All Forum Posts by: Tony Tibbar

There is aways a risk when selling something on contract. The buyer may not pay, doesn't pay taxes, wrecks the place, etc.
Legal action is possible but also takes time and money, that can be spend better elsewhere.

So my question is simple, is there some sort of insurance/service that simply guarantees me that I recieve all my monthly payments?

I'm looking for lists (spreadsheets) with delinquent taxes per county.

I have a hard time finding such lists online. Yeah, I could visit the offices in the counties personally, but I'm looking for an online option.

Is there a state wide database that collects all that info?

I'm looking for amount due, name and address of the owner, parcel address and/or number.

A great bonus would be if I could filter on type of property. Think about things like residental or commercial.

Even a paid service may be a good option for my purpose.

On this forum I found a link to a site/service that compiled a massive amount of nation wide real estate related information. It allows you to filter and buy the info per record. The site is very basic looking, iirc.

Anyone know which site I mean? Or a similar site?

My area is near the borders of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. But mainly looking for lists from Indiana.

@Jay Hinrichs
Yeah 50%. Possibly even less.

But still I wonder what good that will do to the lender.
He owns the house/contract, but a month later the person that lives in the house makes the last payment.
Then the person living in the house is the full legal owner of the house. The contract ended with the last payment.

Very likely I'm missing a crucial point...

@Jay Hinrichs 

When I don't pay my debts the lender will 'foreclose' my contract instead of the house.
Is that what you mean?

If so how would that change the situation? The lender still wants the borrowed money back.
Say the person living in that house has one $500 payement to make and then the house I fully his.
I borrowed $20k on the house. How will the lender benefit from having the contact?
How would it affect the person living in the house?

I've sold a house on contract. It's far from paid of by the buyer. 

Can I borrow against that house?

It's grey area for me who actually owns the house.
Yeah, it's clear I own the house until the last payment is made, but to I have equal ownership compared to my own house I live in myself?

The following scenario makes me think it may be illegal.

The person that bought the house on contract is  a faithful payer. 95% is paid.

Then I loan on that house and can't pay back the loan for whatever reason.

The lender will foreclose the house. That will hurt the person that lives in that house more than it does me, because that person get's kicked out of the house and all his/her payements are gone.

What are the regulations on this?

Is there some sort of nation or statewide database with pre-foreclosures.  (Lis Pendens)

I'm not talkingabout Zillow, MLS or similar but public records.
I know they should listed/filed in the county where the pre-foreclosed house is locted, I just have a hard time finding anything relevant.
So a national/statewide database with that data, or a link to the webpage of the county would help me greatly.
Or is that data simply never avaible online and can only be acccessed by vistiting the county office?

@Michael Plaks
"You can deduct trips between sites but not to and from home."

I'm wondering that's true? (BTW I'm not challanging your knowledge, just asking!)


"sites within your metropolitan area"
Let's assume the border of my metropolitian area is 20 miles from my home.
Let's also assume the job site is 30 miles from my home.
As I read it the whole 30 miles is deductible because the site is not "within".
If I'm correct on that, the main question is to figure out the border of my metropolitan area.


I think your conclusion about the PO box is correct. I'm not saying that based on deep knowledge of taxes but on how I personally would abuse it.
I would use a PO box that's at least a 100 miles away from any job location I may ever have. That way I can pocket a minimum of $116/day, even if I'm flipping my neighbor's house.




Yeah, I'm aware lot's of info found on blogs is wrong. I might be clueless about the topic, I can spot contradictions.
What's your view on this article? https://bradfordtaxinstitute.com/Content/Business-Mileage-Metropolitan-Area.aspx

There are lots of articles explaining the rules for home office deduction.
None of the apply to my situation because:
a] I have no dedicated area.
b] The desk, computer, etc are also used for personal use.

Those things won't change in the near future.
So, this topic is not about filing for home office deduction because I'm not even considering it.

The reason I want a home office is to deduct mileage.
I live in a small town (12,500). Few yards outside the city limits.
I'm a flipper and want to deduct all my business trips in and out of town.
Or should I say "Metropilitan area".

So I want to know how my house can qualify as 'Home Office' for Mileage deduction without ever filing for the Home Office deduction.
In other words, How do I tell/prove IRS I have a home office?

Thank Michael.
Looks you replied when I was editting my post.
Could you please also look at the last paragraph?


I understand the logging apps work by measing the distance with the phone's GPS.
The sample log you linked also requires logging the ODO meter. Something an app doesn't do.
Some say only the trip distance is required and the ODO meter at the start and end of the year.

I don't understand why the start and end ODO meter is required when a car is used for personal an business use. The mileage simply won't add up because of the unrecorded personal trips.

I DO want to play by the rules, don't get me wrong on that, but I want to keep it simple. Recording the ODO meter will be forgotten once in a while. The trip distance I can (if needed) calculate with Google Maps at the end of the day
I think that (Google Maps) would be honest reporting.
But just guessing ODO meter values is fraud.

Fictive example of a busy day:
1x Home => Store
1x Store => Job site
2x round-trip Job site <=> another store
1x round-trip Job site <=> Realtor
1x round-trip Job site <=> Restaurant
1x Job site => Home


Do I have to report each destination/trip?