All Forum Posts by: Robin Hines

@Andrew Weiner Thank you very much, this is helpful!

I am seeking recommendations for a real estate attorney in the Cleveland, OH area. To provide a brief summary, you know those emails you get about doing short-term private lending secured by real estate as an easy, passive way to invest in real estate? Well, after speaking with the individual in question and deciding to go ahead with this, it appears I have been duped. The individual I set this up with made one payment on Dec. 1 with the second supposed to occur on Jan 1. On Jan 4. I sent a "gentle reminder" email letting him know that I had not received the second payment. He actually responded to this saying that with the holidays, to give it a few more days. Sure, that makes sense. So, waited until Thursday and since I still had not received payment, sent him two additional emails and left a voicemail, all with no response.

So, I need to speak with an attorney about the next appropriate action to take. Any recommendations for an attorney in the Cleveland, OH area are greatly appreciated. I will post a much longer version detailing my experience at a later date. Thank you in advance.

Jay Hinrichs Fair enough. I do want to reiterate that my experience has been exceptionally positive. Sometimes a post can catch you when there is already some underlying anxiety from the Monday you’ve had which was the case tonight. I do trust these folks which is why I’ve built my portfolio with them. Thanks for your reassurance.

Oh my, I’m so sorry you have had this experience! As someone who owns several properties with them, I find this extremely concerning. I’ve had a good experience as of yet, but again, your experience is very troubling to me as an investor with them. My radar is now up.

You have the option of going with a portfolio lender like Ridge Lending Group (no affiliation). If you want to learn more, check out the Get Rich Education podcast with Keith Weinhold.

@Brian Schmelzlen @Basit Siddiqi

Thank you so much for your feedback. So, basically what you're saying is, as long as there is documentation, the corporate veil stays in tact. One additional question, how formal does this need to be? That is, can there simply be a document outlining the terms of the loan? Could it simply say something like, $5000 loan at 0% interest to be paid within one year, or does it need to be more formal than that. Also, can you choose any interest rate you want (within reason)? Thanks again, for your responses!

Ok, I'm a business novice and need input from those with experience in this area. Let's say that I have decided to put my rental properties into an LLC (or several llcs). Am I required to have all necessary cash reserves when I create the LLC? That is, what if I have, for the sake of argument, $10k in reserves for one of my newly created LLCs. After creating the LLC, let's say that some sort of emergency occurs with repair bill for $15k? Do I make a loan to the LLC from my personal funds? How does this work in practice?

One of the main sticking points for me with creating an LLC is the whole comingling of funds thing and what to do if you do not have adequate reserves if anything should come up. I know this is a basic question, but I haven't come across a post where this has been addressed. Any input you can provide is much appreciated.

Personally, I would walk away from this deal. It seems you may have an emotional attachment to this property. Just buy based on the numbers and keep the emotions out of it. There are many more opportunities that will come your way once you start looking for them.

@Logan Ho, no, nothing major, but keep in mind that the time period that I've owned these is relatively short. I did have one tenant in one of my C neighborhood properties fall behind in paying rent, but they got caught up the next month. Other than that, things have gone fairly smoothly. 

@Logan Ho I have not based my purchase decisions on zip codes, just neighborhood grades. I have purchased two propertties in C neighborhoods and two in B+ neighborhoods. Sorry, I don't have any experience with the A neighborhood properties.