All Forum Posts by: Andy J.

Judging by your questions I think it's best to start off with one of my own, why are you looking to create a land trust?

1. I have no idea what legal zoom creates but I would be willing to bet it's probably not well suited to whatever you're trying to do.

2. If you want it done right then no! There's nothing you would normally do "online" to create a land trust anyhow, unless you're registering for a TIN from the IRS maybe.

3. When making offers on REO's it is best not to try to purchase under a land trust, many REO's will not accept any offer where the buyer is a land trust.

4. Depends on your attorney, whether they're starting from scratch or reading over and improving an existing document. A good estate/financial planning attorney should have a boiler plate document that can be customized to your particular situation. I would estimate (very loosely) that my attorney would take around 4 hours @ $350 hour to customize a pre-existing document of this nature (they are rather long).

Excellent point Steve. And when they do come back, they're going to steal materials, tools, and anything else sitting around they can sell for cash.

You cannot secure a property in which you have no interest (though I doubt anyone would complain if you did).

I would call the police if I were you. Whether or not it's your property you are absolutely encouraged to report illegal activity.

If you're feeling adventurous, stake out the house at night and make a citizen's arrest or call the cops and stick around when they show up. Maybe call the local news and have them show up, REO's, drugs, local investor, police, sounds like 6 o'clock news to me.

If you're rehabbing houses and fighting crime your name's going to get around, some free publicity is always a good thing. Not to mention you may earn some bonus points with the listing agent and light a fire under the bank's butt to get things moving.

I've been full time for about 2 years now, I was never a part timer. Quit my job in New Jersey, moved to Colorado, and 2 months later went full time into RE investing.

Interesting story. Are you just sharing, or did you have any questions about this?

#1. You can attract investors by bringing deals to the table, real deals!

#2. Don't even ask for an earnest money check made out to an out of state LLC. Use a local (in the city of your buyer) title company/attorney to escrow earnest money between the buyer and yourself.

#3. I don't really follow what you're getting at.

If you're doing a full blown rehab and changing out the cabinets then absolutely yes, put a dishwasher in. If you don't, there's a good possibility that many potential buyers won't like the house just because of that, and you'll be unlikely to know the real reason behind why you're not getting offers. The kitchen is where everyone congregates, when an agent is done showing the house they'll stand around in the kitchen and talk about things.

Note - The Kitchen Sneak Attack: because people naturally gather in the kitchen I recommend putting a bowl of candy on the counter. Consumption of sugar releases endorphins into the brain which creates pleasurable feelings. Make people happy when they're in your house!

Depending on whether you'll be using white, black, or stainless appliances and what kind of cabinets, you can actually buy a dishwasher for cheaper than the cabinet that would take its place (especially if you buy it on craigslist).

I bought a hardly used, 1 year old, black dishwasher on craigslist a few months back for $100. I think the 24" cabinets I buy (off the shelf home depot) are easily $50+ more. Considering it's probably a little more for installation in comparison with the cabinet, run a water line, route the drain line, it probably works out to about the same price if you shop around.

Both the replacement and repair costs seem very high to me. How many square is the roof? I have found there are certain contractors that only do replacements and some that only do repairs. The guys that only do repairs are harder to find but they're a good contact to keep handy. An experienced landlord in your area should be able to give you a referral.

Flashing 2 chimneys should be fairly straightforward. What kind of shingles are on the roof, 3-tab, T-locks.....?

Regarding the warranty, I would want it directly from the roofer only if they were licensed as such. Even better if they're registered with the BBB but check references. The last thing you need is $1,200 out of pocket for a worthless repair that you're going to have to do all over again.

I do the same as Marc. However, I have had inspectors find things that I have missed a couple times, and have been able to negotiate a lower price because of the findings. It's worth paying a little for peace of mind.

On a side note, I do not pay for a full inspection. I don't need a 1" binder with pictures and explanations aimed at inexperienced buyers. I meet my inspector at the property and we go through everything but I just bring a notepad and mark down major items.

Here's the sweet part, in exchange for saving him 2 hours of administrative work, taking notes, printing a report, taking pictures, etc.. I get a cheaper price. Instead of paying $300 per property, I pay around $100-150 depending on the size of the house and how long it takes. I save money, he gets to skip the worst part of his job, and I give him plenty of work so it's win-win.

I will gladly pay $100-150 per house to sleep easier at night and have a second set of eyes to verify my findings.