A discussion with Greg Kesterman from Hamilton County Public Health on health issues concerning property and tenants.

This course covers several topics on health issues one might face as a landlord including hoarding, meth clean up and interacting with the health department.

Incudes 1/2 an Hour in PHP Credits in Federal Regulations

Click Here to Take Online Class

... Read More…

A discussion with Greg Kesterman from Hamilton County Public Health on health issues concerning property and tenants.

This course covers several topics on health issues one might face as a landlord including hoarding, meth clean up and interacting with the health department.

Incudes 1/2 an Hour in PHP Credits in Federal Regulations

Click Here to Take Online Class

... Read More…

According to a news article by WOSU Radio (and the experience of most of our community), property values in Central Ohio are at a record high. Does that mean it's time to sell?

As with all great real estate questions, the answer is, "It depends".

If you have rentals you'd rather not own, selling soon might get you the highest price on a property you don't want anyway. If you're good at finding distressed and low priced deals, it might be an opportunity to do a 1031 exchange into a rental you'll like better in the long run.

But if you bought your rental for long-term income and wealth building, believing that the market might be topping out (we don't believe that, but we don't have a crystal ball, either) is no reason to sell. The increased value is adding to your wealth in a non-taxable manner, and even if prices drop drastically, your income probably won't.

Getting rid of properties that have turned out to be too far, too management-intensive, or too unprofitable is always a good thing, and although we might not be at the top of the market just yet, now is a good time to divest yourself of those losers. But keep the keepers: jumping in and out of the market is NOT a good way to build wealth in real estate!&ck=09ae8196-2c44-45f2-97a8-524764065b2b ... Read More…

When it comes to making offers, most investors only know how to make one offer at a time.  They usually make an all cash offer, also known as the MAO (Maximum Allowable Offer) or they get a loan from a bank, hard money lender or a private investor.  This strategy has worked fine for investors and if you are only making offers on bank REOs on through the MLS, then a cash/MAO offer is really all you will be able to make.

The average number offers to get one accepted with this approach is 20-40 offers to get one accepted in today’s market for most of the country.  Some more experienced investors have been able to reduce that number down to about 5-10 offers to one acceptance by being very selective on what properties to make offers on.  In other words, they know from experience that certain properties from certain banks or listing agents simply will not accept their offers so they don’t even make the offers. 

The secret to success in the real estate business is making offers.  The problem is that most investors use the same offer process when dealing with sellers directly and they are missing some huge opportunities if they just knew how to create alternative offers that don’t require cashing out the seller.

Ask yourself these two questions: ... Read More…

Real estate investing provides many tax benefits, and depreciation is one of the biggest. It’s also one of the more misunderstood.

Depreciation lets you deduct a portion of the cost of the investment each year for the length of its IRS-designated life span.  The depreciation computation is figured based on the value of the improvements, not on the land underneath the improvements.  This necessitates that you be able to determine the value of the land and the value of the improvements.  This determination is generally included in the multitude of closing documents you received when buying the property or found on the county real estate tax website.  It is essential that you keep your closing documents.  There are additional costs that can be expensed and loan costs that must be amortized involved in the closing itself.

A recent client case provides a good example for this deduction and how it can be forgotten.

Joe, an old Army buddy into my office asking for help with his taxes.  He had done his taxes up to this point as he had a pretty simple tax situation but about two years ago he moved and turned his old primary home into a rental property.  The first year of owning his home he had done his taxes and he had read some articles about depreciation and expenses that had gotten him thinking that maybe he had done something wrong on his taxes so the following year when his taxes were due he came to me make sure everything was correct. 

I reviewed his prior year tax return an ... Read More…

There is a lot of confusion out there with newbies and some seasoned investors as to what exactly Wholesaling means.  The easiest way to describe this is to look at the Minnesota State Statue: 82 REAL ESTATE SALES REGULATIONS Sub 55 Definitions. Condensed Version: You cannot sell a property for another for a fee without a real estate license.  So the question is, as a wholesaler, what are you selling?  If you have a property under contract, you can sell your rights to the contract, not the property.  This is done via an assignment agreement which allows the assignee to step into your place as the buyer.  That is the basics of wholesaling. 

Some states actively go after real estate investors for incorrectly wholesaling.  These investors get themselves into trouble because they can’t explain legally what they are doing and therefore say the wrong things, like I am trying to find a buyer for the seller.  That shows intent, and as the previous FBI Director James Comey famously explained, it comes down to intent.

The problem is that your true intentions may not reflect your stated intentions because you don’t understand the legality of what you are doing.  If you just change what you are saying, to reflect your true intentions, then you will avoid a lot of aggravation and harassment from the state. ... Read More…