All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Welcome. You have a great background and a lot of very useful skills. All the best.

Wendy

This is a "newbie question":

So I own a rental unit. Its a condo and I pay a monthly Home Owners Association Fee that includes insurance of the exterior of my unit and the grounds of the condo association.

Ordinarily if I had a mortgage, I would be required by my bank to get some sort of walls-in insurance policy but in this case the condo is fully paid for.

By law I am responsible for repairs due to normal wear and tear. Anything beyond normal wear and tear (if the tenant breaks a window or their washing machine overflows, or their kid draws with crayons on the wall, etc) the tenant is responsible for repairs.

I realize I probably do need some kind of insurance but really not sure what kind?

@Oladodja GBADAMASSI 

The hotspots are Cape Town and Johannesburg. I invest in Port Elizabeth which is a fairly large port and manufacturing city but just not a "very happening" place. Appreciation tends to be fairly slow but rental income is good and steady.

You're also a lot more savvy than I was about FIRPTA. I almost lost a lot of money because I didn't know about it ahead of time. And it only took the IRS a whole 6 months to finally decide that I was exempt. All in all a stressful experience. Being a resident definitely makes it more simple. It seems like you're doing all the right things (learning as much as you can, doing thorough research, etc), I'm sure you'll be on your way soon.

Welcome @Edward Yung . Always good to have folk from NY here. There are a lot of resources here.

Bonjour @Oladodja GBADAMASSI . I live in the US but invest in South Africa.

Welcome to Bigger Pockets. You'll be able to connect with a lot of people from Indiana on this site.

Just one comment on your strategy for buy and flip. I don't know what your residency status is (green card, work visa, student visa, etc) but if you're not a resident (i.e. do not have a green card) you need to read up on taxes and something called FIRPTA. I am in the US on a work visa (so not a resident of the USA) and as such FIRPTA applied to me when I sold my condo. I was able to get an exemption because the condo I sold was my personal residence but not sure how this would work for a buy and flip strategy. I do recall though from my research that if the house value was under a certain amount (I forget the exact figure but it was around $300K) the sale of the property is exempt from FIRPTA but not sure if this is only if the house is your personal residence. Of course if you are a resident, this is not an issue at all but if not and you're a student or on a work visa, this is something you need to research in depth. Bonne chance!

Welcome @Kyle Handy I am now focused on buy and hold as well. But doing a few initial fliips can help you to get that first downpayment together. I used the money I made from my first (slow) flip to buy my first rental unit.

I would be interested as well. That's if you would let people from Queens come?

@Kasey Ryan 

Look under the Resources tab at FilePlace. There are some great spreadsheets there that you can get ideas from.

mmm... Ask them what's wrong with the house. Its probably something they'll have to disclose anyway, they might as well tell you.

@Cory E. 

Congratulations!!!! That's a great story. You guys put in a lot of hard work and it paid off in the end. At the same time, you got a pretty comprehensive education in real estate. Just keep on keeping on and good things will come your way.