All Forum Posts by: Ryan Best

Joe,

For a second I almost thought I wrote your post!  Except for the college part, I'm in exactly the same position. I bought my home for $207k a few months ago (9 actually) and it is worth $375k now. Would like to sell it and avoid short term capital gains. From what I understand, the tax rate goes down after owning (living in) your home after the first 12 months (so maybe consider holding on until April 2022?) Alternatively, if you can, don't sell your home for 24 months and then you won't own any capital gains.  I'm sure others can give you more information about 1031 exchanges, etc., but I've bought a dozen homes holding them and selling every two years ... never had to pay any capital gains or taxes.

Good luck!

Easiest or fastest?  Two different things, my friend. 

The easiest way is to pay for them to leave. Google "Cash for keys" for more information. I speak from the sad experience of having to do that while in Escrow a few years ago in Los Angeles. The squatter refused to leave and the threat of a lawsuit from real estate agents/brokers and the buyer hung over my head. The squatter literally told me, "I know if I don't leave it's going to f*ck up your sale. You can either pay me to leave ...or evict me."  He knew it would take longer than I had for escrow. So $2,000 later I had the keys (he had changed the locks) and he had signed an agreement stating he was not living there and would make no claims against me, the new property owner, etc. The second he signed the agreement, I changed the locks. But boy, did I want to punch him in the face! 

That little story aside, the proper way to get rid of a squatter is to evict them. I'm not a real estate lawyer, but I think if a squatter is not receiving mail, nor have utilities in his name, and of course is not paying you rent or have a signed agreement with you to stay there .... you might be able to have the police escort him out permanently.  Any lawyers have a comment on this?

Ashish,

Is that assuming the property is an investment property and you have an LLC? And if you pay yourself, is that as an employee (taking out FICA, social security, etc., from your paycheck) or can you just take withdrawals from your business account? There seems to be a lot of different paths one could take as a flipper!

Thanks for your reply, David! 

Someone in an investment forum pointed out if I cannot get a mortgage loan due to being unemployed, I should consider putting the proceeds of the sale of my home into a mutual fund then borrow against it (via a securities-backed or signature loan) to buy a new home to renovate.  Hopefully a fund like BIAWX, which has a yearly return rate of over 18% would more than make up for interest on a mortgage loan of 2.75% or 3.75%... and -- it would probably be the only way I could get a mortgage loan!

I know of a couple folks who are trustworthy and competent if you are still looking for someone.  Please email me at rjbcal at msn.com.

I was wondering if this makes investment/tax sense and if anyone has done something similar:

1. Buy an RV as a primary residence (I've checked IRS/State law and can do this in Arizona)
2. Buy and renovate an investment home while living in the the RV (versus renting an apartment)
3. Selling the investment home and then repeating #2

Due to the Covid pandemic, I am out of work and unable to qualify for a mortgage but have a lot of equity in my current primary residence home which I would sell to do the above. Note 90% of my equity is tied up in my current home which I paid cash for.

Until this year, I was doing the "buying a property, fixing it up and selling it after two years," to avoid short-term capital gains. I've done quite well financially buying/selling 8 homes over 16 years or so. I now want to start doing investment renovations and escalating the process.

Does this make financial sense to anyone, and has anyone else gone down this path?

Oops, I typed the wrong name of the form in: my agent is working on getting the short sale approval letter, not the short sale authorization...  thanks for the reply!  Reassuring that everything is normal as can be for a short sale..

Not sure if my title made sense, but it will when you read the list below. I know short sales can be challenging (I've purchased three), but I've never heard of something as odd as this happening and am wondering if any of you could tell if this is just 
"business as usual" or if there are yellow or red flags popping up?  Here's what is happening:

1. Short sale in Sherman Oaks, CA.  4455 Hazeltine Avenue, Unit 302. My offer is $430.
2. Two banks involved. Waited for months (4 going on 5).  No word.
3. Property suddenly is listed for auction!  Still no word from banks.
4. A week before the auction, real estate agent said the banks rejected my offer.
5. Auction is suddenly canceled 2 days before auction.
6. One day later, property is listed on MLS as standard sale for $499k. No mention of short sale/foreclosure listing.
7. Listing is on MLS for a few days, when I get a call from my agent: "banks accepted your offer after all."
8. Agent wants my loan officer to call him; loan officer says he needs "Short sale authorization" from both banks involved. Agent says he doesn't have it. But will try to get it asap.
9. Four or five days go and still no authorization..

My intuition is starting to nag at me, and I am wondering if my offer is being held as a "last ditch" or back-up offer while a better offer is trying to be found...or maybe something else. I'm not sure if I want to proceed forward.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated! 

Condos can be *great* investments at the right time and in the right market.

I'm the president of a small HOA (24 units) in Studio City, CA. I can tell you we've kept the same HOA rate of $316 month for about 10 years or longer. I bought the condo I'm in 5 years ago for $265k and two units with exact floor plan recently sold at $420K. Great investment.

Some tips: 

• if you have time, try to become a board member.  You can see first-hand how things run and even change a few things for the better; 
• better to have solid home owners versus tenants as tenants do not treat the property with the same respect and care as home owners; 
• look for a condo complex with a solid reserve; 
• and lastly, if you are going to invest in a condo: READ the CC&Rs (The rules of the HOA community are set forth in what is called the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions), very carefully. If you see something substantial you disagree with (for instance, homeowners are allowed to keep only one pet, instead of two -- and you have two), don't hope for the best and buy anyway. Chances are it won't work out.

I'm also in the LA area and looking for a real estate CPA (Studio City, CA area), and like Dutch have no idea about rates or fees (sorry for jacking your thread, Dutch!)