All Forum Posts by: Chris Martin

@Candace Lawson Get the county datasets from the county IT department. They can provide formatted data, generally in CSV or text (some counties have XLS or XLSX formats) that you can then sort and get what you are looking for. I invested in Wake County NC and the county provides data files where I do exactly what you are doing. 

@Pixel Rogue I went down a different investment path, leveraging Form 3800 ITC (Investment Tax Credit) favored development. The ITC numbers, basically, provide in year one 30% ITC and the accelerated bonus depreciation deduction provides a roughly 70% equipment write-off. For instance, a $400,000 investment (excluding land and other non-contributing expenses) in a solar farm (probably works for wind farms too but I'm not in that space) allows for $120,000 for the ITC General tax credit and $280,000 loss via bonus depreciation. These carry-forward if not used. For any given year, electricity production is taxable, but I offset that income with the bonus depreciation loss carry-forward and ITC carry-forward for 20 years. 

New rules, apparently, under the iRA (Inflation Reduction Act) will allow developers to sell Renewable Energy Tax Credits to other taxpayers. Historically I've kept all ITCs for myself (I am selfish) but that may change if I start doing more development. 

Just a thought.

Quote from @Peter Vekselman:

In the 2 decades that I have been in real estate there were times when I bought many deals via real estate agents and MLS.

Iam a Fix and Flip investor. Meaning I need deals that have minimum 30% equity. I have not bought a deal from MLS in a few years. In my opinion that channel no longer exists and there are no equity deals to be had. It is literally like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Not worth it...

Agree or disagree?

That's the thing about real estate cycles. Sometimes there is a lot of supply and little demand, like the years after the Great Recession, and sometimes there is a lot of demand and limited (affordable) supply like now. I believe patience pays off, so like you I don't participate in what doesn't work or is a waste of time. I guess I'd call it a 'pivot' when I built my first (commercial) solar farm. Still 'real estate' but not really a rental. As an optimist, I say it all works out in the end. 

There are thousands of posts on Bigger Pockets related to your question. Google things like debt vs equity JV for instance. Other searches like this may help - equity splits for partner flips. Hopefully you get the idea. 

Since you are putting "no money in the deal", don't expect unreasonable returns. 

Arguably the "easiest" financing method is debt financing. Example "reasonable terms" could be 1% per month with 1% up front and 1% on exit, 6-month (I've also done and seen 12-month) term with an extension permitted if milestones reached. But keep in mind that investors can get an annualized 5.39% through Treasury Direct on a 4-week T-bill, and for a LOT of investors that's a lot more attractive than 12% (annualized) on what looks like an undercapitalized real estate "deal" with a lot of risk. 

With virtually no information about your lender or the "deal", that's all I can post about (which is limited.)  

Cedar Park Texas looks to be a suburb of Austin, where your profile says you reside. If you can't make it work in Cedar Park Texas, why do you think you could make numbers work in Raleigh, 1000 miles away? Getting any cash-flow positive rental property in (WC) Wake County, today, is not impossible, but very improbable. I only have 22 years full-time investing experience in the WC market, so what do I know. 

Disclosure: In WC, I have sold multiple properties in the last 18 months and bought 0.

Quote from @Johnny Ruiz:

I am a 19 year old wholesaler who is looking to go big this year. I own one property, but I would like to know how do I build a real estate empire like Trump? I want to know how I can better organize my marketing, my business etc. I notice the 50 unit lifts and this is something I want to rehab and hold throughout New England. Any advice on how I can structure my business?

I realize this is an older post. 

It appears, per court records, that DJT built his 'empire' fraudulently. Fox News had a recent report, New York judge rules Trump committed fraud while building real estate empire.

So, the answer is: don't commit fraud and operate your business legally. It's very clear to me as a non-lawyer, that, from the deposition that summary judgement was warranted. DJT confessed, frequently, to plaintiff claims. My only advice: Don't be that guy. This verdict will be appealed indefinitely but will ultimately stand. Per court records, the trump LLCs will be liquidated, and proceeds will distribute per lien order in the upcoming judgement proceedings. 

Other states (see also NC proposed bill to outlaw institutional landlords) have had similar legislative proposals, but I'm not aware of any being passed. 

On the state level, Ohio law (Section 5321.19) currently does not permit rent control (emphasis is mine):

(A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, no political subdivision may enact, adopt,
renew, maintain, enforce, or continue in existence any charter provision, ordinance, resolution, rule, or other measure that is in conflict with this chapter, or that regulates the rights and obligations of parties to a rental agreement that are regulated by this chapter, including, without limitation, by any way imposing or requiring rent control or rent stabilization.

If you read the text of the proposed federal bill, the stop predatory investing act, only future investments would be impacted:

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. —The amendments made by this section shall apply to property placed in service in taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Even if these bills pass, which I doubt will happen, I don't see these bills as having a substantial impact on US or state (e.g., NC or OH) real estate overall. 

Interesting. 

Not only apartments, but Thousands of renters, farmers, and schools would be impacted as well. 

On the east coast, the answer has been to go 'off-grid' and bypass the grid for operations that can handle it. It's usually best to work with net metering and the 'system' if possible. Hard to believe that CA would cut off schools and farmers, but that looks to be the mission. 

I hope this works out because the rest of the country looks at CA as a template for solar energy policy. 

Not an opportunity worth pursuing from my standpoint. 

From: "The daughter was put on a beneficiary deed in 2017, but I've talked to her and she says she wants nothing to do with the property." Sounds like she owns the property. When the city comes after people, they go to the owner. If you are hell bent on owning this condemned property, have her deed you the property and then, since "she wants nothing to do with the property" she can be legally free from any obligations. That's the big 'what's in it for me' pitch. No lawsuits from the city. Then when you are the legal owner, the mortgage company might talk to you. 

Make sure you have that attorney you talked to on board. Without payoff and lien info, this is a complete gamble for you, IMO.

Lots of red flags. "•you can send funds directly to me or GC if need be." The closing attorney should handle all closing funds, always. 

If you were in NC, I'd say contact the attorney general's office. I've done that twice with real estate scammers, both times the NC AG was really quick to respond and shut down their scheme. 

The Alabama AG might be the best option on this "wholetail deal".