Boulder County Real Estate Investors (BCREI) Previous Meetings 2004:

December 7:

Selecting the Right Form of Ownership for Optimum Tax Benefits & Legal Protection

Selecting the best form of ownership for a business is a complex topic that intertwines many complicated areas of law and taxation. You can have an entire graduate course on the subject. Therefore, every aspect cannot be covered. What will be covered are the more important factors, advantages and disadvantages as they pertain to real estate held for investment (“keepers”) and real estate intended to be sold quickly (“flippers”). Planning strategies will also be given.

Background:

Mark began his professional career on the audit staff of Coopers & Lybrand, a large accounting firm. Mark then moved into the corporate world where he served as controller and chief financial officer for companies involved in real estate development, mining and securities. He spent three years as the Treasurer of the Vail Associates, a conglomerate with over 40 business divisions, managing their long range planning and tax departments and working actively in their real estate development planning activities.

In 1997, he founded Lathrop Financial Services, LLC, a full service accounting practice based in Edwards, Colorado. The major portion of Mark’s practice is assisting real estate investors, ranging in size from beginning investors purchasing their first property to a corporation which has built a number of shopping centers, apartment complexes and completed a number of condo conversions. He also works with a number of homeowners’ associations and property managers.

Mark is also an active real estate investor, owning a number of rental properties and controlling others through lease options.

Mark Lathrop is a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Financial Analyst. Mark graduated from the University Of Denver School of Accountancy Summa Cum Laude in 1979.

Mark is also a Certified QuickBooks Professional Advisor, and works with clients to properly set up and maintain their accounting records.

December 4:

Pictures from Holiday Gathering...

   

(click to enlarge)

1st Annual BCREI Holiday Gathering

Please join us on Dec 4th for the 1st Annual BCREI Holiday Gathering, hosted by Jane Preston and Gary Hardin at 2590 Clayton Circle in Superior from 6-8 PM.  The club will provide soda, hot cocoa and water along with fruit and veggie trays.  If you desire any stronger refreshments, please feel free to bring it with you.  Also, if you have a favorite holiday treat that you want to share, you may also bring that as well.  There is no obligation to bring anything other than yourself and a guest.

Please remember that this gathering is for members in good standing, but someone will be available to collect membership dues that evening, so if you have been planning on joining, this would be a good time to do so and enjoy a little holiday cheer as well!

Please RSVP as soon as possible so we can get an idea of how many to expect.

Thanks and see you there!

Jane and Gary

November 2:

One or members at the October meeting suggested we get a speaker on selling our houses.  Colt Hough, one of our October speakers, recommended Cynthia Arey... 

Cynthia Arey, owner of Colorado Living Real Estate Company, realtor for 26 years, will be talking with us about For Sale By Owner (FSBO).  Cynthia has a nationally distributed tape series in “How to Sell Your Home”, she was contracted by an educational company to develop a “consumer”, user friendly system in selling a home.  Zig Ziglar recommended the education company’s approach.   Oliver Frascona, of Frascona, Joiner, Goodman…. (one of the most recognized real estate law firms in Colorado) thought the tape series was ‘exceptional’. 

October 5:

Panel Discussion with local lenders.  Panel to include Chris Buck (getting new homebuyers qualified), Colt Hough (increasing your cash flow with 1-month LIBOR loans), Kim Hubbard (fix and flip loans), and Lori Murin (investor oriented loans).  Each of these great speakers will talk for roughly 20 minutes each.  The panel will then answer your mortgage questions.  It should be a great night!  The following is a little about each of our panel members.

Chris Buck: Chris Buck is from Tennessee. He has lived in Colorado for nearly 5 years now and loves the fact that he came from another state so he doesn't take this great state for granted! Chris started studying Real Estate about 4 years ago, after college: the areas of Bird-dogging/Wholesaling/Fix & Flip/Lease Options.  He dove in and read many books/attended seminars/attended Investor meetings/ask the experienced folks many questions.  He started off bird-dogging for other investors, then moved up to wholesaling, next lease options then wanted to know the financial side of the transactions. That's when Chris took all his energy and studied the mortgage side of the business. Studying Top Producers/reading all he could get his hands on/and again bugging and asking questions of the experienced folks around him. He settled in a while ago and find his niches to be Investor Mortgages (Interest Only/Soft Pre-Pays/No Seasoning/ One of the Lowest Fees Around!!) and Hard-to-qualify Tenant Buyers (taking the time to fix their credit/finding lenders that will lend to them/And giving them the best deal around!) He loves all the facets of real estate and couldn't see himself in any other career!

Colt Hough: Colt will be talking with us about using libor-indexed loans to increase cash flow.  Colt Hough turned $5,000 into 5.5 Million dollars of real estate owned in 6 years using common sense and the right type of financing. He is a mortgage broker, attorney, realtor, and the owner of The Pegasus Funding Group, LLC and is in the top 150 producing mortgage brokers in the United States.

Kim Hubbard: Kim is an Executive Vice President and Sales Manager with Merchants Mortgage & Trust Corporation (MMTC). She has specialized in providing fix-and-flip financing for 11 years and she and her staff close approximately 50 fix-and-flip loans per month. Kim works with beginners as well as seasoned fix-and-flippers. MMTC is a portfolio lender that has been it business for 42 years and offers it's own unique, "niche" products. The company has approximately $175 million in funds allocated to lend on its portfolio products.

Lori Murin: Lori has been investing in real estate for about 6 years. She started out buying Mobile homes, selling them and holding the notes. Lori is also a traditional landlord. She has bought properties from HUD and from individuals in distress. She has purchased properties that were horrible, ugly, smelly! You can add in any adjectives here but you get the idea! Lori just did her first lease option and is in the process of purchasing a property and selling it on a land contract. Her personal real estate goals are to become more focused in these two arenas. Lori has been in the mortgage business as a broker for almost two years. She got into the business because her mentor, Ed Abrams, the owner of First Approval Mortgage, started teaching her about creative financing; specifically, how to leverage assets and get better cash flow on properties using interest-only and option-arm mortgage products. Consequently, as a broker, she works primarily with investors and with interest-only and option-arm products. Lori's expertise is working with investors and educating them on products that maximize their monthly cash flow.

September 7:

Meeting Topic Change:

Our original speaker is unable to come to our September 7 meeting due to family matters.  We have a very interesting topic to substitute, though!  For those of you who would like to know how to use your IRA money to invest in real estate this will be a meeting not to miss.

We will have a talk by two people from the local Entrust Administration, Inc. office talk about self-directed IRA investing: Catherine Wynne and Bill Humphrey.  I (Tom Green) have had my self-directed IRA funds with Entrust Administration, Inc. for a number of years.  Please see info about what they will be telling us about and their bios, below…

What your stockbroker never told you would fill a book….

It has been a long-kept secret that few know about – what the IRS code actually says about IRA investments. The Power of self-direction within your IRA. Invest in what YOU know and what YOU want to buy. Did you know that you could invest your IRA in:

1. Real estate

2. Notes

3. Private placements

4. Gold & silver

5. Tax liens

6. Options

7. Commodities

8. Foreign currency

9. LLCs

10. and much much more.

Only recently has there been an administrator that allows any investment allowed by law. Stockbrokers make money whether you do or not. A self-directed administrator only charges a flat annual administration fee and sells No investments nor provides investment advice.

 Entrust New Direction IRA, Inc.

 Our Mission Our Message

Entrust New Direction IRA is the Colorado-based affiliate of The Entrust Group, since 1981a leading provider of self-directed IRAs and other Plan types for those who wish to include non- traditional assets as part of their tax-deferred and tax-free portfolios. We are committed to providing clients with the best information and quality education. It is our belief that informed clients will be able to best take advantage of the opportunities available in their choice of self-directed IRAs and Self Directed Qualified Plans. We provide information not only through our web site, but also through seminars and workshops throughout the West, radio shows, books and CD-ROMs.

What is a Self-Directed Plan?

Self-direction of retirement plan investments means that you decide on the investments you wish to make in your retirement plan. This means every kind of IRA, and every kind of Qualified Plan. IRA and Qualified Plans all have an investment section in their respective trust and plan and trust documents. The investment section specifies what types of investments are permitted and under what circumstances. Truly self-directed plans have investment language that permits you to direct the trustee or custodian of your IRA or Qualified plan to make any investment permitted by law, and/or the trustee or custodian is able to make on behalf of your plan while maintaining the tax-deferred status of the account.

The Principals

Catherine Wynne is a commercial real estate broker and has more than two decades of experience investing in commercial and multi-dwelling properties in Colorado and California, and as a result is intimately familiar with what it takes to make a real estate investment — taxable or otherwise — work. She has firsthand knowledge of property management, tax-deferred real estate exchanges, finding investment partners, identifying undervalued properties and the like. Catherine has a BS in Structural Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and has 20 years of engineering experience in a variety of disciplines.

Bill Humphrey is an experienced Certified Public Accountant who specializes in tax-related property issues. He knows the ins-and-outs of IRA laws and stays current with changes to property laws. In addition to his accounting expertise, Bill is well versed in the power of leveraging an investment, the tax consequences of real estate decisions, the various financing options available to property investors, what to look for in an investment partner and more. Bill has a BS in Business and Finance from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill as well as postgraduate work in Finance, Economics and Business.

August 3:

A & I Financial Services

Presentation Summary

Learn about the $25,000 home equity mistake made by millions of Americans and the basic steps involved in creating a "home made bank." Mr. Frank will discuss ways to think outside the box using real estate equity as a foundation for a tax advantaged retirement. Topics will include the rate of return on equity, three measures of the success of every investment, "Our Partner, Uncle Sam" and structuring a stable, non-taxable retirement income stream through a properly funded universal life policy

Karl Frank is a member of A&I Financial Services, a teacher with the Colorado Institute for Financial Freedom, a Registered Representative with Sun America Securities and an independent insurance agent.* Prior to working as an investment specialist, Mr. Frank worked in the technology arena managing million dollar budgets. His educational background includes a Masters of Science in Finance, Investments Specialty, and a Masters of Business Administration. Both degrees are from the University of Denver, Daniels College of Business. He also holds a Masters of English degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he taught for two years. Karl enjoys spending time with his wife and children and volunteers with Habitat for Humanity in Denver.

Colorado Institute for Financial Freedom

Founded in 2003, the Colorado Institute for Financial Freedom is a non-profit personal finance education organization designed to teach fundamental financial principles, concepts, strategies and products. Currently, the Institute holds one seminar monthly in the Denver area. Look for "Missed Fortunes" advertisements in the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News for upcoming dates and locations.

A&I Financial Services Mission Statement

Our mission at A & I Financial Services is to assist families in identifying their stewardship responsibility. We help families achieve true wealth by creating systems, strategies, and structure for financial empowerment. We help optimize and protect our clients human, financial, and intellectual assets creating greater clarity, balance, focus, and confidence.

*Registered Representative offering securities through SunAmerica Securities, Inc., member NASD, SIPC. A & I Financial Services is not affiliated with SunAmerica Securities, Inc.

 

Again, thanks to Wayne in our group for helping to bring us Karl Frank and this information.  Wayne has also been studying this avenue of increasing wealth so he may be someone you want to talk with at our next meeting. 

July 6:

Rob Swanson: Foreclosures and Short Sales

June 1:

Tom Green: Tax Lien Investing

Tom Green will be speaking about Tax Lien Investing. Did you know you can make up to 24% by investing in property tax liens? Indeed, an Iowa sale is coming up where you can do just that, and Tom is available for learning materials he and his wife, Kristen, have published, as well as for mentoring—mentoring can include Tom accompanying a student to tax lien sales in various states.

Tom Green, aka Mr. Tax Lien, has been investing full-time in tax liens for over 6 years. He found tax lien investing as a way to put himself through school to get his Ph.D. in Computer Science. Tax liens allow investors to receive relatively high interest rates with their investments backed by real estate. Thomas receives between 10 and 24% on his investments, and has learned "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of tax lien investing. Please join Thomas at the Boulder County Real Estate Investor’s meeting on June 1, 2004 to learn more about tax lien investing. You can also visit www.MrTaxLien.com.