All Forum Posts by: Ron Nawrocki

In all seriousness we need a strong housing provider lobby. Ron?... Steve?...

I totally agree. I won't take credit for the "housing provider" term, Alan Langston who heads up AZREIA (the REIA in AZ) and ARPOLA wrote a great article on the negative perception of real estate investors ... and said that we should start thinking of ourselves as housing providers. And perception is reality. That was the motivation behind my article on "Those Damn Investors are at it Again"

I still slip occasionally, but try to use "housing provider" rather than investor in most of my talks, articles, and networking.

After all, LLs are 'big fat rich' targets who cannot easily walk away, and who generate zero sympathy from the voting class.

NC Mark,

You're right about this perception ... if you Google "those damn investors" you'll find an article about the TACT Program that was written to deflect that opinion as more gets written about this solution to the housing crisis.

That's one of the reasons we are trying to use the term "housing provider" rather than investor or landlord. Even the media has a hard time saying "housing providers" are bad ... people need housing

Interesting. I lived in Philly area for 11 years and never knew that. Surprising that the Philadelphia lawyers did NOT get that shot down.

AZ very recently passed a House Bill clarifying that a person who is not party to an agreement cannot be liable for the payments under that agreement (i.e. tenant's agreement to use and pay for city utilities). Pretty standard legal principle.

So the Glendale city manager & his lawyers got the brainy idea to circumvent this by not allowing tenants to turn on utilities. Notice they can turn off utilities for non-payment. Under Landlord-Tenant Act we cannot turn them off, nor can we lock them out.

I plan to protest and put all our properties up for sale, and as a tax payer (for now) show up at city council meetings to suggest the city manager get fired for his actions. We were successful in another nearby city for implementing other dumb policies.

If you become a member of ARPOLA (American Rental Property Owners & Landlord's Association) you'll have BIG discounts at Lowes.

This deal was just announced ... so you have some inside scoop!

And ARPOLA dues have been decreased 80% to less than $50 ... per year!

Most Title Co's will also refuse ... that's why we got into the transactional funding business so investors could use our funds to do back-to-back closings.

The city of Glendale, Arizona is implementing a policy that forces landlords to turn on water, sewer and trash collection services for tenants. This raises the risk of owning property in that city ... which will likely lower values further when investors stop buying there.

Are you aware of any other cities doing this?

I'm not convinced size or decentralization is an issue. The bank executives are like sheep and follow the sheep dog (HUD, FHA, etc) or they just follow the herd. So whether the herd is 10,000 (today) or 1,000 or 100,000 ... the situation will not likely be better or worse.

The key is a few true leaders to innovate or implement innovation quicker and better than the herd. Three years ago the leaders started doing short sales rather than spending more to foreclose. Today the leaders will be among the first to implement the TACT Program - and convert their toxic assets into performing assets.

A number of articles have been written on the topic. One of the most important if the herd does not want to drift into a double dip: http://tiny.cc/ov9zs

It's always darkest before the dawn ... so buy when the news is bad, sell when everyone is buying !

There is some evidence hiring will increase as illegals exit to neighboring states or countries.

Since June, after the buyer tax credits, the number of listings has risen, pendings have dropped, and sales have slowed. Prices are not yet slipping, but they will be next to be impacted.

The Cromford Report has done a very credible analysis of the impacts of the immigration law, and there is solid evidence of an exodus of immigrants, we can only assume most are illegal, but many are likely legal but relatives and friends are impacted.

The bigger problem is still the banks. They are still not lending (due to their weak balance sheets) and continue to dump properties at far below any rational market price. Weiss ranking has 27 of 44 AZ banks at D+ or lower rating. Both with an F rating already taken over.

Once the banks agree to implement the TACT Program on the pilot program we started in AZ, I would expect the sales to jump, and prices to increase very quickly. We still believe that is needed to avoid the situation from getting far worse.

I work with both Equity Trust & Entrust. Entrust has somewhat independent local offices. This is convenient, although you can't generalize about the quality of service since it will depend on which office you deal with. Equity Trust is centralized so quality is more consistent, but unless you're in Ohio you can't easily stop by and meet with them or attend regular seminars.

With the complexity of IRS rules, I'm a bit skeptical about setting up a self directed 401k. You'd probably incur a lot of legal and tax advisory fees to check on what can & can't be done within a plan. I know most of the rules, but would have made mistakes if I couldn't check and get advice. The SD-IRA providers know those rules pretty well and help you through the maze as part of the normal fees.

Happy tax-free (Roth) or tax-deferred (Traditional) investing!