All Forum Posts by: Ronald Hayden

Has anyone tried keeping on top of a remote property in part by using cameras?

My initial thought is being able to "inspect" damage or a repair by having someone video it and send you the video, or you could watch live and ask questions.

Second thought is having typical security cameras in common areas and being able to remotely review footage when someone has a complaint, at least to get a sense of what's going on.

Seems like with modern technologies there should be some clever approaches that make remote management easier...

Speaking of which, @Ryan Swan, there are electronic locks you can put on a door such that you can give a person a one-time code, and you get a record of exactly when they entered and left. A colleague of mine used this to manage a rehab on his own home, which in addition to granting conditional access, also allowed him to know if a contractor actually showed up as scheduled.

Like @Bryan Chuchta, I use an app -- "WorldCard" on the iPhone -- that scans a card and loads the info into a contact. It's pretty good but I got it years ago and there are probably even better ones available now. 

I'll be getting cards made soon and will look into whether you can add a QR code so that anyone can scan the info without needing an app. 

@Jay Hinrichs, while I realize that you have no interest in putting contacts on your phone, I just wanted to mention that losing/breaking a phone isn't really an issue. You can backup your phone to your computer and/or to the cloud, and if you need to replace your phone, it's a matter of minutes to have all your data loaded onto the new phone. I have mine set to automatically backup to the cloud every night while I'm sleeping. This one also happens to send any new contact info to the cloud immediately, so the contact is available on my desktop computer and tablet instantly. But I realize we all do what works for ourselves...:)

@Jonathan Twombly Interesting!

Our CPA had advised creating a new LLC once the original reaches a certain amount of equity, but your approach is nicely structured and sustainable. Just knowing things can be done that way gives me ideas...thanks again!

Thasnks @Jonathan Twombly and @Dan Schwartz! Useful information that gives me something to work with when we talk to our lawyer/CPA. 

We're starting out around San Jose, so keeping cash low is an interesting challenge given the amounts involved...

Hello!

First post on BiggerPockets, as a huge fan of the podcast. Oddly, I'm a bit proud to have a naive question to start with.

My business partner and I are in the process of creating an LLC, and I realized I have some questions about how money flow works.

I'm planning to make an initial investment in the LLC that will give us the funds required to make our initial buys. But given that LLC profit flows through to the members, I'm not sure how it works to re-invest in the LLC.

The real estate attorney who is setting up our articles of organization said that we should keep the cash in the LLC low, and that we should be "continually dispersing" any profits that came in.

Okay, but we want to be building up the cash available so we can make larger buys over time. Our general plan is to start with flips to build up cash, then transition to buy and holds over time to get passive income.

So how does all this work? Do we "disperse the profits" then re-invest to make a particular buy? Is a re-investment like that considered a loan to the LLC or what?

Any insights much appreciated!

 -- Ron