Become the best landlord you can!

Landlord Seminar

Featuring national motivational speaker Greg Pinneo of Reach Returns, an expert real estate entrepreneur discussing Real Estate Investment, Negotiations and Finance.

Local experts presenting:

• Month to month contracts
• Lease options
• The eviction process
• Tenant screening
• Crime free rental housing program

Open to all YVLA  members and non-members too!

Saturday, May 21, 2011
Holiday Inn & Conference Center
802 E. Yakima Avenue
9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Cost:  Pre-registration: $25/person
At the door:  $35/person
Includes lunch and light snacks

www.YakimaLandlords.org
509-457-4770

From The Blog Of Joe Crump – Real Estate Investment Strategies & Tips

Over the past few months I’ve been getting emails from a lot of real estate teachers claiming that the new Federal S.A.F.E Act means the end of seller financing. Because of those emails, I’ve been flooded with frightened questions from my own students about this issue. “Am I breaking the law, Joe?”

The claim is that if you sell a property with any kind of seller financing, you will be breaking the law if you aren’t licensed to do so.

This is simply NOT true.

Seller financing is alive and well today for those who understand how to structure deals even if you DON’T have a real estate or mortgage license.

It’s scary enough starting a new business without someone telling you what you are doing is illegal. Today, in this blog post, I’m going to try and ease your fears about this issue.

Here is my take on the new Federal S.A.F.E. Act.

I do not believe it is going to affect the folks who are using my techniques. Here is why…

SAFE Act Info Regarding Selling On Terms

This is taken from the Legal Hotline newsletter put out by the Indiana Association of Realtors for Brokers.

It is directed at agents and brokers, but addresses the issue of dealing in Land Contracts and Lease Options specifically.

BEGIN QUOTE
“Furthermore, land contracts will not fall under the SAFE ACT requirements since legal title in a land contract does not pass until the end of the payments. With seller financing, the difference is legal title passes from seller to buyer at closing. If your client wants to sell property under a land contract, there should be no legal issue under this Act.

If title does not pass from seller to buyer, it is DFI’s position that it is not subject to licensure. Similarly, a lease with an option to purchase or other agreement where title does not pass is not subject to licensure.

IN SUMMARY, a seller will be exempt from this Act if:

1.) Owner is selling own residence vs. a rental property;

2.) If the seller never lived in the home (investor), seller is still exempt if the property is being sold on a land contract or lease with option;

3.) If title does not pass, owner is exempt.
END QUOTE

DFI is the Department of Financial Institutions and can be found online at:
http://www.in.gov/dfi

Although this is Indiana specific, you could check with your own local board of Realtors to find out how they interpret it.

But keep in mind, all of these regulations are based on the Federal SAFE Act which required compliance in all States. So other than a few amendments here and there, the State by State legislation is not going to be much different anywhere you go.

What this means to me?

The only difference that we have to keep in mind when using the things I teach is that you should no longer sell a property “subject to” if you are not the owner residence of that property. That is not a problem if you use my techniques. We don’t sell “subject to” we BUY “subject to” and then sell with a Land Contract or Lease Option. Once you understand my hierarchy of zero down structures, all this is very clear.

Ultimately, if you do what I teach, you won’t have to worry about this issue or this legislation.

And the beauty of having this legislation now – it will probably quiet down the political storm around mortgages for a while and forestall any other more onerous legislation (at least that is my hope).

Hope this answers the question. Keep in mind this very….

IMPORTANT NOTE: I am not an attorney. I do not even play one on TV. Don’t count on my advice as legal advice. One of the things I find is when folks are frightened about a particular issue, it makes them freeze up and hesitate to take action. If you are not comfortable with this issue, be sure to speak with a local attorney.

The bottom line? If being afraid means you don’t action, being afraid means failure.

If you have questions or comments, leave them below and I’ll make an effort to answer them.

As always, you have my very best wishes,

Joe Crump

PS – I’ll be teaching all of these techniques to my mentor students at my upcoming Two Day Buying Event. It’s just a few weeks away on November 13th and 14th, 2010. For full details, go to the web pages below.

Mentor Program Info
http://www.ZeroDownInvesting.com

Two Day Buying Event Video
http://www.JoeCrump.com/twoday

What I’ll Be Teaching At The Event and How I Partner With My Mentor Students
http://www.JoeCrump.com/partner

You can also learn my techniques in my home study program here:
http://www.PushButtonMethod.com

Have you ever worked with a lawyer or felt like you needed legal counsel regarding writing or revising your will, purchasing a home or car, your income taxes, civil rights, debt collection issues, or collecting an insurance claim?

Would you agree that there are many situations in daily life when it would be valuable to have the ability to pick up the phone and call a lawyer for advice about absolutely any legal matter without having to consider the cost first?

It’s also no secret that identity theft is a major problem in America.  Think you’re not at risk?  Unfortunately you are.

What if you discovered that your identity has been stolen?

With no obligation, you can learn more by visiting at River Ridge Lodge, Tuesday, September 28th, from 7:00-9:00pm.  See how Pre-Paid Legal can help protect you and your family’s legal rights.

Contact Merla Manuel for more information at 509-965-1167.

At Reach Returns, we get a lot of real estate investing questions.  Most of the questions these days can be put into two distinct categories…DEFENSE AND OFFENSE!

The defensive questions go like this:

• What are the tax implications of this potential purchase?
• What things should I look for when buying a single family home or a multiplex?
• How do I avoid making a mistake buying real estate?
• How do I protect myself when writing an offer?
• What should I consider when taking on a partner?
• How do I work effectively with real estate agents and people lending money?
• I am considering buying raw land or out of state property.  What should I watch out for?
• How will my offer fly in the face of attorney review?  What should my exit strategies be?

The Offensive questions go more along these lines:

• Can I assign a deal in this market place?
• How do I buy and flip now, or should I only buy and hold?
• Where do I get the money to do deals?
• How does substitution of security work and how do I negotiate it?
• How do I write up a deal and sell it on a wrap note?
• How do I negotiate an option on a property that makes sense?
• Should I work with banks negotiating short sales?  How?
• Is this a good time to buy notes?  Should I become a lender myself?
• How do I share the equity I have in a property with multiple people?
• I want to buy a home, but the seller wants to live there until they die.  How   do we structure this?

Wednesday, August 10th at 6:00 pm PST we will have a LOCKER ROOM TALK ABOUT DEFENSE AND OFFENSE IN THIS ECONOMY.

A SPECIAL OFFER WILL BE MADE THAT YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS.

To join this call please dial (206) 701-8388 and use the passcode 960560# or just follow this link: http://attendthisevent.com/?eventID=14381544

Until tomorrow night…….

Living Deliberately,

Greg Pinneo and the Reach Returns team

www.reachreturns.com
reachus@reachreturns.com

Lerman on the Law

After a dry early winter, California is now being pummeled by storm after storm. Whether you own just your own home or hundreds of homes, condos or commercial properties, heavy, continuous rains can result in problems for your property. Those problems can range from roof leaks and window leaks to more subtle water stains, slumping decks and peeling stucco. Regardless, water intrusion, if not dealt with properly and promptly, can lead to major property losses and even threaten your health (from mold, mildew and related resulting conditions). With that in mind, here are five of the biggest mistakes owners make when dealing with these issues:

1. Repairing without analysis. There is a right way and a wrong way to protect and enforce your rights and remedies. For example, many owners are too quick to repair the leak. They tend to underestimate the problem or want to avoid a confrontation with the seller or the contractor who might be liable for the problem. However, an innocent, well-intentioned attempt by you to repair a problem could result in you destroying key evidence that could prevent you from recovering money to which you might otherwise be entitled.

2. Failing to consider all potential defendants. All too often, an owner hastily comes out of pocket to attempt a fix on their own. Or, if an owner does start thinking about other potentially responsible parties, it is not unusual for them to overlook one more potential sources of recovery. They may think the broker who sold them the property failed to disclose a problem, but fail to consider the seller, or the contractor who built the property or performed a defective repair. The more defendants you can legitimately include in your claim, the more likely you will get the recovery you seek.

3. Failing to promptly address the situation. It is not uncommon for property owners to delay in dealing with water intrusion issues. They might let the seller or contractor make repair attempt after repair attempt or may even pay for those trial-and-error repairs on their own. However, there are important deadlines, statutes of limitation and perhaps contractual deadlines that may cut off your rights and remedies forever if you wait too long.

4. Failing to consider all possible insurance. Insurance is complicated. Many property owners fail to determine all potential insurance policies they have been paying premiums for over the years that might now provide a source of payment for their water intrusion problems. Or, they might not realize how critical it is to tender their claim in a certain way to maximize the chances coverage will apply, instead of being denied.

5. Failing to consult an attorney. Water intrusion issues can lead to literally millions of dollars of damage, when you consider costs to analyze the cause of the problem, determine the proper scope of repair, deal with mold issues, and perform the repair itself. Perhaps the biggest mistake a property owner can make when confronted with these serious problems is failing to consult an experienced lawyer to guide them through the minefield of traps for the unwary that water intrusion problems often present.

If you would like to discuss this topic further, please reply to jeff@lermanlaw.com and just type “YES” in the subject header.  Our office will contact you to set up a consultation.

To read an article featuring Jeff discussing the perils of dealing with insurance companies in real estate damage cases, click here…

Sincerely,

Jeff Lerman

Lerman Law Partners, LLP

The Real Estate Investor’s Lawyers

http://www.lermanlaw.com/

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