Reviewing Jack Miller’s Buying Houses from A to Z


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  • Folks,

    In 2023, Kim and I will be reviewing all the material on CashFlowDepot. We’ll make corrections/improvements where needed.

    For example, a couple of days ago, I downloaded Jack Miller’s course “Buying Houses from A to Z.” I’m on page 69. What a wonderful course. How great it is to read Jack and hear him talking in my head. Lord, I miss the man.

    As I go through the course, I’ve found a couple of typos, and a couple of things that needed updating. When completed, I make changes to this course and then re-upload it to this site.

    2023 is gonna be a great year!

    Love y’all,

    Bill

    This was a class I was never able to take, so I bought the book years ago. I requested the class from Chris but by then Jack was winding down. I’m so glad we have the materials on this site. I need to make it a point to go over each one of those little manuals. Full of gold!

    What to give an update concerning my thoughts about how we’ll update Jack’s courses.

    As said above, I’m reading Jack’s “Buying Houses A to Z.” It’s wonderful, and I strongly encourage you to download and read this course. It’s free and one of the benefits of your Life Time Membership.

    Most of Jack’s strategies work as well today as they did when he wrote this course. That said, there is a section where he talked about lending to owner occupants. Because Dodd-Frank passed AFTER he wrote this course, and after Jack passed in October of 2009, this technique is no longer a wise, safe strategy to undertake.

    How to deal with this? Editing each of Jack’s courses is a beyond-difficult task to undertake. Instead, I’m going to strengthen the Disclaimer at the front of each of Jack’s books. Same goes for Lonnie’s and Jackie’s material. We’ll advise all readers to meet with a competent profession to have any/all documents reviewed before using said docs in their particular state.

    Remember, most real estate regs are state specific.

    Love y’all,

    Bill Cook
    770-815-8727

    Folks, it’s been about a decade since I deep dove into Jack’s course. Gotta say, I’m having a BALL!!!!

    I’ve completed Buying Houses A to Z. Have about completed Wealth Without Risks. Next course will be Creative Financing Solutions.

    At first, my thought was to rewrite portions of Jack’s manuals to bring them compliant to current tax code. I will not be able to do this. Instead, I’ll strengthen his Disclaimer. Mainly: Much of the tax code in Jack’s courses has changed. That said, much of the deal structures and deal structuring tools Jack writes about work perfectly find today. Two exceptions to this is 1031s an 121 deals.

    When Jack wrote several of his course, an investor could 1031 from an option to a property. With the 2017 tax code change – this was 8 years after Jack’s passing – this technique no longer works.

    In Wealth Without Risk, Jack talks about selling one’s personal residence and avoiding capital gains tax. He obviously wrote this before 121 deals came along. (Section 121 of the tax code). This new code says if you live in a personal residence (YOUR home) for 2 of the past 5 years, a married couple can make up to a $500,000 gain and not pay a dime of capital gains tax. (for an individual owner it’s $250,000). And a homeowner can do this every 2 years and 1 day.

    With each Jack course I complete, I’ll be incorporating several changes to the course.

    Love y’all,

    Bill Cook
    770-815-8727

    This is great Bill. Always nice to know what is currently out of date and what is not.

    Thanks for taking the time!

    William,

    Please remember that Jack went to real estate investor heaven in 2009. Much tax code has changed since them. Adding to this, many of Jack’s courses on CashFlowDepot were written in the 1990s and 1980s. Again, much of the tax code has changed since then.

    That said, the creative deal structuring tools and the techniques Jack used to negotiate with sellers are as effective today as they were when he wrote each of his courses.

    Love y’all,

    Bill Cook
    770-815-8727

    Bill –

    I agree with your approach to focus on the strengthening disclosures and pointing out specific aberations, over the re-writing of aged techniques.
    Otherwise you’ll end up on the treadmill of revising/editing the materials each time the taxman/lawman switches where to bite.

    “That said, the creative deal structuring tools and the techniques Jack used to negotiate with sellers are as effective today as they were when he wrote each of his courses.”

    100%. In my humble opinion – preserving the original material is essential. Like you, I hear Jack’s voice as I re-read these. The point is absorbing the creative genius that is Jack Miller and making it your own, not robotically copying word for word techniques from a bygone era.

    Jimi,

    We are in agreement.

    Right now I’m reading Creative Financing Solutions by Jack Miller that I downloaded from CashFlowDepot. Here’s just one of the many examples where Jack’s tax information is incorrect. That said, his deal structuring techniques are creative and can work perfectly in today’s market.

    One of the chapters I read this morning was Financing Fixer-Uppers. You’ll find it on pages 53 and 54. For the record, these two pages by themselves, especially if you are a flipper or lender, are worth the cost of CashFlowDepot ($299 for a life-time membership), plus the time you’ll invest reading this one course. Anyway, examples 2-6 involve the borrower using his/her personal home as total or partial collateral for the investor loan. Only one problem: Dodd-Frank.

    Jack passed away in October of 2009. This course was written around 2002. Dodd-Frank was passed in 2010, about 9 months AFTER Jack’s death. Dodd-Frank DID NOT EXIST when Jack was teaching this course.

    Readers need to be aware that there can be repercussions if a loan is made to an owner-occupant. There are workarounds.

    With Dodd-Frank now on the books, does it mean the six ways for a flipper to creative fund a deal no longer work? Not at all.

    Kim and I also lend. We’d use (have have used) many of the structures mentioned on these two pages. That said, we’re mindful with whom we’re doing business. Kim and I have done a ton of owner financing. There too, we’re mindful of whom we do business…and if any problem were to arise (and one ever has) we’d be quick to get it resolved.

    Love y’all,

    Bill Cook
    770-815-8727

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