All Forum Posts by: Tilmon Smith

Hello Everyone,

My wife and I are about 1-2 weeks away from completing the renovations for our first flip in Clinton, MD.  My wife and I have been going back and forth about staging and have decided to do it based upon what we have been reading.  Does anyone know of a good staging company that services Clinton, MD?

@Paul Timmins

Thanks Paul.  I see many posts with people talking about meet ups but didn't know where to go to find out where they are.  I will certainly start attending them.

@Carlann Mckenna

Hello Carlann, our property is in Clinton, MD.  Time will tell whether we can sell it but I certainly hope so.  Worst case, we will probably refinance and rent it out.

Hello Everyone,

My wife and I purchased our first rental property about 15 years ago and were landlords of 3 rentals but we were real passive, we managed the properties ourselves and did not really treat it like the business it could be.  We have since sold the 3 properties when the tenants became bothersome.  After a couple of years, we are rethinking our real estate strategy and are now determined to try it again.  This time we will treat it like a real business and grow wealth for our family. 

I've been lurking on Bigger Pockets for several months now and it has really helped me develop a much better strategy for going forward.  We just purchased our first flip last month and are in the process of rehabbing it.  We plan to use a strategy of flipping for cash and buy and hold for long term investments and look forward to networking with like minded individuals.

Tilmon

Thanks for all of your responses. I have decided to go with a Self Directed IRA. I preferred the Solo 401k however because my wife and I own a franchise with some full time employees, I cannot do a Solo 401k and it seems as if traditional 401k plans cannot invest in real estate.

@John, my intention is to not hold the property in my Self Directed IRA but use it to either flip properties or as a hard money lender. We will keep rental properties in an LLC.

Thanks,

Tilmon

Hello Everyone,

I recently joined the site and saw a lot of great discussion regarding cashing out a 401k plan versus a self directed IRA and a solo 401k plan to purchase properties. I prefer the solo 401k because of the ability to take a loan against it and the higher contribution limits. Unfortunately, I don't qualify because my wife and I own another business that has full time employees. Does anyone know if regular 401k plans can be used to purchase real estate? I would not mind setting it up for the entire company. The companies that I called for the solo 401k plans only handle solo 401k plans and not regular. When I tried companies that handle regular 401k plans, they said that they don't invest in real estate.

Worse case, I'll open a self directed IRA.

Thanks,

Tilmon