All Forum Posts by: Shawn Couch

I love BiggerPockets for how it makes networking so easy.  Sent you an email about a potential deal in your neck of the woods, or prarie as it is in this case.

Send me a PM and let me know what you are looking for. I would be more than happy to help you out.

@Jeff B. can you work that into the site one of these days.  I see bad spelling all of the time in people's posts.

Thanks for the feedback all.  I'm going to use counsel again, it just seems like a lot to pay for what I understand are 2 letters and a court appearance.  Any referrals and BP discounts would be greatly appreciated.  An accociate and myself plan to purchase 20+ certificates if the prices are right.

Hello fellow tax lien BP'ers.

I bought a few certificates last year at a sale in indiana.  These were lower end properties that has all basically been abandoned, but most were in decent condition.  Well, one was a partial burnout in a bad part of town, and one turned out to be a vacant lot, but the prices were super low and the net result has been that I have two multi-unit buildings that I got for a song, all things considered.  The niggest buzz kill is the long redemption period so a carry factor has to be included as well.  The resale market for these in an as-is basis is far from a deep pocket group, so keeping the remainder of the purchase costs down is a big plus.  

So I'm here to see if I can find an attorney, or paralegal that can work on these deals, or show me what to do, in order to keep the costs down.  I spent more money on attorney's fees than on the certificates at the last sale.  I also am curious how many folks run title, and/or go through the quiet title process after getting the tax deed.  That's another big expense, but a lot of people have a hard time taking title with just a quit claim deed.

Any and all input welcome, round 2 is only a few weeks out and although I don't feel like I made mistake in round 1, I'm still not feeling like an expert by any means.

Looking for an attorney or paralegal to handle notifications regarding the purchase of tax lien certificates, specifically at the Commissioner's sale (this time).  These are tax lien certificate purchases in Indiana.  Please send referrals or PM me if you are a qualified candidate for this task.

I have a 4 plex in East Chicago that I'm willing to let go for $20K.  Solid Bones, but needs some work on the interior.  

Any interest, send me a PM.

Welcome @Nicholas Smith, BP is an awesome place to learn and even to ask questions.  you are always bound to get several perspectives when you ask a good question about a situation or a property.  Like most topics in life real estate topics can always be looked at and analyzed in many ways.  I recently purchased a couple of properties in your home town, and I own a few rentals in your current town.  In regards to EC, I would love to pick your brain about the Redevelopment Department.  One of my new properties is on Main Street and I'm mulling over a rehab, versus trying to see if the City might be interested in it, since they own some adjacent parcels.  Maybe we can chat some evening, or meet up the next time I come to town (I'm one of those out of area investors in search of quality and cash flow).  Good luck investing.

IMO I would stay away from Equity Trust. There fees are seemingly reasonable from an annual fee standpoint, but you CANNOT get any timely response or paperwork out of them unless you pay for expedited processing. Calling them takes a lot of patience. Online Chat just sits there and repeates a message that you need to wait 2 minutes. This notice can repeat for hours. They don't respond to an email question for 1 or 2 days. Overall, the service is just outright terrible. An SD IRA is a good mechanism, but it really an antiquated system that Equity Trust uses. They make you feel like you are in the stone ages.

I'm switching to a solo 401K, but I can do this because I am truly self employed. There are also "checkbook controlled" IRA set up as well. I would consider the start up costs for this type of account, even though it's less to set up a standard SD IRA. After about 2 or 3 years, you will be saving on the annual fees with checkbook control types of accounts (usually a Trust or LLC).

Final note on Equity Trust. I just got off the phone as I wanted to ask about expediting closing my account and they say they do not offer that as an expedited service. Quote turn around is 4 business WEEKS to close my account. This will likely mean that they will charge me another annual fee on Jan 1, 2016 and may screw up my taxes as well.

If anyone has had terrible service from Equity Trust, please contact me to talk about retribution from them. They are clearly not looking out for their (former) client's best interest and are using our money in some other manner.

Good luck investing.

IMO I would stay away from Equity Trust. There fees are seemingly reasonable from an annual fee standpoint, but you CANNOT get any timely response or paperwork out of them unless you pay for expedited processing. Calling them takes a lot of patience. Online Chat just sits there and repeates a message that you need to wait 2 minutes. This notice can repeat for hours. They don't respond to an email question for 1 or 2 days. Overall, the service is just outright terrible. An SD IRA is a good mechanism, but it really an antiquated system that Equity Trust uses. They make you feel like you are in the stone ages.

I'm switching to a solo 401K, but I can do this because I am truly self employed. There are also "checkbook controlled" IRA set up as well. I would consider the start up costs for this type of account, even though it's less to set up a standard SD IRA. After about 2 or 3 years, you will be saving on the annual fees with checkbook control types of accounts (usually a Trust or LLC).

Final note on Equity Trust. I just got off the phone as I wanted to ask about expediting closing my account and they say they do not offer that as an expedited service. Quote turn around is 4 business WEEKS to close my account. This will likely mean that they will charge me another annual fee on Jan 1, 2016 and may screw up my taxes as well.

If anyone has had terrible service from Equity Trust, please contact me to talk about retribution from them. They are clearly not looking out for their (former) client's best interest and are using our money in some other manner.

Good luck investing.