All Forum Posts by: Tom Camarda

Hello All,

I'm looking for recommendations of contractors in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Someone who can handle kitchen remodels, floors and wall removal for starters..

Thanks for the replies!

-Tom

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. That certainly answers the question!

This seems like a basic question but one I had to ask: When applying for a real estate agent license, do you have to be state specific? Say I take a class and pass here in California, can I then search the MLS in other states or only CA?

Thanks!

Tom

For those of you that fix and flip and turn tidy profits from each sale - how do you deal with taxes? Are you using 1031's for each sale? If not, don't you get killed on taxes? I sold one of my buy and hold properties because I (thought I might) need the money and just got nailed by Uncle Sam... Now that I'm writing this, I realize that having an LLC would probably help but I already have a corp for my "day job - film production" and the thought of having two corps is more headache than I can convince my wife or myself to deal with. But maybe we should if we are going to continue to invest... sigh...

Thanks Mary Jane!

Thanks @Mark S.! I will look 'em up!

This is a great discussion and very interesting to me in particular as I am awaiting my HELOC to be finalized. I should have about 150K of equity to work with and am trying to find the best way to utilize it. Question @Greg Morical, rather than completely refinancing your cash purchase after 6 months would you consider another HELOC on the new property instead? Thereby incurring less closing costs and gaining the ability to lock in a rate? A HELOC is a good as cash, no?

@Curtis Bidwell I would be very interested in hearing how you used your HELOC to help with your other purchases as well.

Best,

Tom Camarda 

For duplex and single family homes. Any recommends would be greatly appreciated.

-Tom

Just wanted to share a little victory that I owe to BP and specifically to the info gleaned from Podcast (#7) with Ryan Lundquist on appraisals: 

We are currently applying for a HELOC on our home here in Los Angeles. I know that the house and neighborhood is unique so I requested a WALK THROUGH appraisal, not a drive by or even a 'desktop' appraisal from the bank. (We live in the hills and the property requires that you get out of your car to properly view it). When our appraiser DID call to schedule, I politely asked where he was coming from. His reply sent alarm bells. He was coming from over an hour away in Orange County! I knew this was bad news and even contacted Ryan about it. He expressed concern. I called the bank back and explained why I would like to have someone familiar with the area appraise the house. They hemmed and hawed but ultimately gave in.

2 weeks later we had someone from the area come to appraise it. The result - 100K OVER the banks desktop appraisal.

YES!

It was an extra 3 weeks of waiting but man, was it worth it. 

Now, time to invest :)

Cheers,

Tom C

Thanks for the warm welcome and advice everybody. I have never been to an RE meetup so am looking forward to the 28th! The podcasts really are amazing. I love that there is no sales pitch on BP. Please keep it this way! 

Shane, what are you working on these days? I have been shooting the last three seasons of a network show and am ready for a break. RE is perfect for hiatus! 

All the best! 

Tom