All Forum Posts by: Ethan G.

Jonathan,

Who did you end up going with?  I'm in the market for a CPA now.

I am an attorney but I'm not giving any legal advice here.  However, I find people here are so conservative on legal matters, it is pretty funny actually.  Guess it keeps lawyers employed.  

I am still monitoring the two defaults in my portfolio and looking at the process the portal goes through as well as the ultimate results in terms of recovery and length of time.

The two defaults were concentrated in one portal and it was the portal I would've expected the least (based on my interactions with folks there, etc.) and the two extensions were each at different portals.  

I went heavy into crowdfunding using the portals over the past year and have a portfolio across the county at $5k or $10k a pop (there have been 2 defaults and 2 extensions to be fair that most likely means I will not be paid back all the money in the time I was supposed to and may lose up to a certain amount of my principal).  I then went and did some loans myself here locally, but it honestly was a lot of work sourcing and evaluating deals. 

I then called up local hard money lending companies and have now invested in their private lender program.  The returns are worse than in crowdfunding and you have concentration of local economy risk, however I like the risk reward there better than crowdfunding.  The local hard money lender I am with structures my investment as a loan to their lending entity (unsecured), but then has an underlying property where my source of funds went to that serve as collateral for the loan if the hard money lending company doesn't pay me.  So it would basically require the hard money lender (who has about $30 million in loans) to go out of business AND the underlying property not having enough equity cushion in it vis a vis my loan for me to lose principal.  

I also have a rental in Katy, what specifically are you looking to get fixed?

I have a rental house built in 2001. The water heater is upstairs in a closet (all of the upstairs is carpeted). I have heard the average life of water heaters is approximately 15 years so we are nearing the end of its life. We currently have a home warranty (through Old Republic) in place that would cover the cost of replacing or repairing the water heater should it break. The question is does it make sense to spend the money out of pocket now to replace the water heater before it actually breaks (for instance, if it does break suddenly, the water would leak all over the carpet upstairs). In general, do landlords of single-family homes pre-emptively make major repairs as items get close to the end of their expected life? Thank you.

Does anyone have a recommendation for an attorney that represents private money lenders and landlords in the Houston area?  Thanks.

Will there be a part 3? Thanks.

I should be able to make this and hope to see everyone there.

Do they have a place to store items e.g. backpack  - I will be walking over from work and then need to take a bus home.