Steve Cook Inc. - Posted by Bert G

Posted by Terry (MGA) on June 11, 1999 at 09:09:53:

Hi Carmen,

Thank you for such a fast response to my question. I have done a little more research and have found what you said to be correct…:slight_smile: I will simply file in Ga…:slight_smile:

Have a great day!

Terry

Steve Cook Inc. - Posted by Bert G

Posted by Bert G on June 10, 1999 at 20:39:08:

Steve, in your chat session the other night (BIG Thanks for that) you mentioned you use about a half-dozen entities to do your deals. Could you elaborate a bit on why so many, and which you use for what?

On a tangent, I just this week sent off my forms to incoroprate. My own personal credit is pretty good. What would be the FIRST thing to do to begin establishing credit in the corp’s name, it being brand-new with no record?

(And on another tangent, I’m pumped now. Negotiating on my first L/O. They’re sold on the concept, we just gotta get together on the numbers. Real talks start when they get back from vacation next week.)

Thanx
Bert G in ND

Re: Steve Cook Inc. - Posted by Rob FL

Posted by Rob FL on June 11, 1999 at 08:13:34:

As far as corporate credit goes, here is what I have done.

First thing is to call Dun & Bradstreet and get a DUNS#. Most of the creditors want this number. It is used similar to a social security number to show your credit rating.

Then I went to Home Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement Store, and Office Depot and opened corporate accounts. They did want me to sign personally since the corporation is not that big. (They consider big $1 million in annual sales). I did check and none of these corporate cards show on my personal credit reports even though I am personally liable.

Now, I constantly get offers in the mail from Visa, Mastercard, and American Express for corporate cards. I went ahead and opened a corporate Visa account. Note that none of these accounts has a credit limit of more than say $2000, but it is a start.

Re: Steve Cook Inc. - Posted by SCook85

Posted by SCook85 on June 11, 1999 at 24:47:18:

Bert,
My reasoning for having so many corps right now is not a good one. It is basically to cover my butt while I figure out how I ultimately want this structured.

First off I have a management company, wasn’t supposed to own property but now it does. I need to correct this.
Second I have a company that buys my mortgages. It has a line of credit and it holds everything seperate from my real estate.
Third, I have one company that makes all my offers. It does occasionally acquire property but if it becomes a dealer I will disolve it.
Fourth I have a holding company for the properties that I want to keep.
And fifth I have a company for no particular reason that happens to hold a few properties. No particular reason for this one.

Until I know exactly how I want this structured I prefer to have multiple corporations. I don’t want to make a big mistake with any one of them.

SCook85

Re: Steve Cook Inc. - Posted by Sheri

Posted by Sheri on June 10, 1999 at 21:17:53:

Hey Bert. Good going on the l/o. I’m in the process of doing a sandwich l/o. Can you tell us how you did it?
Thanks

Re: Forming Corporations - Posted by abby

Posted by abby on June 13, 1999 at 24:12:37:

Please forgive me if I am getting this wrong, I am new to this…
If sounds as if anyone can just form a corp and get credit under the corp as you have explained it.
I’ve heard the credit repair programs suggest getting a business #, similar to a social security #, is this the same as the Dun #? can you give an idea of what is required to form a corp. what proof of business transactions, etc.
Thank you,
Abby

Re: Steve Cook Inc. - Posted by JPiper

Posted by JPiper on June 11, 1999 at 09:06:11:

One thing to keep in the back of your mind, or talk with your CPA about, is the possibility that some of these corporations may need to consolidate their tax returns.

One question I would ask your CPA is that in the event that one corp was deemed to be a dealer, and was required to consolidate tax returns with another entity, whether that entity would also become a dealer.

Or maybe JHyre will happen to read this and give us the benefit of his expertise.

JPiper

Re: Steve Cook Inc. - Posted by Terry(MGA)

Posted by Terry(MGA) on June 11, 1999 at 07:34:45:

HI Steve, I read your post about your different Corp. and I was considering starting my own Corp. to start doing RE deals in the very near future. I have found out that here in Ga. it cost 289.00 to establish a corp. I have read that Deleware is a much better state to file papers for a Corp. it is only 84.00 there. Are there any reasons to file in my home state instead of out of state, other then it is cheaper? I would love to hear the pros and cons on this from anyone…:slight_smile:

Thanks

Ain’t done yet - Posted by Bert G

Posted by Bert G on June 11, 1999 at 14:12:07:

Nothing’s been signed yet, we still have to come to terms on numbers. The seller is someone whom I’ve known for a while, and they’ve been trying to sell their house for over a year. They’d been restoring a nice 100 yr old house in a town of about 1000 people, when he got the chance to buy a business in a town 50 miles away. They had the house listed, and it was being re-roofed. the roofers left for the july 4 weekend without covering the work, there was a downpour, and half the house had the plaster fall off. The place has been vacant since December, Mike’s fixing the place on weekends, they’re living in a rental and paying mortgage on the old place. In other words, they’re motivated. I just sent them the “Special Report” from Bill B’s course, and they jumped on it.

My main worry is that I might have a hard time filling it. They had it listed for 3 months without a nibble before the roof incident. Its a small town, about 20 miles from the Air Force base, so the base would probably be my prime target. But every other year there’s another round of base closings, and this one’s been downsized once already.

I’ll probably post a final report when it gets all done.
BG

Re: Forming Corporations - Posted by Rob FL

Posted by Rob FL on June 13, 1999 at 11:10:55:

I am not sure. The business number you are referring to may be a tax id number. You will need this also. Contact the IRS at www.irs.ustreas.gov for more info on that.

The Dun & Bradstreet is sort of a credit bureau for business. D&B will ask you a few questions about your business, but basically anyone can get a number. They don’t ask too many details other than name, number of employees, date co. was formed, things like that. Nothing in writing.

In Florida, all the state requires to form a corporation is basically articles of incorporation and start up fees. It is really not that difficult. I started my first corporation basically from scratch with only 2 or 3 deals under my belt, but the state didn’t even inquire about that info anyway.

Re: Steve Cook Inc. - Posted by chris

Posted by chris on June 11, 1999 at 18:27:36:

Terry, I’m no expert , but I would like to say that whatever you do , do it 100% to the letter of the law. Because if someone tries to take you ( your corp. ) down , all your sht had better be squared away. This means proper maintenance of the corporation - all those little pain in the as things you have to do each year - just do it all, correctly, every year, w/out fail. … Your lawer that knows all about asset protection ( not many do ) should help you set up your corporation(s). This is no place to skimp, for the one day when you will need your legal shields, ( your web of corporations, LLPs, LLCs, land & family trusts, not to mention your will ) they must stand up under intense scrutiny , or you’ll be screwed… I just heard a horror story the other day about a guy that lost a half a million because he forgot to put — " under declaration of trust #_____ dated: //__" — after “John Doe as trustee”
You see, in Fl , ya gotta have those words in your land trust or you’ve done nothing… His legal fortress crumbled in his time of need because he didn’t execute perfectly… I’ve a host of other unfortunate tales, ( most w/yours truly as the protagonist ) but I think you get the point… Good luck.

Re: Steve Cook Inc. - Posted by David Alexander

Posted by David Alexander on June 11, 1999 at 10:38:10:

Deleware used to be the place, but they have since signed the reciprocity act with the IRS. That only leaves Nevada. If your going to Inc. in anywhere else that would be the place. There are a ton of arguments pro and con, for inc in your home state and out of state, multiple entities, etc. It all comes down to your plan and how you are going to structure your affairs and business. Dig in and start learning.

David Alexander

Corps - Posted by Carmen

Posted by Carmen on June 11, 1999 at 08:29:47:

You should ask this question in the Legal Forum - Bill Bronchick is an attorney and also has some books/information on corporations and why and how to form them.

In addition, I am pretty certain that if you open a corp in another state, you still must register it in your state as a “foreign corp” if you do business in that state - and it costs almost as much. I was told that the only advantage to a Delaware corp. is for the large multimillion dollar companies who do business in many states, for tax reasons. I’ve had a couple of corps, and it didn’t seem worthwhile to go outside of Florida to do it - too much hassle for not enough benefit. I’m not sure what the laws are in your state.

Re: Ain’t done yet - Posted by lucifer

Posted by lucifer on June 12, 1999 at 05:49:17:

I have been reading this board for some time now and have done several deals, I just got a don’t wanter to O/F me a $39000 house for $14000,$100 down and $100/month 'til Sept 1 this year, so I can rehab it a lil which will bring in 'bout $44000 I already have two couples with good credit VERY interested, and I will O/F with 2500 down.Could you e me or mail me this special report you are talking about?? My freinds all think I am crazy working a full time job and rehabbing houses in ALL my spare time but I am working to go back on my own, wish me luck :} Oh keep up the good work and thank you in advance
Lucifer

Re: Forming Corporations - Posted by Mark (oregon)

Posted by Mark (oregon) on June 15, 1999 at 17:08:31:

In Oregon, it cost me $10 to get a business license and register the business name with the state of oregon. I think annual dues are $30.00.

I have owned my fruit company for 8 years and I didn’t use an attorney to set it up.

You might want to talk to someone about how you set up the company as far as C corp, S corp, and other business structures for liability and taxes.

Talk to you later.