Land Trust is a Good Option for Investors in This Market

Originally posted 2009-01-29 14:53:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

There was a great post at www.whataboutloans.com on the advantages of a land trust.  The post goes on to list advantages to the land trust to include:

• ease of control
• ease of transfer
• privacy of ownership

The article further defines the parties that own and use the trust and their roles in the transaction of a trust in relation to the purchase of real estate. 

Another key advantage to the trust that the article depicts is that the “beneficial interest in a trust is considered to be personal property, not real property. Therefore you can assign your beneficial interest in a trust to another party without a formal closing.”

Remember due to recent changes to Fannie Mae’s financing criteria investors need to reconsider how they take ownership of their new investor property.   Those changes are affecting investors who want to refinance the properties in their portfolio and have those properties under the entity, limited liability corporation (LLC). 

Freddie Mac backs many of the conforming loans on the secondary market, so any changes in the rules is very important and should be headline news; hence, this news release. 

The land trust is the best solution to combat this issue. 

Breaking News for Investors

Originally posted 2009-01-04 13:04:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

On August 1, 2008, Freddie Mac changed its guidelines.  Those changes are affecting investors who finance the property in their portfolio and have those properties under the entity, limited liability corporation (LLC). 

 

Freddie Mac backs many of the conforming loans on the secondary market, so any changes in the rules is very important and should be headline news; hence, this news release. 

 

The changes are as follows:

• Freddie Mac will no longer approve refinance for any property that has been under a limited liability corporation entity for the previous six months. 
• Freddie Mac is limiting the number of properties the investor can have financed to four not ten as in years passed.

 

The solutions to these changes are as follows:

• Cash is king.  Allow the equity that you have build in the properties you currently own acquire new properties not using a loan; however, with this option you will have to factor in the cost of repairs.  In other words, the cash has to cover the purchase and the repairs.
• All properties that are acquired must be protected.  The way they are protected will still include the LLC.  It will just be a trust that will act as a go between.  The property will be held under a trust with the beneficial interest being the LLC.

 

Remember, these changes do not preclude you from owning properties.  It just changes how they are held and how many can be financed at any given time.  Lastly, speak with an attorney on how to set up your trust and having the beneficial interest going to the LLC.

Buyer Have the Advantage in This Market and Northwest Indiana is No Expection

Originally posted 2009-07-24 05:00:24. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Whatever a buyer is looking for is available in today’s market. In Northwest Indiana there has been an increase in sales from May to June. In May 2009, there was 363 homes sold. In June 2009, there were 408 homes sold for a 12.4 percent increase in home sales.

Porter County, on the other hand, experienced a more dramatic increase with 45 percent. In May 2009, there was 111 homes sold in Porter County. In June 2009, the county had an increase in home sales to 161.

What do we attritube these home sales increase to? The Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors and several Realtors including myself attritube the increase in sales to the tax credit and lower than ever home prices. Investors and first time home buyers alike are able to find just what they are looking for whether it is a fixer upper or a move in ready home.

It is highly recommended that buyers move now because interest rate will not stay low forever.

The current fix rate for a 30 year loan is 5.14 percent down from the previous week’s rate of 5.20 percent. One year ago, though, the rate for a 30 year fixed rate loan was 6.26 percent.

It is equally important to note that the median sales price, over the same one year period is down by 11.8 percent. Even though sales are up the median sales prices are not up.

The decrease in median sales is a blow to sellers, but iti is a good thinkg for buyers. Only time will increase value of homes. There may not be a great increase in equity as seen in the recent past, but equity and values will rebound. You will just have to keep your home longer before you realize an increase in value.

Real Estate Investor, Beware

Originally posted 2009-01-01 22:53:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The IRS made changes to the tax that will affect 2007 tax returns if the investor claims a loss. In addition, just reporting a loss may cause your taxes to be audited.

The new law has to do with the real estate investor classification. The investor can be classified as a real estate professional. Under the new law, the investor qualifies as a professional, regardless if licensed real estate agent or broker by working at least 750 hours on real estate activities. The IRS considers real estate activities to be renting, leasing, converting, operating, developing, redeveloping, managing, constructing, and acquiring of real estate.

In addition, as a real estate investor you are limited on your deduction to your passive income in the amount of $25,000. That amount decreases as your passive income increases and tops $100,000. Still yet, the eligibility for the deduction disappears as your income goes over $150,000.

The reason this change came about was due to the increase in number of investors during the market “boom”.

The ramification of these modifications to the tax law hit the investor who works a full time W2 job the hardest. Remember, the losses can only be taken on passive income.

However, under that same law there are two classifications for passive losses. There is material participating passive loss and passive loss.

The material participating rule requires that the investor work on each property for 500 hours. The work can be any or all the qualifying activities listed above. The investor can also opt to combine all properties under one 500 hour block, but the election must be made at the beginning of the tax year.

Another tax law change is that in the designation of a limited partnership’s interest. The properties owned and/or held under this entity is no longer considered material participating, so are not eligible for the deduction if there is a loss.

It is important to note that no longer can research of potential properties that the investor is considering adding to his or her portfolio a valid passive activity.

Keeping accurate records is crucial. The investor needs to keep date, time, location, and activities and in some cases it may be helpful to have photos to show evidence.

The changes mention above came out in December of 2007 and are retroactive to 2007 and may be earlier tax returns. Have your accountant review your current and previous returns to make sure you are in compliance.

Related Real Estate Investing Articles

• Help Offered for Indirect Investors With Madoff (nytimes.com)
• House Flipping Makes a Comeback (online.wsj.com)
• Homebuyer Tax Credit Provides Incentives for Buyers Says Elika Associates (prweb.com)

Protecting Your Investments

Originally posted 2008-12-03 21:37:02. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

In order to protect your real estate investment, you must understand the tax tribulations that can be encountered.  You must first decide on the type of entity that you would like to form. Forming one or more of these entities listed below will protect your individual personal assets, so review this carefully and consult an attorney if the you are considering purchasing real estate and renting it out.

If the LLC (limited liability corporation) is the choice then the articles of organizations will have to be decide to include the shares of the partners, the exiting and entrance of partners, etc.

The LLC allows for pass-through taxation as its income is not taxed at the entity level; however, a tax return for the LLC must be completed. Any income or loss of the LLC as shown on the tax return is passed through to the owner(s). The owners, also called members, must then report the income or loss on their personal tax returns and pay any necessary tax.

As with corporations, the LLC legally exists as a separate entity from its owners. Therefore, the owners cannot typically be held personally responsible for the debts
and liabilities of the LLC.

The second type of entity that you may consider is a partnership. Partners operate a business together.  As a partnership each person is liable for any negligence of either partner. By comparison, a limited partnership is an entity formed to raise capital for business or investment ventures in which the partners (except for the managing or general partner) will not be participating in the day-to-day activities of the partnership, and will only be “at risk” for their own investment in the partnership.

The third type of entity is a “C Corporation”.  A “C” corporation which is taxed under Subchapter C of the Internal Revenue Code and is the default corporation formed by incorporating. A “C” corporation is a legal and tax entity by itself. It is similar to a person in that it has its own assets and its social security number, called a Federal Tax Identification Number. Like other businesses, a C corporation needs to have a license to do business in towns in which it has offices and may use an assumed name. A “C”corporation’s assets or ownership is easily transferred through sale of the assets or sale of stock.

The final entity is a “S Corporation”.  A “S” corporation is a corporation which is taxed under Subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code and must elect to do so shortly after the corporation is formed with the IRS. A corporation is a legal and tax entity by itself. It is similar to a person in that it has its own assets and its social security number, called a Federal Tax Identification Number. The shareholders of a corporation must agree to elect to be a S corporation shortly after incorporating. Like other businesses, a S corporation needs to have a license to do business in towns in which it has offices and may use an assumed name.

Another important thing that you must consider purchasing liability insurance. Liability insurance will protect your asset by protecting you from being held responsible for the other party’s damages.

Please consult an attorney to determine which entity is best for your situation, but above all protect yourself.

Good News, Investors

The flipping rules have been relaxed until June 2009.  Until recently, an investor has to wait 90 days before the investor could resell a home to a FHA buyer.

The reason for this change was because investors are helping the economy by repairing the large number of foreclosed home thoughout the country.

According to the FHA, “under the revised policy the purchasers will have to be financed capable to handle the mortgage and underwriters will talke a hard look at the appraisal.”  As a result of the changes, the FHA will not be, or at least for the time being, turning down mortgages because the previous owner owned the property for less than three months.