?

If not, then why would you hide behind an LLC in exactly the same way?

Man up, and don't try to deny you own a property.  Mine are in LLCs.  I never say, "Hey tenants, you know I own this house, right?"  But I would certainly never deny it, and I think it is pretty well understood by everyone.

If you do have an LLC, and you expect it to provide you with any protection from liability whatsoever, then you need to actually operate it as an independent entity. Which means, yes, you have the rent check made out to the LLC.

 I consider lying to be unethical.  Also entirely unnecessary.  

It is very simple to say, "The most I am willing to pay is $80,000."

There is no need whatsoever to make up a conversation with a banker.

Lying is not negotiating.  It is lying.

I won't wish you luck in return.