All Forum Posts by: Ed Tamayo

 I would think that it is possible to do what you want but you may have to do some more steps than you think:

First, you need to do some research and find out ALL the people that can make a claim on the property. (all heirs).  You may need to hire an expert genealogist to do this. 

Second, you go and buy them their inheritance rights and obtain a power of attorney from each of them to do the probate on their behalf.  (I would suggest, you don't pay any money out unless you have secured all heirs participation) 

Third - You open a probate with the express purpose of dealing with the property 

Fourth, You do a Quiet Title Action 

I would suggest you take this plan to a lawyer that does Quiet Title Actions and ask them for their help. 

I have been doing tax sales for over eight years and, yes, I have bought land on 10 cents on the dollar but there is no way that those times will be back. The number of people on the auctions has multiplied and there is much more competition nowadays. 

Hi, 

Is anybody going to the Fulton County GA November 1st , 2022 Tax sale?   

I would love to talk to you today October 31st, 2022

Please contact me directly. 

 I disagree with this blanket statement.   As a matter of fact, SDIRA should  only be used in passive investments (and rentals are considered passive for the IRS) to avoid UBIT.   But even if the investment is passive, if the investment borrows money , you will be subject to taxes as well.   

While there are limitation on how to use the money, a SDIRA is a great vehicle to combine the compound returns, tax preferred IRA with the solid investment that is real Estate.

House needs some repair.  

Unique renovation opportunity. This solid house will have a 200K+ ARV. Could be partially fixed for renting but the market would support a full rehab.

Its 3 Bedroom 2 baths. Has a large kitchen, and storage area. 1270 SQFT in 0.47 acres

Includes a nice back deck

Hardwood floors in the family room and two of the bedrooms.

Brick Exterior. Bonus storage building.

This house is sold as-is, is a fixer-upper, and can be rented with some repairs.

Minutes away from downtown Rome and entertainment.

Electricity, water, sewer, and cable.

$109,000 

23 Martin Rd, Rome GA 30165

If you have some experience with buying and selling, for me, the best way to go is with a Flat fee agent that will put the house in the MLS and give it the exposure that any agent will give.

Discount agents come with different levels of service and you can  figure out what level you need. One thing you might consider paying for is a a broker opinion of value to set your price.  Even a house that can sell itself needs to have the right price.  The broker price opinion is based in comps so is not rocket science either. 

You still have to pay a commission to the buyer's agent. Normally 3% and you can do 2.5% but a few buyer's agents will not be as wiling to show your house. 

Here,  in Georgia, all agents use a standard contract so I don't need to run the offer by a lawyer. Also when I get a buyer that does not have a lawyer, I can use the forms from my discount broker.  (and don't pay commission) 

You will do some work but you can make 2.5% of the value of your house (tax free!).  

 Thanks for asking for my opinion on this.  Hacking is a real problem for crypto and will continue to be for more time.  I suppose that, eventually, there will be technical and governmental protections but, in the meantime, IF you have crypto you should keep it in "cold storage" and just keep some some change or expending money on the online exchanges.  I used to think that the best way to do Cold storage was to have a computer that is non-connected to the internet to hold the wallet but now hardware devices are in a second generation and for $100-$200 are a reliable way to store your crypto.

That's me in a Bit coin farm.  I include it here as a curiosity and to let you know that I have actually spent time looking into it. (I also have a master in computer Science, if that helps). 

I think that Crypto currencies are here to stay but I don't see them as a good investment, and they are not, currently, a real currency either, because their value changes too much, too frequently. They can be used as a hedge for your investments and any allocation shouldn't be more than 2% to 5% of your net worth. 

Having said that, I don't intend to engage in crypto currency discussions in general but only in what regards the original posting:  Using crypto as collateral for buying real estate. 

I visited the website of this company that offers the loan and their offer is pretty straightforward: You put bitcoin for a value of X dollars and they lend you that very same amount at around 4% rate.  

The way it works, I presume, its like borrowing money on margin from your broker.  In the margin loan, you can get a % of the value of your deposits and you can use it to buy more stocks or to do whatever.  The BIG issue is that you must maintain collateral, if the stock value takes a dive, you must pony out the missing collateral in a matter of days or your stock will be sold, at whatever low price it might be, to satisfy the minimum collateral required. 

In the case of this Crypto loan, I assume its a similar situation, you must put more crypto as collateral if it drops in price.    Since crypto prices vary wildly, you must have a good reserve of crypto or cash to provide the collateral.  Imagine you buy a $500,000 house and put $500,000 worth of bitcoin as deposit but the bitcoin value drops to 50%, (as has happened before,) now you have to come up with $250,000 right away.   Would that work for you?

A loan of this kind would be good for a an investor only if they truly believe that the crypto will increase in value for more than 4% a year for a number of years to come and you must have 2 to 3 times the value of the property in bitcoin to buy a property.  I think that takes a lot of faith in crypto but this lender will have some takers for their offer.

I have doing tax sales for over 8 years and I will never ever buy at a tax sale without doing a Title Search. Debts and liens are not an issue unless they are federal liens as they don't go away.  The major issue that you must uncover are easements.  I actually bought a piece of land that had the entirety of the property as easement in favor of a Billboard company that had a sign on the lot, making it worthless to me. I did not pay subsequent taxes and it was sold on the next tax sale to another unsuspecting tax  deed buyer that bought it for far more than I paid for it.

I was also close to buying another piece of property and i was willing to pay  over $250,000 but I found out that it was given as an easement to a conservation society.  That would have been a monumental loss.  

Municipalities will sale everything even if they know the properties are worthless for most people. 

Solar panels were pitched to me exactly one year ago. i did look into it but there was no way it was going to make sense from the money point of view. As for the 4%, i would say that adding solar panels to your house  today, and for years to come, would actually take value from your house as opposed to add value. Prospective buyers would see it as a liability as opposed to value ad.  One day this will be change but not at current prices.