Real Estate Investing 101 and Beyond

Simply put, a land trust is a way to hold title to real estate whereby a Trustee holds legal and equitable title to the land, but the beneficiary directs the trustee, manages the property and draws income from the trust. A Trustee can be any legal entity capable of holding title to real estate. In an earlier blog post about Common Investing Mistakes I wrote about a heated argument I had with a prominent title underwriter centered around the fact that an LLC may serve as trustee of a land trust. In the end, we all “agreed” an LLC, a Corp, your attorney, accountant, mother, whoever can serve as Trustee. Even though your trustee can be any legal entity, you should take the time to choose wisely. Choosing a trustee is like drafting a contract - You aren’t choosing a trustee for your situation now; rather, you are choosing a trustee for when the you-know-what hits the fan.  Real Life Example:  During a normal day at the office reviewing and dra...

I firmly believe Land Trusts are one of the most misunderstood real estate investment tools nationwide. My plan it to make this a series of posts that will touch on what a land trust is and what it is not, clear up myths and misconceptions and pass along some tips and tricks. It will be basic, but if you understand the basics you can then start to get really specific and use them to cater to your particular investment portfolio.  I haven’t decided how many parts will be in the series so my plan is to just take one topic at a time and see where it leads. First, my back ground with these creatures: If I had to pick something that was “my thing” it would probably be Land Trusts. Never would I have  imagined when I graduated law school this would be the case, but about 6 years ago Debbie Farnell of Southeast Professional Title handed me Mark Warda’s book on the subject and my gears have been turning ever since. In those 6 years or so I have drafted hundreds of land tru...

No matter how good you are at the real estate game; none if it matters if you can’t close the deal. Here are some basic tips to get you to the finish line with a paycheck in hand without causing your title agents to pull their hair out and without risking the loss of a return client due to irritating and unprofessional mistakes. Fill out your contract completely and correctly: Don’t roll your eyes at this one or skim over it because it’s soooo obvious. When working with corporate entities make sure the entity is in existence and the person signing has authority to act on behalf of that entity. This also applies to anyone using a POA or any other directive to act on behalf of another party. Also, when buying or selling in a trust naming the proper party is a common mistake. Remember, a trust is just a piece of paper. A piece of paper cannot hold title. You must designate a legal entity to hold title on behalf of the trust - the trustee. Therefore, an example of the proper nam...