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The following is not legal advice but simply a description of some of the different methods that title can be held in real estate.  If you need assistance simply contact me directly at [email protected]

Sole ownership is the first way to hold title. Basically, this means that one man or one women owns 100% of the property less the value of any property liens. However, it is not quite as simple as it sounds. Sole ownership can be held several ways. If you you are unmarried, you can hold sole title as an unmarried man, or unmarried woman, or a single man or single woman. Per the dictionary definition single man seems the same as unmarried man. However, some title company personnel insist that unmarried means now single but previously married, while single means single and never married. I have not found any documentation to support this, but have run into it on several occasions.

A person may also be married but hold sole and separate property in their name only. Laws vary between states, some of which are community property states, and some of which are not. However, generally, a person may hold sole and separate title to property even if married if the property was owned prior to marriage, purchased from separately owned money, or inherited as sole ans separate property. A prenuptial agreement can also identify separate property. Even if property in marriage begins as sole and separate, it can become community or joint property if separate assets are mingled. For example, if the mortgage on a separate property is paid with community money, or if separate bank accounts are merged, the property can become community. If single, no further research may be necessary. However, if you are married and trying to keep title separate, you should consult an attorney with expertise on state laws for the state you reside in.

Another form of title vesting is community property, used only in community property states, many of which developed their laws with some Spanish influence, mostly in sun belt states.  Community property is a form of joint ownership for marital assets in community property states.  Any property acquired during marriage using marital assets is generally considered community property in these states.  Community assets are owned 50% each.  As mentioned above, property owned separately, prior to marriage, can also be converted to community property using a quitclaim deed.  They can also be mingled, in some cases unintentionally, resulting in all or part of the formerly separate property to become community property.  Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin are community property states.

Some people use joint tenancy for title vesting in order to ensure more than one party has an undivided ownership stake in real estate title.  As with other forms of title vesting, a quitclaim deed can be used to create a joint tenancy when a property is acquired or to add an owner after, either due to marriage or some other reason.  Joint tenancy is used for marital assets in states not using community property, and can be used in community property states as well.  Joint tenants are not limited to married couples.  Any 2 or more parties can become joint tenants in a single property.  Joint tenancy often includes right of survivorship.  This means that if one joint tenant dies, their interest reverts to the other joint tenants.  This can be identified on the quitclaim deed,for example as joint tenants with rights of survivorship to eliminate any uncertainly as to the intent of the parties.  Laws vary on joint tenancy and rights of survivorship by state, so additional local research should be done for your state to determine if this is the right form of title for your needs.

Next, tenants in common is another way to hold title.  This is also an undivided interest in property among 2 or more parties, and parties can be added or removed using a quitclaim deed.  The biggest difference between tenants in common and joint tenants is generally that there are no rights of survivorship.  In other words, if one tenant in common dies, their interest passes on to their heirs, either by will, trust, or intestate (without a will).  This form of title vesting is often useful for non-married investment partners in real estate.  Also, unlike community property or joint tenancy, each tenant in common’s interest in the property need not be equal.

Another form of title vesting is tenancy by the entirety.  This is similar to joint tenancy between husband and wife, but each spouse owns the entire property rather than half.  No one spouse can sell any portion of the property without the consent of the other.  A benefit of this form of title vesting is that if a creditor is owned money by one of the owners, the creditor cannot collect against the property unless the spouse dies who does not owe the creditor.  The surviving spouse owns the entire property with no probate required.  However, if one spouse becomes unavailable or incompetent, it can be difficult for the other spouse to sell the property under this form of title vesting.

Personal Relationships & Real Estate have never really gone hand in hand.

No one really knows the person on the other end of the mortgage on their house.  If you have a question, you call an 800 number that’s routed to a different country.  The person on the other end of the call (and she has 25 people on hold behind you), looks into her computer screen and tries to find an answer for you.  It’s usually not there.

Same goes with renting.

You may know your superintendent or your landlord’s manager, but chances are you don’t know the person who owns the building who can really help you when you need them.

Your rent or mortgage payment is the largest check you write each month and we think it should come with a little “customer support.”

We know about this concept and have built a company around solving this phenomenon.

When you call our number, one of the owners answer the phone or return the call/email/text.

We put a ton of effort in buying the right property and putting it in the hands of a buyer who is right for that particular piece of dirt.  It only makes sense to finish the job with the right personal relationship to make sure you are satisfied.

We have sold more than 10,000 properties over the past 11 years in the US and Canada.

Please test us.

I love working in the digital age.  It's an absolute pleasure compared to what we had to do just 3 years ago before the days of Google Earth and ubiquitous broadband.  In the "old days" we'd have to stomp on each and every property to confirm the topography, make sure people weren't dumping on it and meeting with the County officials to research each parcel in their office.  In short, it was a lot of time, work and money compared to today.  

Now, we inspect a property on Google earth with satellite images.  Go to the Superfund site to insure there are no environmental issues and then surf on over the County Web site to confirm ownership, assessed value etc.  In short, we can do an acquisition from anywhere in the world as long as we have a computer and Internet access.  It's amazing! 

To market the land we bought, we can create maps galore all from using online plat maps, google earth satellite maps, online topography maps to the point that our prospective investors can see the whole story of the parcel just short of walking it.  Then they save time and money!  Plus, advertising the property is as simple as a few clicks of the mouse and keyboard as opposed to radio or television advertising which was ridiculously expensive and inefficient. We are living in a digital renaissance age and probably don't even appreciate it.  I love this YouTube video below that really captures the essence of how everything is so wonderful today technologically speaking and yet people still complain… 

Jack is my hero.  He buys one or two properties from us every month in different areas and all different sizes.  He provides the down payment and lists the properties on the internet (he won’t tell us where), and sells them for more.

Here’s a couple of examples: 

He buys a 40 acre property for $249 down and the price is $19,900 which makes him the owner.  He then sells the property for $36,000, pays us the 20K and keeps the $16,000 for himself.  Not bad for a few days work, especially since we have done all of the electronic maps, and descriptions.

Jack buys a 5 acre property in a really nice area for $99.00 down and $7,900.00 from us.  He sells it on the internet for $199.00 a month.  He makes $100.00 a month for the term of the loan for doing very little work.

Email my partner Mark.  He loves Jack, too.  We need more Jacks.  SB..

What are you going to leave as your legacy when you leave this world?  Some people want their legacy to be their children and the values they instill in them.  Values are wonderful, but most people want to leave a legacy that is tangible and permanent. Maybe a piece of jewelry or art? However, as wonderful and valuable as jewelry or art may be to your loved ones eventually they won't last.  

The only thing that lasts is land.  That's it. Not even styrofoam has a longer shelf life… Seriously, think about it.  What else will outlive all of us and last generation after generation?  Only land.  They have not only a valuable asset that is appreciating in value, but they have a getaway.  They could have a recreational oasis.  Perhaps a home or God-forbid everything goes to hell in a hand basket in this country a lifesaving bunker.  Only your imagination and your loved ones imaginations are limited by the uses of the property.

To me, is there is no finer legacy than a piece of the earth to leave your family or loved ones when we leave this earth.

We have been busy with some more acquisitions and are planning to acquire more property as the market improves.

A recent land investor of mine has a back hoe and large machinery
for blading roads. If you want a road bladed let me know and I
will provide you his contact information. Depending on the location and
topography the road should be reasonably priced and will obviously increase the value of your property and the subdivision as a whole. Of course, you have to blade in the road from the 30′ easement area of the subdivision so everyone has legal access. He also has an engineering friend that provides solar power panels as well. Very nice guy and also named Mark!

I found an interesting land article about which is the better
investment: Land or Stocks. Click this link to read it:
http://www.landthink.com/opinions/stocks-vs-land-which-is-the-better-investment/

I’m sure even if you don’t read the article you know instinctively
that rural land outperforms the stock market. However, I thought
the article was well done and informative.

I have recently made some quick less than a minute
YouTube videos of the land in Pershing and Humboldt
County’s. Check them out here:

Let me know what you think. I need some more investors! Let me
know if you have friends or family that also want to invest in rural land.
Of course, if they are like me, they are watching every penny, but now is an excellent time to invest before the market heats up again and it’s all gone.

Useful sites:

So I emailed a friend of a friend the other day a potentially
awkward question about his business and he never responded. As a result, I’m left in the dark. Was he offended by my email? Did he even open the email? Did it go to his “junk” mail, etc. However, if used this site –www.whoreadme.com I would have had my answer. This site tracks your email and alerts you when the recipient has read it. Maybe I will re-send it to him and track it….

Another great site I found was www.myfax.com/free which allows you
to send faxes for free in the U.S. and 40 other countries. I pay a
monthly service for an efax account and I may be dropping it soon.

For people who drive their cars regularly, change in the price of
gas can be very costly for their budget. Considering the volatility of gas prices, imagine if you could hedge against future gas price increases. This site Petrofix.com lets you do just that. It lets you lock in a fixed price for a
gas, so when the price goes up in the future, you won’t incur any additional costs. This service works well, if you are certain that gas prices will increase in the future. If prices go down, you will benefit from lower prices but will still have to pay the fee for each booked gallon over the period of your plan ( around $0.28 – 0.40 per gallon depending on the lock-in period)). This hedging strategy worked great for years for Southwest Airlines until the recent drop in oil
prices dropped their stock price like a hammer!