All Forum Posts by: Gail Greenberg

I have one turnkey property and two needing rehab in Flint, MI. Great cashflow! Excellent property management in place. These are hands-off for the out-of-town investor and great starter properties for the new investor or solid performers for an existing portfolio.

$49,900 - 1156 Sutton is newly renovated 2 bed/1 bath. Will rent for $675 - LOW TAXES!  https://www.zillow.com/homes/1156-Sutton-Ave-Flint,-MI-48504...

$29,000 - 3194 Whitney is 3 bed/1 bath. Needs $18,800 in renovation (highest quote; other quote is $14,200) and will rent for $750.  https://www.zillow.com/homes/3194-Whitney-Ave-Flint,-MI-4853...

$29,000 - 2728 Brown is 3 bed/1.5 bath. Needs $18,200 in renovation (highest quote; other quote is $17,500) and will rent for $750.  https://www.zillow.com/homes/2728-Brown-St-Flint,-MI-48503_r...

Buy singly or I will give you a deal on the package!

@Chris Seveney  Silver-tongued devil

But I will have you know that I just got a hard-to-get life insurance policy and my blood test was so stellar they didn't even ask for my medical records! So, HA!!!

Yes, you avoid the penalties once you're old enough but the red tape never goes away, hahaaaaa!

HI Joe,

Brian is the expert and everything he has said matches my understanding. 

Where is your SEP-IRA that you would be able to take a distribution without going through the custodian? If you have a "checkbook IRA," I hope you were told at the outset to get very familiar with the rules on managing it - one of the biggest is that you can't make a contribution or take a distribution without it going through the custodian for IRS reporting purposes.

How to take as a distribution a property owned by the IRA:

1. The custodian will require you to get a valuation of the property by a realtor or may require an appraisal by licensed appraiser. This is so they know the dollar value of the distribution.  I'm actually going to switch custodians because my current one requires an appraisal and I'd prefer to just be able to get a BPO (Broker's Price Opinion). 

2. I don't know how the property is currently titled. Mine are owned by an LLC whose only member is my IRA custodial account (a checkbook IRA). So the process for me has been that my IRA LLC deeds the property to the custodian and they deed it back to me personally. So there are two deeds that get recorded.

3. If your SEP IRA is not a Roth, yes the value of the property will be reported to the IRS as if it were a cash distribution and the full amount will be added to your taxable income. The properties I've done this with were free and clear. I'm not sure what the reporting calculation is if you've got a mortgage.

Hope this is helpful.

I own rentals in central Indiana and Jackson, MS. Would like to get out of Jackson - tenants are too unstable and the houses are too high-maintenance. But where to go? Would love your recommendations on solid blue collar towns where the acquisition cost of decent rentals is low-to-moderate and there are some good property managers for out-of-state owners.  I've been spoiled - instead of the 1 percent rule, I get over 2 percent on many of my properties.  Thanks so much!

Read the BBB complaints about them. https://www.bbb.org/us/nc/wilm...

I road tested their software a few years ago. I looked up my own properties on it to assess the accuracy of the data. None of their data was correct on my houses. With that in mind, I asked for and got a full refund. They've apparently wised up and made their refund period just 3 days which is not long enough for most RE hopefuls to figure out that the data is garbage. Sad - stay away!

I'm sure there are different programs. In this one, I had to have my plans approved by the state's historic rehabilitation office and the National Park Service, which manages the national program. You do what they say and submit final photos for certification. Then you get 20% of qualified expenses as tax credits on both state income tax and IRS taxes. You only need to maintain the historic elements for 5 years and then you're allowed to tweak around. But the basic mission has been accomplished - a historic structure has been saved.

I'm selling my state credits since I don't file income tax in that state; you can't sell IRS credits. I'm posting here to see if anyone knows the process to use the IRS credit when filing one's taxes.

I recently completed a project where I'm getting historic tax credits from both the IRS and the state's department of revenue. The state is pretty good at explaining the process for using them but I need to talk to someone familiar with using IRS credits.

Thanks!

@Stephen E. this is a great analysis, very well thought out. And I appreciate the care and attention you put into crafting it, as opposed to the “rob a bank” responses I got.  I especially like your final line. I always say the most important thing to know in real estate is yourself. There’s too many people trying to force themselves to do things they’re not suited for or that go against the grain in some way. I failed for years doing that.  

@Matt Humps you mean look somewhere other than Marietta, GA?  

Wow, I was so unprepared for how smug and pointless some of these comments would be! Don't I feel silly now?

For all of you who are so convinced it can't be done, I did it in three and a half years starting with my (then) life savings of $250K. 

To everyone who made earnest, thoughtful and helpful suggestions: Thank You!  To the snarky people who like to post withering and "clever" comments, I suggest it would be a better use of your time to ask yourself how it COULD be done and letting your imagination soar rather than pathetically trolling people who are trying to brainstorm. 

I did it by building cash with note investing and then growing a rental portfolio very strategically. What will your path be? What I'm seeing here is proof positive that Henry Ford was right when he said: Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. You are the one you've been waiting for. Stop the stupid commenting and get to it.