All Forum Posts by: Sean O'Gorman

I had to hire a structural engineer for a property I owned (needed to replace basement posts), total cost was $500 for an inspection, report and design. 

@Benjamin Blackburn, the seller claiming he has another offer seems a little fishy. Definitely do your due diligence, but this might be one to walk away from.

@Michael G., welcome to BP.

@Marty Johnston, @Dawn Anastasi is spot on. Whatever you do leave your wallet/checkbook at home and do not buy anything from them.

@Ted Ifantis, Yes, generally bank/cu is going to require anywhere from 20% to 25% down on an investment property.

@Vinay K., I can't say if an email is an acceptable receipt, my thought would be no, its not acceptable and that's just because if it is what would stop someone from saying in an email the fence repair was $6000 and you paid $3000?  Just my two cents.

However, something about this situation doesn't feel right. Did the neighbor write a check? Does she know the contractor who fixed the fence? Why not call and ask for a copy of the invoice?  You could blame it on your CPA, tell her CPA told you you need a copy of the invoice. This could be nothing but this just doesn't add up. 

@Jorge Garifuna, I ask my tenants to send me a picture of their deposit slip after depositing the money. I have also heard of other adjusting the rent amount of each unit a few dollars to be able to identify which tenant paid and which did not. 

@Marty Johnston, @Brandon Stevens advice is spot on. Personally it took me a while to get my wife on board and all I can say there is numbers, numbers, numbers. I just worked the numbers and tried to get her to understand that we could live in a place and pay an extremely small mortgage or even put money in our pocket every month and live for free.

As for the changing of career goals, my advice find a reputable contracting company and see if they have an apprenticeship opening, realize that you will be doing runt work for $10-15 an hour but you have to start somewhere. 

I personally went the umbrella insurance route to start. My concern with the multiple LLCs whether as regular LLCs or in the Master/Series LLC setup, is the formalities that need to be followed in order to protect all your LLCs (i.e. ensuring no one can pierce the corporate veil). One slip up and the structure fails. That means no commingling funds, accurate record keeping including receipts and expenses for each LLC, and not using funds in any account as a personal piggy bank.

There is a really good podcast #109 with Scott Smith that is well worth a listen.

@Dawn Curry, your concerns are spot on. No one knows what could happen, if anything, but I wouldn't empty everything you have to get this property. Or at the least I would set up a backup plan. Can you take cash out of your current house? Or could you get an LOC, even it is just sits there and you don't use any of it? Would your folks borrow you funds for an emergency account at least until you can build up your reserves.