All Forum Posts by: Spencer Hogan

@Stephanie Althouse

Depends if you desire to be a real estate broker and represent Buyers/Sellers to make commissions. It sounds like your preference is to be an investor though.

If you’re trying to save on the purchase price by representing yourself, my advice would be to simply not obtain a Buyer’s broker. The Seller’s broker will be more motivated to award you the deal (sometimes not at the highest offer price) because the Seller’s broker will make more commission without an outside broker involved. I wish it didn’t work this way but it happens.

I own properties in PA if that is where you are looking to invest. Happy to connect and share ideas if you would like.

Best luck!

@Crystalinda Gonzales

Depends on your Purchase and Sale Agreement but typically this would be a breach in contract by the Seller and you could sue for damages and costs incurred.

Your situation happened to me recently. I had my attorney call the Seller and simply explain that we are prepared to enforce the contract. The Seller backed off and we moved forward.

Good luck!

@David Rosen

It depends on how much trust you have in the new PM. You want a PM that has the ability to manage costs effectively.

Always ask for references before testing a new PM.

Perhaps negotiate the ability to cancel the PM agreement with 30 days notice if it isn’t working out.

Also, ask the PM how much their maintenance tech charges per hour. This will help you compare costs as well as give you a sense of how much they charge for general repairs and maintenance.

Good luck!

@Oleg Brown CreXi and Ten-x are good resources for larger properties. Zillow is okay for small properties (i.e. duplex to quadplex).

@Cecile Poyet I too feel your pain living in SF although rent growth and real estate prices have softened this year. We are certainly in the 4th quarter of the market cycle however that shouldn’t prevent you from investing in real estate as there are good deals out there and interest rates are still relatively low. I do anticipate a slowdown towards the end of this year / next year but nothing similar to the last recession unless something major and unexpected happens.

There is a tremendous amount of capital on the sidelines. Real estate funds are raising massive amounts of capital waiting for any sign of a slowdown to deploy. These investors will jump in and prevent a more severe market correction.

@Jesse Smith The OZ program has various requirements necessary to qualify for the beneficial capital gains tax treatments. One of the requirements is that you need to rollover your capital gain into a qualified opportunity zone fund which in turn owns the opportunity zone property. You have 180 days following the sale of your stock to make the investment into the qualified opportunity zone fund. Another requirement is that you need to "substantially improve" the property by doubling your basis (excluding the basis of the land) through capital improvements within 30 months. For example, if your basis in the improvements was $10,000 at the time of purchase, you would need to invest another $10,000 towards capital improvements over 30 months to qualify. Unfortunately, you cannot simply invest your capital gains in property that is located in an opportunity zone and receive the capital gains tax benefits. 

@Jason Krawitz Sorry to hear that you lost your job. At least it was somewhat expected and it sounds like you have a decent financial footing.

My advice would also be to set aside savings for expenses for a year or two. Don’t “bet the farm” on your first deals as there is always risk of loss with real estate investing. Put some short-term and long-term goals in place.

Also consider where we are in the market cycle. I don’t anticipate another major recession anytime soon but interest rates are likely going up which does have an impact on values.

Partner with an experienced full-time real estate investor when starting out. Not only do you get to learn from their experiences, but you limit your economic risk by having a co-investing partner.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

@David W.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

@Bishan C. Agreed with @Account Closed. Blind-pool funds are less transparent compared to an equity interest in a real estate property. You cannot underwrite the real estate at the property-level with a blind-pool fund. 

CrowdDD is a resource to vet sponsors.

@Alan Feldman To clarify, you have 180 days to roll over your capital gain into an OZ Fund. You need to hold your investment in the OZ Fund for at least ten years to potentially receive all the tax benefits. Novogradac is a good resource to learn more.

The potential tax advantages are exciting but I advise you to do due diligence on OZ Funds that you are considering (i.e. compare fees, sponsor experience / track record, identified assets, real estate projects, etc.). Some OZ Funds seem to be selling investors on the tax hype, charging high fees, and not thinking much about the actual real estate investments.