Hello, members of ULC. I'm a new member, having been ordained 10/27/2014.
My passion is my "Help4TheNeedy," as outlined on my blog: Amos Ministries.
I received inspiration, in part, from this article. I was interested in learning that churches are automatically tax exempt, and do NOT need 501c3! It bothers me with all these attacks on churches, to pay taxes, and just general attacks. I'd swear it's plants/agitators...
Before I go into what I'm looking to do, and the guidance I'm seeking, a bit about me. I'm a disabled US Navy Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom. I was aboard the USS Essex, stationed in Sasebo, Japan. I arrived at my duty station on September 7, 2001. As you may imagine, on the day of September 11, 2001, was beyond words. As a new enlistee, I didn’t really have duties, per say, and was told I could go out on the base. However, most everything was closed. During that time, I traveled throughout the Pacific, including Australia, Guam, and much of southeast Asia.
Between then and now, I had the misfortune of being a homeless vet. I got into a nasty auto accident, driving up in the mountains [I spent about 1/2 my life living in Florida, so mountain driving is rather different]. Messed up my car, bad, railing, and wasn't able to work so well. I was also located in a very rural area, with a tiny population of less that 1,000, and the closest "towns" were about 60 miles off.
VA and other such resources were overtaxed, and it was only from friends who lived another 3 hours south, and their church, that I was able to get to the city, and get my car “redneck rebuilt,” and get back on my feet. And that begins what I'm looking at.
I've "been there, done that, and lost the movie rights." 25% of the homeless are veterans; but it's not only veterans I want to help. It's estimated that for everyone homeless person, there's between 3 - 6 vacant homes in the US. HUD and other such programs are maxed, in many parts of the US. Just to get on the list can be 2 - 4 years, and another few years, to actually get the voucher...and life goes on, while they struggle.
Enter my idea: I have established my own, free will church, to help those in need, and fill in the gaps. The idea is to buy up properties, generally multifamily [mobile home parks, assisted living facilities, etc], and work with the VA, Independent Living organizations, etc, to fill up the vacancies, as it applies. We will also work with the VA, work force centers, et al, to help these people become financially stable.
The reason I want multifamilies is because everything is in place, including the cash flow. This means that, as the owner, I can, if needed, use the cash flow, in part, to help those in need get on their feet. One idea is to offer them a park owned home, rent free, until they get financially stable, while they would work for the park/church, volunteering in exchange for rent, and have a set number of years to commit. This fills up vacancies, and increases ROI.
One of the best ways to work is to OJT. Having worked with a few real estate investors over the last few years, I have made a few contacts. A few times, rehabbers, contractors, and such have mentioned that they wouldn’t mind if I would help on the project, as the investor, for example.
As part of this program, clients would work a minimum of 3 days on a “fix & flip” project; more if they are interested in pursing a career as a contractor that works on homes. Otherwise, the other time would be spent on pursing other employment. Once the first home has been sold, the earnings from this would cover the client’s rent and other expenses, up to a year.
Where would the funds come, for the flip and fix? This is the other reason to have the multifamily unit. If there is sufficient cash flow, that can be used as some of the money “put down,” while working with other financial lenders, including private lenders, to fund the rehab. If not, then cross-collateralization is the other option, with similar principals to the prior method.
I have some background in real estate investing, including personal assisting other ivestors, bird dogging, and wholesaing [getting a house under contract, and selling the contract]. Part of the idea to fund is by using Self-Directed IRAs or Solo-401ks. Anyone who has a 401k, IRA, or other form of retirement account can, in many cases, roll them over into one of these, to invest in real estate. In either of those, just like the other accounts, there would be a third party company, a buffer, if you will, to make sure that the money isn't misused, protecting the people. The goal would be to combine the accounts, to purchase such a property, and put the gears in motion. Each month, as per the terms structured, each party would get a part of the net [after expenses], back into their retirement account.
The main part of the church, that isn't doing the "help4theneedy project," will be virtual. Messages will between teleconferencing, with the possibility, in the future, of audio recording, as podcasts to be uploaded to various podcasting sites, and video, so that those who don't get the chance to listen live, can do so, at their leisure.
The main focus, however, isn’t so much as “giving a message,” as it is a call to action. Faith, alone, is not enough, for one must have deeds to go with it. Even if one cannot, directly, act, doing some small action will be remembered!
This, of course, is a "rough draft." I've already been talking to a few of the different companies that run the SD-IRAs/S-401ks. It is possible, although it does require a bit of extra work: the people establish one "entity" for their retirement, which owns a part of another entity, owning the property, and the church owning another, or is the acting management of the property, depending on the structure.
