All Forum Posts by: Steve Mandelbaum

Zoning in both municipalities is quite restrictive.  They are both old communities and have many non-conforming structures.  They will shut you down quickly if even try. 

We are all going to be paying more taxes going forward, regardless of who is in the white house.  WE have an oversized debt and it isn't going away.  They can call it anything they want i.e. "a fuel surcharge", not a tax, but you will be paying more to Washington.  

Bonus depreciation is a great friend and I hate to see it go, but it does not serve any more meaningful purpose, than MARS depreciation.

1031 is safe, it has been around for a long time and it is not unique to real estate.  It does serve a purpose in allowing business to upgrade and change without a tax consequence.  If it is more cost-effective to reinvest the money than put it in my pocket, I am more likely to reinvest.

RE pro is safe as well.  The definition may become more narrow, but it will live on.  If I buy and sell a commodity, why can't I take a loss against erarings?

Mixed-use a great asset class.  Offers great diversification in one property.  I would go to local banks and credit unions for financing.  You will need to find a bank that will hold the loan in their portfolio and sell it off.   

The problem is you are subject to robocall laws, national do not call, etc.  Some states including Florida have really started to crack down on the SMS bulk mailers.  

With that said, I am sure it is as effective as any marketing channel and really cheap to use.

HELOC's Rock.

If you qualify for more I would take it. It allows a great deal of creativity in financing. It would avoid the need for any type of hard money. You could buy, reno, and flip or refi to long term financing (BRRRR).

I do not recommend tieing it up as a long term hold.  Long term money on stabilized houses is cheaper than short term money on value add property.

I would not beat yourself up too much over it.

PM or not it happens and it is part of the game.

I had a 75-year-old man receiving social security and a pension from a bread company act as a straw man. I don't think he needed the money. His nephew was a dealer and running his BID-NESS of out one of my places. Actually, it was really smart on his part.

The strategy to get them out goes like this.

1. Call the local police and ask if they will let you hire an off-duty cop with a cruiser.

2. Pay them to sit in front of the house on a Saturday night between 12-2.

3. Do it a few other random times over the next week or two.

4. Call the tenant and sound nervious and ot of breath. Tell them the cops keep calling me that there are drug sales going on in my rental. I ADAMANTLY TOLD THEM THERE IS NO WAY, JOCELYN IS NOT LIKE THAT. I don't know what's up but they are out to get you.

5. At this point they want to leave or close down their sales.

6. Give them their security deposit back and move on.

The straw man moved out when I told him if they charge him with a crime while on Social Security, he would lose his benefits.


GOOD LUCK!

I tried using their service was unhappy with it.  There were 2 properties that I tried to list.  The first one I gave up trying, they had a valuation that did not make sense.  Their process is slow and laborious.  I understand their attempt to provide due diligence but is just slowed down the process.  When started with them, they had over 450 properties for sale.  By the time I pulled my listing, it was around 300.  As of today, they are under 300.  

I would just watch your city every day and see how properties are selling.

On a like for like comparison, SFH is far superior. What SFH lacks is the ability to scale quickly. It would be difficult to buy 100 sfh at one time. At this moment, the multifamily asset class is hot, prices are being bid faster than sfh. As it offers scale it also binds you to the property. They are not easily sold, there are very few buyers in the market. The multi-family market has significant gaps. Some properties are to large for individual investors and not big enough for institutional money creating a thin market. SFH is appealing to both investors and homeowners.

The tenants and rents are superior all things being equal. People would rather have their own space and not have neighbors on all sides. Tenants who move into SFH generally stay longer and have fewer turns.

Multi-family also suffers from common use costs, trash, lighting, security cameras, landscape.

To automatically discount SFH as simply a stepping stone is short-sided. Given my choice, I would own 100 sfh than a single property with 100 units.

Always on the lookout for alternative materials.  Regrettably, wood and related products are the only game in town.  I have been seeing HUGE increases in prices.  I do not have a good strategy for handling it.  I have one framed and 2 on deck to be built.  Not sure what I am going to do.