All Forum Posts by: Ryan Halford

I'm in Tampa and looking to team up for 16-100 unit apartment buildings... also interested in Luxury STR (i.e. high end beach properties).

Check out Wyze. They are the most affordable as far as I know. Not the best for big commercial buildings where you might want tamperproof hardwired cctv, but for a duplex house hack these guys are cheap, flexible, portable, and wireless (some need power but some are even battery powered). I have dozens of their cams at properties and the doorbell on my house.

The easiest thing to do is to come up with a reason to NOT do something and somebody will ALWAYS have something negative to say. I'm not saying ignore all critical advice, but if naysayers ran the world nothing would ever get done.

 Keep in mind, while your contractor should have a business license, a business license is not a contractor's license. I cannot speak to St. Louis but many localities do not offer a GC license but may have individual trades licensed. I know for example in Illinois that you can be "licensed/insured/bonded" as a GC and not have any kind of training or certification whatsoever. For me, the most important thing is that they have workman's comp and general liability insurance so you don't end up being liable for them if they are injured or if they burn down your property. 

Do research on "Subject To". I'm not an expert on the subject, nor have I bought or sold a property "subject to". However, the idea is basically that you give the homeowners some type of down payment and/or some other form of value in return for holding the mortgage in their name while taking possession of title and making the mortgage payments. The potential risk is that the lender of the mortgage usually has a Due on Sale Clause, whereby if the property is sold (or title transferred) they can call the loan due for payment. Something interesting I've learned recently on a BP podcast is that you can obtain Subject to Insurance. My understanding is that if the lender enacts the due on sale clause the insurance provider would then pay-off the mortgage and replace the loan through their own capital at the same rate. This could be useful if you have a seller who is resistant because of a Due on Sale Clause. In a nutshell, you basically make their mortgage payments. This would, of course, all need to be in some form of contract. This is not legal or tax advice, but information as to guide you to what to look up or ask your attorney about.

Another reason for being consistent with your rules: It can lead to discrimination claims down the line if you decide to reject another applicant because of a lower credit score when you allowed it for this tenant. If you want to allow a lower credit score if they do pay rent up front then make that a written rule and follow it for everyone.

@Lance Lvovsky I've searched and read most mentions of a CPA in Tampa on BP. Nothing I saw represented any real reviews or feedback on their abilities. 

@Cody Zucker and Lance, Thank you both for the replies. I am interviewing a few local Tax pros and if I don't like what I find I will get back in touch.

Did you find a good CPA that you are willing to share?

@Basit Siddiqi

Thank you for your response. I think the advantage I am trying to capture is being able to deduct the interest expense against rental income. This 3 min explanation is what I am referring to if you have time to listen to it. 

https://morrisinvest.com/podcast/2018/4/18/ep302-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-tax-law-interview-with-tom-wheelwright

Jump to time 29:11 – 32:20

As you say, perhaps this is not an issue for me. I'm still looking for a CPA/tax advisor around Tampa, but I'm about to pull the trigger on a couple deals and don't want to do something that should have been done differently from the start before speaking with someone.

Hello all, 

The following situation is concerning proper accounting and tax code.

My understanding is that I can lend via promissory note to my LLC at a reasonable rate (I plan on applying the 10% rate that is charged by the 401k such that the payment is exactly what I need to repay to the account). In this way the entire payment is an expense to the business. In my understanding, according to Tom Wheelright this also eliminates concerns with the 2018 HELOC tax change.

The 401k funds will be down payment for using a conventional loan. MY QUESTION IS... since the money needs to be in my personal account during funding/closing, how do I show that the money belongs to the business? I plan to transfer the deed to the LLC after but how can I papertrail this correctly?