All Forum Posts by: Ethan West

I need some input on my current situation. 

I got back $570K from the employee retention tax credit which I am allowed to spend however i'd like. There are a few ways to qualify and even though I consulted two attorneys and my CPA who all said they would take the credit I am still open to an audit and it would be up to the interpretation of the auditor to decide if I am entitled to all of this under the ambiguous 1/3 ways I qualify. 

I can do a few things with the money:

1.) Pay off $500K in debt which would result in $8,400/month freed up. However, If I do get audited within the 5 year audit statute of limitations I may have to pay a portion back (doubtful but possible). If I go this route I may not have the liquidity to pay back immediately. However, this would result in a return of $504K in 5 yrs.

2.) Invest it in property (I have moderate experience flipping) and then if they audit I will have a property to sell plus the rental income I made. 

3.) Invest it in a fund and earn 5% and don't touch it for 5 years.

4.) Invest in my primary income business and could potentially double growth next year (I have a track record of doubling my business each year over the last decade besides 2020 and 2021. This year has been more than 100% increase in revenue) which could be the best return.

I am 37 and am not sure when to start taking a more moderate approach with my risk tolerance. 

Quote from @Ethan West:

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Ethan West:

Just moved into a brand new really nice place. It’s been 45days now. I’m paying $5,000 a month here in Bend, Oregon. 

The unit was supposed to have an over when I moved in but it is backordered according to the property manager. He keeps telling me “next week” and last week when I asked he was super rude and short. 

Also, the entire back of the house is a glass door facing the golf course. They are providing no blinds. What’s the law on this? I just got a quote for basic blinds for $3k and when I asked the landlord if the owners would cover he immediately said no. 

appliances are back ordered blinds usually landlord provides. 

yeah but it’s been 45 days since moving in and I have no oven or way to cook. I have been spending $100+ a day eating out. 

Is it a law that they have to provide blinds? 100+ people walk past our living room glass wall everyday and if I’m out there they ALL look in

Thanks for the reply. Yeah it’s super frustrating to get a response from him where Im treated as if I’m a nuisance for some basic living mean like an oven. I have a few rentals here myself and this seems not right to me. 

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Ethan West:

Just moved into a brand new really nice place. It’s been 45days now. I’m paying $5,000 a month here in Bend, Oregon. 

The unit was supposed to have an over when I moved in but it is backordered according to the property manager. He keeps telling me “next week” and last week when I asked he was super rude and short. 

Also, the entire back of the house is a glass door facing the golf course. They are providing no blinds. What’s the law on this? I just got a quote for basic blinds for $3k and when I asked the landlord if the owners would cover he immediately said no. 

appliances are back ordered blinds usually landlord provides. 

yeah but it’s been 45 days since moving in and I have no oven or way to cook. I have been spending $100+ a day eating out. 

Is it a law that they have to provide blinds? 100+ people walk past our living room glass wall everyday and if I’m out there they ALL look in

Just moved into a brand new really nice place. It’s been 45days now. I’m paying $5,000 a month here in Bend, Oregon. 

The unit was supposed to have an over when I moved in but it is backordered according to the property manager. He keeps telling me “next week” and last week when I asked he was super rude and short. 

Also, the entire back of the house is a glass door facing the golf course. They are providing no blinds. What’s the law on this? I just got a quote for basic blinds for $3k and when I asked the landlord if the owners would cover he immediately said no. 

I bought a piece of land July 2020 for $367K and with the $200K of improvements I've made is now listed on MLS for $1m. I own a seasonal business here and due to lack of employees I don't have enough cash to cashflow my business through the winter (or its going to be extremely tight). I need help getting cash out of my property if I am unable to sell in the next two months as my "off season" starts in December weather permitting.

So far we have had lots of interest in the property and have shown it to 6 parties. However, It's farm use and building a house is a process so these people are either still doing due diligence or are not interested. 

The issue with financing is I have a tax lien due to my taxes being filed improperly. I have sent in an amended return 9 months ago but they still have not been processed. I also switched banks recently and two out of 40 or so loans showed 30 days late last month (due to us not setting up auto pays) dropping my credit by 70 points. Besides the two lates and tax lien I have perfect payment history over the last 10 years. Also, my income is strong and I have enough for a down. 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated as I am new to the Realestate game. Maybe I need to lower the price of my listing to offset the downside to the process of building for a buyer? Are there "bad credit" lenders that I could work with and then refinance when I get stuff cleaned up in 6 months or so? Or?

Wow very thoughtful and helpful responses. Thank you! 

I run a decent sized landscaping business and moved it to five acres in the back of the property last July so we are growing trees and by doing so are technically using it as farm use to get the property tax deferral. Ideally it’d be nice to sell and get a five year lease from the new owner. Not sure if that would be a long shot or something that’s attractive as it would help them with holding costs while building. I think this would be my ideal option. 

Long range zoning sounds like it may be in our favor. The property is not farmable as it’s mostly lava rock according to soils reports. The commercial venues expanding towards us and then an adjacent city (Redmond) moving this way. 

From what I understand it’s only subdividable into two parcels if you have 50ft of public road for each parcel and 23.5acres (ish) of irrigation. Something like that so no it’s not and it would be a complete pain from what my land use attorney was saying. 

I noticed one of the brokers going from excited to work with me and sell my property to VERY interested in having her friend spec home builder come look at my property immediately. When i mentioned ive built/flipped several homes in west LA area she made some comments to dissuade me from personally building. So I thought I picked up that there would be a tremendous upside from building. She also mentioned she has $2m-$4m buyers (funny you mention those figures) looking but no properties are in the Bend school districts. Mine is..

I guess I’d be down to sell and move on if I could find other deals and keep rolling this money over. Seems like deals are very difficult to find these days? 

I bought a 40 acre farm property 3 minutes from town last July for $367k. I have put $275k into improvements. 

I’ve had several brokers out last week and all of them have given me comp reports in the $1.2m to $1.3m range. 

There is a Costco, Fred Meyer, other stores being built down the street this next year. A hwy frontage road is also being discussed. There is really no property especially this size around. 

I’m confused if I should sell and double my money. Or if I should hold and slowly keep improving I.e. build a house. I feel like it’s sell now or plan on holding for 7-10 years?

Would love to hear an update from you guys on what your thoughts are on Bend and surrounding areas at the moment...

I just bought 40 Acres for one of my excavation businesses last month. With a conditional use permit my business is allowed on the property. The property is (3) minutes from Bend, Oregon which is a hot market at the moment. The property didn't have a road or easement to access the property and I bought it for $350K. The neighbor to my south has 20 Acres and bought his with access to highway for the same price. That same neighbor just granted me an easement if I improve the road which we just finished improving so I lucked out there.

I'm currently building a 100' x40' shop on the property. Septic was approved and is going in, Well is being shared with neighbor, Power is in next week. All in costs are around $750K. When Im done building and my business is moved over to this property we will be saving over $3K a month in leases on other commercial properties we rent to support this business so if nothing further comes out of this property Its a home-run.

My questions are

1.) How do I ensure I do not overbuild? Comp. properties with a 3,000 sqft houses and similar size shops but with 20 acres or less are $1.4m-$1.5m+ I was thinking I could build a nice 3,000 sqft home next year for around $450k with the employees I have to offset the costs of the things we can do in house. Can we get an appraiser to consult? Or would finding a broker be a better bet?

2.) If Im $350K in on raw land costs and another $300K in on a shop/utilities does that mean an appraisal would come in around $750K?

3.) Are their any known EFU/Farm lenders doing 80% Loans?

 Bend is super hot. Nothing seems to pencil out here and everyone is moving towards Redmond and Redmond seems to have stopped penciling out unless you build.