All Forum Posts by: Chris Martin

Wow! The fastest I've seen personally is a few days, with a reinsurance policy through Metro Title (they were on Glenwood Ave in Raleigh, but I think they moved.) The deal was a long time ago and it was a quick-close, pre-foreclosure, all cash deal. The paralegal was good at interfacing with title and trustee companies. For those properties with HOAs, the HOA was usually the PITA.

@Barre Gambling I am curious... in your opinion, is our area in central NC underserved outside of the Raleigh-Cary-Durham MSAs? Specifically, where are the opportunities and how do you spot them? In rural areas where I am, like northern Johnston County or northern Harnett County, I don't think there are many laundromats relative to the population. What are the metrics for determining site selection? In the self storage market, they have ratios based on population to determine demand. Does the same metric hold true for laundromats?

I largely agree with @Ron S. The 'go-to' place for a trustee state like NC is 1) the county courthouse, and 2) the trustee's web sites. Trustees like Brock and Scott provide details on their open cases and the upset bid status. 10-15 years ago, they had 10X the foreclosure cases. For BP readers in NC (or other trustee states), get to know the trustees that operate in your county of choice, then periodically look for upcoming sales. If you go gung-ho, follow substitute trustee (S-TR or equivalent) filings in your county. 

Anecdotally, from searching Wake County (WC) NC records, defaults remain at near all-time lows, and I see this market (foreclosure/pre-foreclosure) as an opportunity not worth pursuing. There have been roughly 50 S-TR filings per month for 2H2024, relatively unchanged for 18 months at least.  

The only thing interesting in 2024 WC defaults is the vintage year, which is over 35% 2021-2022, meaning a lot of recent borrowers threw in the towel in short order (no pun intended). The number of defaults is too small to worry about, at least today. We need a significant retail price correction as a catalyst to change that, in WC at least. 

When people ask me about "what will happen under Trump" I usually go to the text of Project 2025. I mean, why not? 992 pages of what most likely will happen, right? From page 730 (emphasis mine): 

"All non-business tax deductions and exemptions that were temporarily suspended by the 2017 tax bill should be permanently repealed, including the bicycle
commuting expense exclusion, non-military moving expense deductions, and the
miscellaneous itemized deductions.23 The individual state and local tax deduction,
which was temporarily capped at $10,000, should be fully repealed. Deductions
related to educational expenses should be repealed. Special business tax preferences, such as a special deduction for energy-efficient commercial building
properties, should be eliminated.

Regarding the OP's question, I see no specific Project 2025 policy that will impact investment real estate. 

Time will tell if he keeps the promise. 

Like Chris, very sorry to hear about your condition. 

You should have a tax person explain to you how the stepped-up basis may help your beneficiary. Legally speaking, if you have agreed to an installment sale, I'm not sure if the stepped-up basis is applicable. I don't know your adjusted basis, so maybe the estate tax burden will not be that great. 

I suggest what Chris posted. 

Just use Google. Nathan's search method usually works, but I use what Google suggests: '<search item> site:www.biggerpockets.com' (without the single quotes on the Google search bar.) 

Google investment DSCR mortgage LLC or something similar to find national lenders. I've used LendingOne before as well as local commercial banks. And as Rory points out, subsequent loans require less overall time and effort once you have a track record. In my experience, most local commercial lenders will not offer 30-year loans like some of the national lenders. 

The experts can verify, but the deed must stay consistent for a 1031 exchange to be viable. I've only done two exchanges, so am no expert, but I don't think what you suggest would conform to 1031 guidelines. 

This BP topic, Total Available Market - 2, 3, and 4 units, describes the Raleigh market for property that meets Fannie Mae 1-4 Family underwriting. The data is 5 years old but hasn't changed significantly. The bottom line is there are not a lot of quads in the Raleigh area. 

@Yi C. 

Regarding #1, all my projects are ground mount. Yes, zoning is always an issue. Many counties have a solar ordinance that may make a project less attractive or potentially prohibitively expensive to implement.

Regarding #2, I've obtained SUPs (Special Use Permits) in two NC counties. The other developers I've seen in the quasi-judicial SUP hearings all used attorneys, even for 500kW projects. I opted to represent myself (as an independent landowner). Yes, these hearings are a pain. And, yes, you do get yelled at and may be required to bring in professionals to debunk the ridiculous claims some neighbors will make. I've had to hire Real Estate brokers and Professional Engineers (PEs) as "expert witnesses" for defending various false claims.

Regarding #3, the smaller your project, the less likely you'll see high impact study costs.
Common expenses would be utility mandated SCADA upgrades for system isolation, metering packages, engineering & testing, etc. I have not yet done a solar+ESS project yet. That is certainly where the world is headed. There are stable chemistries out there, and I'm not concerned much about ESS thermal runaway. I'd consider something like the CATL 1G Sodium Ion, 2-MWh, depending on the PPA.