Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Attorney Diane Clair.
A Georgia-based legal expert specializing in:
- Real Estate Law
- Estate Planning & Probate
- Business & Contract Law
She also teaches real estate law at Kennesaw State University and offers a Real Estate Investing Masterclass.
🔑 Key Takeaways from the Interview 1. Legal Profession Misconceptions
- The legal field is often misrepresented by personal injury ads.
- Attorney Claire emphasizes that law is much broader and includes critical areas like estate planning and real estate.
2. Dangers of DIY Legal Work
- Many people use platforms like LegalZoom or AI tools to draft wills or contracts, which can lead to costly mistakes.
- Claire warns that AI can fabricate legal information and should not replace professional legal counsel.
3. Getting Started in Real Estate Investing
- You don’t need a lot of money to begin.
- Start by:
- Creating a business entity (LLC, S-Corp, etc.)
- Exploring tax liens and tax deeds
- Using county foreclosure lists to find investment opportunities
- Claire’s firm helps with title searches, quiet title actions, and closing processes.
4. Estate Planning: Will vs. Trust
- A will outlines asset distribution but must go through probate.
- A trust (especially irrevocable) avoids probate, offers tax benefits, and protects assets.
- Trusts can own property, businesses, bank accounts, and more.
5. Wealth Transfer & Protection
- Trusts allow for tax-free gifting (e.g., tuition payments).
- Assets in a trust are shielded from lawsuits and creditors.
- Claire advises putting all major assets in a trust or business entity.
💡 Notable Quotes
- “Don’t have anything in your own name—have it in the name of the trust or the business.”
- “Real estate is the best thing to invest in and pass down to future generations.”
- “64% of Americans don’t have an estate plan. For minorities, it’s 70%.”
📘 Resources Mentioned
- Website: TheClaireFirm.com
- Real Estate Investing Masterclass: Includes video, PowerPoint, and lender resources
- Consultations: Available for real estate, estate planning, and business law
#SHMS #STRAW #BEST
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome, Welcome, Hi. I'm Rushan McDonald, our host this weekly
Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that
this show provides are for everyone that includes you. Like
I said many many times, it's time to start reading
other people's success stories and start living your own. Build
your story, work your story, become your story. If you
(00:21):
want to be a guest on my show, please visit
our website, Moneymakingconversations dot com and click the b a
Guest button. Let's get this show started. My guest received
her bachelor's degree from Georgia State University and a jurist
doctor degree from Florida A and M University College of Law.
Fam you, she's a rattler. Her law firm practices everything
(00:44):
from real estate law, estate planning, probate, and business and
contract law. That's a lot of stuff and I had
to bring on the show. This is not the first
time I've interviewed it, but she hit me with so
much great advice I wanted to share with my audience
and on a bigger platform. Please welcome to Money Making
Conversations Masterclass. Attorney Diane Claire. How you doing, Attorney Claire.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I'm doing well. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Well, I know that one thing. I forgot to mention
that you also teach real estate law at Kennansas State University.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Correct, I do.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
I'm a professor at Kennesas State.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
That's a lot. Now you're pretty busy. Now I just
mentioned I mentioned real estate law and state planning and
probabe business and contract law, and then your profession I
feel is under a marketing and branding attack because every
time I turn on the radio, I hear somebody blasting
about I can get you to can get hit hob truck,
(01:44):
if you get hit, you fall out of an airplane.
You can get run over by a motorcycle, if you
walk across the street and slip, I can get your money.
I can get your money. I can get your money.
Now you're the esteam person graduate. Did you expect this
to your law professors tell you that this is what
you're going to be walking into. This is the profession
(02:05):
this craft has become. Or I'm being over by Am
I over exaggerating the matter? Please your thoughts.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
No, you're not over exaggerating. And that type of law
person injury law is only one aspect.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
But you can hire lawyers for way more.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
And we can assist you in way more so trying
to pay such close attention to the.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Commercial, but they are dominating that I can't miss them.
I can't miss them. Now, let's talk about you here,
because you know, like the medical profession, there are a
lot of people out there that they become Googling doctors.
They just go on the Internet and try to cure
themselves by just reading stuff they read online. How is
that happening in the law profession, people just trying to
(02:48):
get google legal advice online and try to sidestep lawyers.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yes, absolutely, it happens way too often, especially in my field,
which is you know, I do a lot of real
estate as well as the state planning law. So I
find people that are going online and trying to create
their own wills and trust on legal Zoom. And you
want to get a professional to do that type of stuff.
(03:14):
And I've been practicing law now for a little over
ten years, and so you want to get someone who
has a good amount of experience and know.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
What they're doing.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Don't reference to the people that are on social media
as well, who are telling you this is how you
invest in real estate, because they're not lawyers, and they
may not know exactly what they're talking about.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
So now does that lean itself into that whole conversation
about AI is AI and becoming a part of the
legal game where people are turning the AI and chat
GPT for platforms and that they feel that can lead
them in the right direction and bypass lawyers.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Absolutely, people are using AI. They're googling stuff. Even now Google,
if you google something, it has an AI bot that'll
answer your question before it even gets to the real
websites that you're looking for. So AI is not really
something you want to trust, even if lawyers have gotten
(04:13):
in trouble for using it. Wow, it creates and makes
up stuff.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Yeah, right, So because that's why I wanted to bring
you on because there's so many things that we're doing.
I call them quick fixes. You know, you can it's
you know, basically it's free. You know, if you internet,
you go online, you can just type in something through
your browser on your phone or your app and things
like that. But that doesn't necessarily mean that that's the
correct information. Now, if you had to give somebody some advice,
(04:38):
who's doing that? Where would you tell.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Them to go?
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Besides you as a brand of seeking that type of
level legal advice that's necessary that will not be creating
problems down the line.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
You want to book a consultation with an attorney, you
want to do your research and make sure that attorney
is in that field of law. For instance, I help
entrepreneurs a lot. I help people with setting up their
businesses and also getting involved in investing in real estate.
(05:11):
And so you want to make sure, for instance, in
bast your goal, you want to hire a real estate
attorney or some specializes in that to make sure that
they know how to advise you properly.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Now, you said this a couple of times, getting involved
and investing in real estate. What do you mean when
you say that? Are you saying that there's an approach
that you can assist or point people do right direction
where they can get involved in real estate investments.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yes, so a lot of my clientele are real estate investors.
I help people get into this business from start to finish.
So if you're out there and you want to quit
your nine to five job, you want to invest. You
want to build that real estate portfolio and pass it
on down their future generations.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
That is what I do. I hope people get.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Started in that because a lot of times people don't
know where to start, they don't know how to start.
And then number two, they don't have the right legal
guide or legal expertise to help them once they get
into it, because you do end up being a lawyer
for a lot of things when it comes to real estate.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Okay, now you got my My hand's raised. Now you
can't see it, but it's in the air. What's my
next step? If I call you because you said you
can help me get into invest in real estate, how
do I go about that? And how much money do
I need? Do I need like ten fifty, one hundred
(06:40):
thousand or they're cut off points where one needs to
approach this whole thing. How does one start?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Attorney Claire, So, the first thing I'm going to ask
you is do you already have your business register it filed?
Incorporate it because you've got to do that first because
you cannot invest your personal name. Nothing should be owning
your personal name. So that's number number one. If not,
I'm going to help you set up your business entity.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Okay, cool, So setting up a business company a company, LLC, incorporation, incorporated,
uh ES Corp, or C corp. Those are the type
of things that you recognized as a business.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Absolutely, either an LLC or corporation or some type of
business entity. Okay, then I'm gonna I'm gonna I am
gonna ask you, you know, how much money do you.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Have to invest?
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Now?
Speaker 2 (07:32):
You don't have to have a lot.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
A lot of people have that misconception that you have
to have a lot of money to start investing in
real estate, and that's not true because there's so many
different ways you can invest in real estate. So if
you want to start small, for instance, you can start
with just investing in tax LANs and tax deeds.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
And then from what.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Exactly is that, Attorney Claire, because that's something you know about,
but I've never heard of that. What is that that you.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Just referenced, So it's two different things. So a tax lien,
for instance, happens when a homeowner doesn't pay their their
property okay, and then the county will place a lien
for that amount. Those liens can be usually there's going
to be like a couple hundred dollars. So you can,
(08:21):
for instance, purchase that lian. Now you have an interest
in the property, and if the owner wants to get
that lian removed from their property, they have to come
back and pay you that money plus interest. So that's
a quick way to make money with tax lins. Then
there's tax deeds, which is when the county forecloses on
(08:42):
your property for not paying those tax liens. That is
when you actually are purchasing that property on a tax
for closure sale. So that's a whole other way to
get started. And those are maybe like a couple, so
you can start there. It can start small and then
(09:04):
start investing from there in you know, mortgage foreclosures, or
even do fix and flips or rehab properties and do
rental properties from there.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
I have never heard of this in my life. So
you're saying that one can start a company and then
they can start with lins and they find out here's
some list that you are aware of that you can
go say look these people or leaning you go and
pay for that lian. Now you have an investment in
that property. If that person wants to get that lien off,
(09:35):
they got to come to you, pay you in a
little extra fee for that. Then you have people who
have been property have been repolled. Then you can go
and get that property at a discount turn around and
either sell it as is or you can flip it,
which means upgrade the property. And then you said, in
other words, probate. Did you not say probate.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Yes, I also do probate law. That's not what I'm
talking about when I'm talking about investing in real estate.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Okay, cool, Okay. Now is this a popular business that
people are doing or it's just something that you are
aware of? That's a real niche because it feels like
this is a business that if you if you're smart,
you have time, you have the right legal team. That
is something that can Like you said, this is property
you own. I always tell people, you know, God only
made land and he's not making no more. So when
(10:26):
you buy it, you own something very unique. And that's
what you call building a legacy. Am I correct when
I make those statements?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Yes, that is true. That is very true. And real
estate is something that is the best thing to invest
in and pass down to future generations because it's not
fluctuating like the stock market. You know, one day the
stock market can be up, next minute is down. Typically,
real estate is going to be something that always increases
(10:55):
in value. And so that's why it's the best thing
to invest in if you want to get that financial
freedom and build that wealth then to pass down to
future generations.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Okay, So here's Rushan McDonald. I'm just using me as
an example. I come in, I contact your attorney Claire,
I say I want to I want a consultation, and
then I tell you, look, I have I already have
a business set up that I can use as dedicated
for this real estate. Correct, it can't be like a mix.
This has to be dedicated specifically for real estate and investment.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Correct, it's preferred.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Yes, that is designated for real estate.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Okay, cool? And then what's my next step? Is there
a sheet? Is there some places I go and bid
on properties? How does this work? Because I'm kind of
confused because you have a lot of information and I
don't want to give it away on the air for free,
because you're just doing because you want people to come
into your office. But what are some of the steps?
Are there places we go and bid on homes or
(11:53):
the places you go and you look up stuff in
your office? How does that work?
Speaker 3 (11:59):
So there are places that you go to bid on homes.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
There is a list. Each county hosts this list every month.
Now I go over all.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Of this in my real Estate Investing Masterclass, which is
you can.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Purchase it on my website.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
The Clayfirm dot com, and it goes it literally goes
from the beginning from registering your entity, different types of
industries you can register to invest in real estate, all
the way to the different type of investments and solos
over lenders because there are people, there are lenders out
there that will give you the money to invest in
(12:38):
buying fixing flips or real estate properties, and people don't
have to use their own money. So my masterclass goes
through all of that.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Okay, we're talking to turning in Claire, Diane Claire, by
the way, I've met her on a previous interview and
she blew me or blew me away with the information
that I'm hearing again and being edu hated again about
the process. Not the only problem. Else why I called
her because I'm probably missing out on some investment opportunities.
(13:09):
So is there a good time of the year to invest,
like in the winter time. Is there a slow period
or the summertime or do you wait for the interest
to go down? Because you mentioned the stock market that
is not as unstable as the stock market, are there
periods that you should really look out there and is
very competitive talk to us about that.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
No, there really aren't any periods that are better to
invest throughout the year than others. You just kind of
have to if you're for instance, if you're looking to
purchase foreclosures, you just have to kind of you know,
check the list for the county where you want to
invest in. And this I practice solely in Georgia, but
(13:52):
you can do this in any state. Really every state
has a similar process. So you can check the list
in the county where you want to purchase estate, see
what's going up for auction for foreclosure auction for that month,
and go ahead and do your pre investigation, which is
kind of what my firm also helps out with.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
We lose title searches for review.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Title to see if there's any issue before you bid
on the property. So then once you bid on the foreclosure,
if it's a tax the foreclosure, for instance, then you're
only going to come to us for foreclosing that right
to redeem because the previous owner does have a year
to come back and redeem the property from you. That's
(14:36):
how a lot of investors make money because when they
come back to redeem the property, they have to pay
the interest and fees.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Or you keep the property, So it's a win win
situation either way after you've bid on it, or you
keep the property, they never come back and then you
can take it and fix it up if it needs
to be fixed up, and rent it out.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
That with that, now you.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Do want to come to me to get the quiet
title action completed because you don't only have clear title
because you brought it on foreclosure until you go through
the quiet title process in court.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
You're hearing it on Money Making Conversations Master Class. We
are talking money Making Conversation with Attorney Diane Clair. When
we come back, we're gonna talk about wheels and probate.
And that's another fascinating part of the industry that people
are not hearing the need to have a will again googling,
going online with AI trying to do their wills. We're
talking to Tony Diane Clair. She gonna set the records straight.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald money Making Conversations masterclass
continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
(15:59):
Comversation's masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Did you hear a lot of times your commercials about
real estate investment? You talk about flipping home, you talk
about where.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Do you go?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
How could you be a part of that world? And
I'm on the call? Is attorney dying Claire? And she
got her bachelor's degree from Georgia State University and her
Juris Doctor degree from FAM. You she's a rattler out
of a HPCU grab and she also teaches real estate
law at Kennessas State and she has a master a
(16:30):
program that's if you want to get into real estate investment.
But now we want to make a shift here and
this in regards to you making this money, how do
you protect it? How do you keep it? Especially when
you die? So I'm gonna ask you this question, Attorney Claire.
What's the best estate planning instrument? A will or trust?
Speaker 3 (16:50):
In my opinion, the best of state planning instrument is
always going to be a trust either or a vocable
trust or aravocable trust.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
And what's the difference between because I've heard the word
irrevocable and revocable. What's the difference between those two versions
of a trust.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
So a revocable trust can be changed and can be modified,
it can be amended. An irrevocable trust, on the other hand,
cannot be amended, revoked, or canceled by the person that's
creating it. For those reasons, it presents the best tax
benefits because the government or the irs kind of sees
(17:30):
as you already are giving that asset or that money
away to a beneficiary, and so for that reason, you
pay less taxes on it. That's why I always recommend
for my clients, especially if you're trying to pass on
generational wealth, to get an irrevocable trust.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Okay, now we all hear the word will, will, will, will,
but then you just said the word trust. What exactly
is a will?
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Then? A will is just a document that tells your executor,
who are representative of your estate, how to distribute your state,
who gets what. A will doesn't become effective though until
after you pass. A trust, on the other hand, can
be a living trust, which means you're using it and
(18:16):
putting assets into it while you're still alive.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Now, This is really getting complicated in the sense of
there are people out there who might go, I don't
need that while worry about that. I'm still young, I
don't need a will, I don't need let alone or
trust because of the complications of it and what happens
if you don't do that. Are there examples you can
tell us of real life or famous or just everyday
(18:43):
life stories that you've been involved in or that you're
aware of that you should tell us as a warning signs.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
So let me give you some statisticate numbers. Sixty percent
of Americans don't have an estate plan right now. They
don't have an estate plan. That percentage goes up to
seventy percent when it comes to minorities in America. So
the minority community are not the ones passing down wealth.
(19:13):
And this is not a money thing because there's rich
and famous people who don't have estate plans. It's an
education thing. So my mission, part of my mission with
my law firm, has been to educate people about this
and get them an estate plan. For instance, you have
Chatterwick bosemen who die without an estate plan. You have
prints you know who die without an estate plan, or
(19:36):
Retha Franklin. All famous people who have tons of money
and now their families are fighting over their assets in
court because they did not have a proper estate plan
in place.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
So this is not a will now if it if
they had a will, I'm going to ask you, this
be fighting because you go versus the state plan. So
if you have a will, people could still fight over
the what has been said designated as this person gets this,
this person gets this, this person gets this.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
No, a will, they will not be fighting over if
they at least had a will. A will is the
basic the ground for what you at least want to
have in place when it comes to your estate plan.
The difference, the major difference is that the will still
has to be submitted to the probate court, so your
probate in your state, your state is still going to
(20:36):
go through probate, whereas if you had to trust, trust
or not governed by the probate court in any state,
so they don't go through probate at all, they don't
go through court at all. So that's just the difference.
But a will, you can still have a will and
that will at least protect your assets and your estate
in some way.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Now because it's called this interview is all about protection, legends, gentlemen,
and protection sometimes means that you have to spend a
little money to meet with the right people and sit
down with them. And one thing that I wanted to
make sure that people understand was the value of a
real estate purchase agreement, because people are out there trying
to do real estate purchase agreement without proper representation. If
(21:20):
you can tell people some of the negatives that can
happen without having proper representation Attorney Claire, So, yes.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
You want to make sure if you're especially if you're
investing in real estate on a regular basis, you want
to make sure you have an attorney on your team
to review your real estate purchase and sell agreements. You
want to make sure that the agreement and the transaction
completely is beneficial to you. And that's what we do
here at the Claire Firm. We help our clients. We
(21:54):
make sure that the real estate transaction is best for them.
We review the real estate purchase and sell agreement and
we men sure everything's sound and done correctly.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
And that's key right there, done correctly. There's a couple
of tax questions I'm going to ask you as we
close out the show, here, what are the wealth transfer
and tax benefits for a trust.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
They're significant because and this is this is if typically
if you have an araboclobal trust, because your beneficiaries can
get paid out what's called gifts, and those gifts are
not taxed according to the IRS, so.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
They can get a gift for education.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
So instead of paying tuition directly to Clark Atlanta, for instance,
you can have a trust fund kid and the trust
can pay that gift out to Clark Atlanta for their
tuition and they receive that money tax free because it's
a gift from the state. And when I say a
(23:01):
state doesn't mean you've passed away. Your trust can still
be active while you're alive and pay out to your beneficiaries.
So that's just one example of how you can really
get the help you want with a trust in place.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
I know that it's all about protecting your assets. So
a trust can't protect your assets because I'm just really
just getting educated here, because I've always heard about a will,
I've read about a trust. So a will distributes your assets,
but a trust can protect your assets.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
A trust can protect your assets as well because they're
owned by the trust. So instead of being owned by
you or your business, the trust is the owner and
so it's shielded from lawsuits or you know, other people
that may be trying to come after your assets.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
So we talked about jeury in your trust. We talk
about cars, you talk about houses, we talk about lands,
we talk about CDs. Accounts can be checking accounts or
savings accounts be part of a trust. That's what we're
talking about right.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Absolutely, Because the trust has its own EI in number.
It's like its own Social Security number. So you can
open up a bank account in the name of the
trust and have your assets in there instead of it
being in your own name. And that is what's advised.
That's why I advise my clients to don't have anything
in your own name, have it in the name of
(24:29):
the trust or in the business, and you can actually
put your business inside the trust too.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Wow. Now let me ask you this about it. As
we go through this, Attorney Claire, we talked about real
estate law. We talked about the state planning and promate
business and contract law. As we go through this whole process,
you mentioned that you have a class A course. Let
us know what that course hell is about. Real estate investment.
Let us know how we can where we can go
to register for those courses if you're interested.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Yes, so you can purchase the or on my website,
Theclarefirm dot com and that's th che C L A
I R F I r M dot com. That course
comes with the video, the recorded course that I did live,
as well as the PowerPoint and the references to the
lenders that will assist you with lending you money to
(25:20):
start your real estate investment company. Also, you can visit
my website to just book a consultation with me. It
doesn't necessarily have to be about real estate, but you
can also book consultation with me on real estate or
estate planning and getting your affairs in order right on
my website.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
And that means that if I'm interested in investing learning
about investing, I can book a consultation with you and
get one on one conversations like we're having right now
and educate myself if it comes with the feed. Now,
Ladies and gentlemen, nothing free information you're paying for, but
information that can change your life. Again, Attorney Claire, thank
(25:58):
you for taking the time You've educated me again. Hopefully
my audience is excited about the prospects of investing in
real estate because there are opportunities out there that we
know nothing about. And people are making a pretty profitable
living because they are now understanding how they can with
a small amount of money getting the game of real estate.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Thank your attorney, you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
And we'll talk to my friend. I appreciate you.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
hosted by me Rashaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests
on the show today and thank you our listening to
the audience now. If you want to listen to any
episode I want to be a guest on the show,
visit Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money
Making Conversation. Join us next week and remember to always
(26:45):
leave with your gifts.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Keep winning.
Welcome, Welcome, Hi. I'm Rushan McDonald, our host this weekly
Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that
this show provides are for everyone that includes you. Like
I said many many times, it's time to start reading
other people's success stories and start living your own. Build
your story, work your story, become your story. If you
(00:21):
want to be a guest on my show, please visit
our website, Moneymakingconversations dot com and click the b a
Guest button. Let's get this show started. My guest received
her bachelor's degree from Georgia State University and a jurist
doctor degree from Florida A and M University College of Law.
Fam you, she's a rattler. Her law firm practices everything
(00:44):
from real estate law, estate planning, probate, and business and
contract law. That's a lot of stuff and I had
to bring on the show. This is not the first
time I've interviewed it, but she hit me with so
much great advice I wanted to share with my audience
and on a bigger platform. Please welcome to Money Making
Conversations Masterclass. Attorney Diane Claire. How you doing, Attorney Claire.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I'm doing well. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Well, I know that one thing. I forgot to mention
that you also teach real estate law at Kennansas State University.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Correct, I do.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
I'm a professor at Kennesas State.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
That's a lot. Now you're pretty busy. Now I just
mentioned I mentioned real estate law and state planning and
probabe business and contract law, and then your profession I
feel is under a marketing and branding attack because every
time I turn on the radio, I hear somebody blasting
about I can get you to can get hit hob truck,
(01:44):
if you get hit, you fall out of an airplane.
You can get run over by a motorcycle, if you
walk across the street and slip, I can get your money.
I can get your money. I can get your money.
Now you're the esteam person graduate. Did you expect this
to your law professors tell you that this is what
you're going to be walking into. This is the profession
(02:05):
this craft has become. Or I'm being over by Am
I over exaggerating the matter? Please your thoughts.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
No, you're not over exaggerating. And that type of law
person injury law is only one aspect.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
But you can hire lawyers for way more.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
And we can assist you in way more so trying
to pay such close attention to the.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Commercial, but they are dominating that I can't miss them.
I can't miss them. Now, let's talk about you here,
because you know, like the medical profession, there are a
lot of people out there that they become Googling doctors.
They just go on the Internet and try to cure
themselves by just reading stuff they read online. How is
that happening in the law profession, people just trying to
(02:48):
get google legal advice online and try to sidestep lawyers.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yes, absolutely, it happens way too often, especially in my field,
which is you know, I do a lot of real
estate as well as the state planning law. So I
find people that are going online and trying to create
their own wills and trust on legal Zoom. And you
want to get a professional to do that type of stuff.
(03:14):
And I've been practicing law now for a little over
ten years, and so you want to get someone who
has a good amount of experience and know.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
What they're doing.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Don't reference to the people that are on social media
as well, who are telling you this is how you
invest in real estate, because they're not lawyers, and they
may not know exactly what they're talking about.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
So now does that lean itself into that whole conversation
about AI is AI and becoming a part of the
legal game where people are turning the AI and chat
GPT for platforms and that they feel that can lead
them in the right direction and bypass lawyers.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Absolutely, people are using AI. They're googling stuff. Even now Google,
if you google something, it has an AI bot that'll
answer your question before it even gets to the real
websites that you're looking for. So AI is not really
something you want to trust, even if lawyers have gotten
(04:13):
in trouble for using it. Wow, it creates and makes
up stuff.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Yeah, right, So because that's why I wanted to bring
you on because there's so many things that we're doing.
I call them quick fixes. You know, you can it's
you know, basically it's free. You know, if you internet,
you go online, you can just type in something through
your browser on your phone or your app and things
like that. But that doesn't necessarily mean that that's the
correct information. Now, if you had to give somebody some advice,
(04:38):
who's doing that? Where would you tell.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Them to go?
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Besides you as a brand of seeking that type of
level legal advice that's necessary that will not be creating
problems down the line.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
You want to book a consultation with an attorney, you
want to do your research and make sure that attorney
is in that field of law. For instance, I help
entrepreneurs a lot. I help people with setting up their
businesses and also getting involved in investing in real estate.
(05:11):
And so you want to make sure, for instance, in
bast your goal, you want to hire a real estate
attorney or some specializes in that to make sure that
they know how to advise you properly.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Now, you said this a couple of times, getting involved
and investing in real estate. What do you mean when
you say that? Are you saying that there's an approach
that you can assist or point people do right direction
where they can get involved in real estate investments.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yes, so a lot of my clientele are real estate investors.
I help people get into this business from start to finish.
So if you're out there and you want to quit
your nine to five job, you want to invest. You
want to build that real estate portfolio and pass it
on down their future generations.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
That is what I do. I hope people get.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Started in that because a lot of times people don't
know where to start, they don't know how to start.
And then number two, they don't have the right legal
guide or legal expertise to help them once they get
into it, because you do end up being a lawyer
for a lot of things when it comes to real estate.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Okay, now you got my My hand's raised. Now you
can't see it, but it's in the air. What's my
next step? If I call you because you said you
can help me get into invest in real estate, how
do I go about that? And how much money do
I need? Do I need like ten fifty, one hundred
(06:40):
thousand or they're cut off points where one needs to
approach this whole thing. How does one start?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Attorney Claire, So, the first thing I'm going to ask
you is do you already have your business register it filed?
Incorporate it because you've got to do that first because
you cannot invest your personal name. Nothing should be owning
your personal name. So that's number number one. If not,
I'm going to help you set up your business entity.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Okay, cool, So setting up a business company a company, LLC, incorporation, incorporated,
uh ES Corp, or C corp. Those are the type
of things that you recognized as a business.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Absolutely, either an LLC or corporation or some type of
business entity. Okay, then I'm gonna I'm gonna I am
gonna ask you, you know, how much money do you.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Have to invest?
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Now?
Speaker 2 (07:32):
You don't have to have a lot.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
A lot of people have that misconception that you have
to have a lot of money to start investing in
real estate, and that's not true because there's so many
different ways you can invest in real estate. So if
you want to start small, for instance, you can start
with just investing in tax LANs and tax deeds.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
And then from what.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Exactly is that, Attorney Claire, because that's something you know about,
but I've never heard of that. What is that that you.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Just referenced, So it's two different things. So a tax lien,
for instance, happens when a homeowner doesn't pay their their
property okay, and then the county will place a lien
for that amount. Those liens can be usually there's going
to be like a couple hundred dollars. So you can,
(08:21):
for instance, purchase that lian. Now you have an interest
in the property, and if the owner wants to get
that lian removed from their property, they have to come
back and pay you that money plus interest. So that's
a quick way to make money with tax lins. Then
there's tax deeds, which is when the county forecloses on
(08:42):
your property for not paying those tax liens. That is
when you actually are purchasing that property on a tax
for closure sale. So that's a whole other way to
get started. And those are maybe like a couple, so
you can start there. It can start small and then
(09:04):
start investing from there in you know, mortgage foreclosures, or
even do fix and flips or rehab properties and do
rental properties from there.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
I have never heard of this in my life. So
you're saying that one can start a company and then
they can start with lins and they find out here's
some list that you are aware of that you can
go say look these people or leaning you go and
pay for that lian. Now you have an investment in
that property. If that person wants to get that lien off,
(09:35):
they got to come to you, pay you in a
little extra fee for that. Then you have people who
have been property have been repolled. Then you can go
and get that property at a discount turn around and
either sell it as is or you can flip it,
which means upgrade the property. And then you said, in
other words, probate. Did you not say probate.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Yes, I also do probate law. That's not what I'm
talking about when I'm talking about investing in real estate.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Okay, cool, Okay. Now is this a popular business that
people are doing or it's just something that you are
aware of? That's a real niche because it feels like
this is a business that if you if you're smart,
you have time, you have the right legal team. That
is something that can Like you said, this is property
you own. I always tell people, you know, God only
made land and he's not making no more. So when
(10:26):
you buy it, you own something very unique. And that's
what you call building a legacy. Am I correct when
I make those statements?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Yes, that is true. That is very true. And real
estate is something that is the best thing to invest
in and pass down to future generations because it's not
fluctuating like the stock market. You know, one day the
stock market can be up, next minute is down. Typically,
real estate is going to be something that always increases
(10:55):
in value. And so that's why it's the best thing
to invest in if you want to get that financial
freedom and build that wealth then to pass down to
future generations.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Okay, So here's Rushan McDonald. I'm just using me as
an example. I come in, I contact your attorney Claire,
I say I want to I want a consultation, and
then I tell you, look, I have I already have
a business set up that I can use as dedicated
for this real estate. Correct, it can't be like a mix.
This has to be dedicated specifically for real estate and investment.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Correct, it's preferred.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Yes, that is designated for real estate.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Okay, cool? And then what's my next step? Is there
a sheet? Is there some places I go and bid
on properties? How does this work? Because I'm kind of
confused because you have a lot of information and I
don't want to give it away on the air for free,
because you're just doing because you want people to come
into your office. But what are some of the steps?
Are there places we go and bid on homes or
(11:53):
the places you go and you look up stuff in
your office? How does that work?
Speaker 3 (11:59):
So there are places that you go to bid on homes.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
There is a list. Each county hosts this list every month.
Now I go over all.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Of this in my real Estate Investing Masterclass, which is
you can.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Purchase it on my website.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
The Clayfirm dot com, and it goes it literally goes
from the beginning from registering your entity, different types of
industries you can register to invest in real estate, all
the way to the different type of investments and solos
over lenders because there are people, there are lenders out
there that will give you the money to invest in
(12:38):
buying fixing flips or real estate properties, and people don't
have to use their own money. So my masterclass goes
through all of that.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Okay, we're talking to turning in Claire, Diane Claire, by
the way, I've met her on a previous interview and
she blew me or blew me away with the information
that I'm hearing again and being edu hated again about
the process. Not the only problem. Else why I called
her because I'm probably missing out on some investment opportunities.
(13:09):
So is there a good time of the year to invest,
like in the winter time. Is there a slow period
or the summertime or do you wait for the interest
to go down? Because you mentioned the stock market that
is not as unstable as the stock market, are there
periods that you should really look out there and is
very competitive talk to us about that.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
No, there really aren't any periods that are better to
invest throughout the year than others. You just kind of
have to if you're for instance, if you're looking to
purchase foreclosures, you just have to kind of you know,
check the list for the county where you want to
invest in. And this I practice solely in Georgia, but
(13:52):
you can do this in any state. Really every state
has a similar process. So you can check the list
in the county where you want to purchase estate, see
what's going up for auction for foreclosure auction for that month,
and go ahead and do your pre investigation, which is
kind of what my firm also helps out with.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
We lose title searches for review.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Title to see if there's any issue before you bid
on the property. So then once you bid on the foreclosure,
if it's a tax the foreclosure, for instance, then you're
only going to come to us for foreclosing that right
to redeem because the previous owner does have a year
to come back and redeem the property from you. That's
(14:36):
how a lot of investors make money because when they
come back to redeem the property, they have to pay
the interest and fees.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Or you keep the property, So it's a win win
situation either way after you've bid on it, or you
keep the property, they never come back and then you
can take it and fix it up if it needs
to be fixed up, and rent it out.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
That with that, now you.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Do want to come to me to get the quiet
title action completed because you don't only have clear title
because you brought it on foreclosure until you go through
the quiet title process in court.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
You're hearing it on Money Making Conversations Master Class. We
are talking money Making Conversation with Attorney Diane Clair. When
we come back, we're gonna talk about wheels and probate.
And that's another fascinating part of the industry that people
are not hearing the need to have a will again googling,
going online with AI trying to do their wills. We're
talking to Tony Diane Clair. She gonna set the records straight.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald money Making Conversations masterclass
continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
(15:59):
Comversation's masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Did you hear a lot of times your commercials about
real estate investment? You talk about flipping home, you talk
about where.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Do you go?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
How could you be a part of that world? And
I'm on the call? Is attorney dying Claire? And she
got her bachelor's degree from Georgia State University and her
Juris Doctor degree from FAM. You she's a rattler out
of a HPCU grab and she also teaches real estate
law at Kennessas State and she has a master a
(16:30):
program that's if you want to get into real estate investment.
But now we want to make a shift here and
this in regards to you making this money, how do
you protect it? How do you keep it? Especially when
you die? So I'm gonna ask you this question, Attorney Claire.
What's the best estate planning instrument? A will or trust?
Speaker 3 (16:50):
In my opinion, the best of state planning instrument is
always going to be a trust either or a vocable
trust or aravocable trust.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
And what's the difference between because I've heard the word
irrevocable and revocable. What's the difference between those two versions
of a trust.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
So a revocable trust can be changed and can be modified,
it can be amended. An irrevocable trust, on the other hand,
cannot be amended, revoked, or canceled by the person that's
creating it. For those reasons, it presents the best tax
benefits because the government or the irs kind of sees
(17:30):
as you already are giving that asset or that money
away to a beneficiary, and so for that reason, you
pay less taxes on it. That's why I always recommend
for my clients, especially if you're trying to pass on
generational wealth, to get an irrevocable trust.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Okay, now we all hear the word will, will, will, will,
but then you just said the word trust. What exactly
is a will?
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Then? A will is just a document that tells your executor,
who are representative of your estate, how to distribute your state,
who gets what. A will doesn't become effective though until
after you pass. A trust, on the other hand, can
be a living trust, which means you're using it and
(18:16):
putting assets into it while you're still alive.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Now, This is really getting complicated in the sense of
there are people out there who might go, I don't
need that while worry about that. I'm still young, I
don't need a will, I don't need let alone or
trust because of the complications of it and what happens
if you don't do that. Are there examples you can
tell us of real life or famous or just everyday
(18:43):
life stories that you've been involved in or that you're
aware of that you should tell us as a warning signs.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
So let me give you some statisticate numbers. Sixty percent
of Americans don't have an estate plan right now. They
don't have an estate plan. That percentage goes up to
seventy percent when it comes to minorities in America. So
the minority community are not the ones passing down wealth.
(19:13):
And this is not a money thing because there's rich
and famous people who don't have estate plans. It's an
education thing. So my mission, part of my mission with
my law firm, has been to educate people about this
and get them an estate plan. For instance, you have
Chatterwick bosemen who die without an estate plan. You have
prints you know who die without an estate plan, or
(19:36):
Retha Franklin. All famous people who have tons of money
and now their families are fighting over their assets in
court because they did not have a proper estate plan
in place.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
So this is not a will now if it if
they had a will, I'm going to ask you, this
be fighting because you go versus the state plan. So
if you have a will, people could still fight over
the what has been said designated as this person gets this,
this person gets this, this person gets this.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
No, a will, they will not be fighting over if
they at least had a will. A will is the
basic the ground for what you at least want to
have in place when it comes to your estate plan.
The difference, the major difference is that the will still
has to be submitted to the probate court, so your
probate in your state, your state is still going to
(20:36):
go through probate, whereas if you had to trust, trust
or not governed by the probate court in any state,
so they don't go through probate at all, they don't
go through court at all. So that's just the difference.
But a will, you can still have a will and
that will at least protect your assets and your estate
in some way.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Now because it's called this interview is all about protection, legends, gentlemen,
and protection sometimes means that you have to spend a
little money to meet with the right people and sit
down with them. And one thing that I wanted to
make sure that people understand was the value of a
real estate purchase agreement, because people are out there trying
to do real estate purchase agreement without proper representation. If
(21:20):
you can tell people some of the negatives that can
happen without having proper representation Attorney Claire, So, yes.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
You want to make sure if you're especially if you're
investing in real estate on a regular basis, you want
to make sure you have an attorney on your team
to review your real estate purchase and sell agreements. You
want to make sure that the agreement and the transaction
completely is beneficial to you. And that's what we do
here at the Claire Firm. We help our clients. We
(21:54):
make sure that the real estate transaction is best for them.
We review the real estate purchase and sell agreement and
we men sure everything's sound and done correctly.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
And that's key right there, done correctly. There's a couple
of tax questions I'm going to ask you as we
close out the show, here, what are the wealth transfer
and tax benefits for a trust.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
They're significant because and this is this is if typically
if you have an araboclobal trust, because your beneficiaries can
get paid out what's called gifts, and those gifts are
not taxed according to the IRS, so.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
They can get a gift for education.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
So instead of paying tuition directly to Clark Atlanta, for instance,
you can have a trust fund kid and the trust
can pay that gift out to Clark Atlanta for their
tuition and they receive that money tax free because it's
a gift from the state. And when I say a
(23:01):
state doesn't mean you've passed away. Your trust can still
be active while you're alive and pay out to your beneficiaries.
So that's just one example of how you can really
get the help you want with a trust in place.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
I know that it's all about protecting your assets. So
a trust can't protect your assets because I'm just really
just getting educated here, because I've always heard about a will,
I've read about a trust. So a will distributes your assets,
but a trust can protect your assets.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
A trust can protect your assets as well because they're
owned by the trust. So instead of being owned by
you or your business, the trust is the owner and
so it's shielded from lawsuits or you know, other people
that may be trying to come after your assets.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
So we talked about jeury in your trust. We talk
about cars, you talk about houses, we talk about lands,
we talk about CDs. Accounts can be checking accounts or
savings accounts be part of a trust. That's what we're
talking about right.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Absolutely, Because the trust has its own EI in number.
It's like its own Social Security number. So you can
open up a bank account in the name of the
trust and have your assets in there instead of it
being in your own name. And that is what's advised.
That's why I advise my clients to don't have anything
in your own name, have it in the name of
(24:29):
the trust or in the business, and you can actually
put your business inside the trust too.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Wow. Now let me ask you this about it. As
we go through this, Attorney Claire, we talked about real
estate law. We talked about the state planning and promate
business and contract law. As we go through this whole process,
you mentioned that you have a class A course. Let
us know what that course hell is about. Real estate investment.
Let us know how we can where we can go
to register for those courses if you're interested.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Yes, so you can purchase the or on my website,
Theclarefirm dot com and that's th che C L A
I R F I r M dot com. That course
comes with the video, the recorded course that I did live,
as well as the PowerPoint and the references to the
lenders that will assist you with lending you money to
(25:20):
start your real estate investment company. Also, you can visit
my website to just book a consultation with me. It
doesn't necessarily have to be about real estate, but you
can also book consultation with me on real estate or
estate planning and getting your affairs in order right on
my website.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
And that means that if I'm interested in investing learning
about investing, I can book a consultation with you and
get one on one conversations like we're having right now
and educate myself if it comes with the feed. Now,
Ladies and gentlemen, nothing free information you're paying for, but
information that can change your life. Again, Attorney Claire, thank
(25:58):
you for taking the time You've educated me again. Hopefully
my audience is excited about the prospects of investing in
real estate because there are opportunities out there that we
know nothing about. And people are making a pretty profitable
living because they are now understanding how they can with
a small amount of money getting the game of real estate.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Thank your attorney, you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
And we'll talk to my friend. I appreciate you.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
hosted by me Rashaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests
on the show today and thank you our listening to
the audience now. If you want to listen to any
episode I want to be a guest on the show,
visit Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money
Making Conversation. Join us next week and remember to always
(26:45):
leave with your gifts.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Keep winning.
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