All Forum Posts by: Ben H.

@Joshua Lyon, good article. 

For those seeking VA financing, I recommend talking with a mortgage broker as they have access to multiple institutions and not just a single loan office in a single bank or credit union.

Currently a military member and have 2 SFR in a military town and purchasing a third. I would treat them no different, nor have different expectations for military, than you would any other tenant. If anything, I would expect them to be better tenants than average given their life experienced. My worst tenant to date is non-military. Like screening any other class of tenant, older with a family is going to likely be a better tenant. Quick tip- understand the BAH for your area. This is the housing allowance paid to military; it varies based on duty location, rank, and whether they have a family or not. BAH calculator: http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/bah.cfm Regards, Ben

Property insurance or liability insurance? If the former, that is likely a condition of the mortgage/loan (if you have liens out on the properties)...at least that is a stipulation on my mortgages. If the latter, that is an individual's call. 

Regards, Ben

Welcome. Am moving back to the Jacksonville area next month. Have two SFR in Sneads Ferry and working on a deal in Jacksonville. Best of luck. Ben

Wave apps. Free online accounting software. Good basic system that produced an income statement my accountant loved.

What if I buy a $31,000 house?

@Jason Bott, thanks for the suggestion on calling the state commissioner. Did not think to do so. Called today and got a good report. 

Good morning. I'm in the process of shopping insurance for my SFRs. In the past I've always had a big dog company (in this case USAA) underwrite the policy. However I got a competitive quote from a local company...and when I say local I mean a company that does its own underwriting, they are not agents for a big firm. This company has been around for many years so either they are good and are keeping their clients or they are bad and have a lot of new clients. Is there a need to vet this company any further? Please note this is not some spidey-sense that has me worried. I've just never dealt with this company before. Thanks in advance, Ben

After speaking with my accountant, who is also a real estate investor, I decided not to create an LLC for my and my wife's REI activities. He said the corporate veil is too easily pierced in a single member (or dual in the case of my wife) LLC where all the activities are essentially indistinguishable from my personal actions. I'm just going to continue with holding real estate in my name and buy some more liability protection. Now, were I to bring in outside investors, that's another story.

Ben

So a little update on my insurance search...

I have had USAA for many years and for the last several years have paid two separate policies to cover property insurance and wind/hail insurance. I just got a quote from a local company for a combined policy that is probably 40% less than the two separate policies. Have I been paying unnecessary premiums for years? (Rhetorical)