Our first rental property & our first FHA 203k full loan

[Jenny Tang]

Thanks to the wisdom of @Joshua Dorkin and the legend @Brandon Turner, and of course our agent @Justin Taber, my husband and I are in contract on our first triplex rental property in Columbus, OH!  Couldn't have done it without all the education from this community, and we are excited (and terrified!) that we are actually taking action!  

I'm starting this discussion to document our experiences and also seek advice/insight from the BP community as we know we have a long road ahead of us before closing... and not to mention the reno!

After a round of counter offers, our offer was accepted Tuesday, we then had our HUD Consultant walk through the next day, and since then have been sending out a rough SOW to contractors.

Our highlight was during the walk through with our HUD Consultant when we opened up the attic entrance, climbed up, and discovered an amazing attic with ample head space! We are planning for an attic master bedroom suite + loft.

All units will need updated kitchen (plus appliances), bathroom (plus new tub, vanity, toilet), expansion of kitchen in one unit, whole new kitchen area for another unit, new floors, paint in all units, plus new HVAC, plumbing, roof... I am getting overwhelmed as I type!

Time is against us as we have to get our contractor quote to our lender ASAP in order to meet timelines.  Our lender said to get them the quote 10 - 14 days before closing.  

We've already scheduled 5 contractors to walk through the property next week.  This was after contacting around 12 contractors, couple of which replied back that given the SOW they are not up for the project/available.  We had one contractor ask if we had architecture drawings - No, we have not had the time!  It seems like our market is hot and is booming with builds/renovations that good contractors seem to be tied up.

We welcome any insight you may share regarding your experiences with 203k full loans.  Any particular questions we should be asking our contractors during our walk throughs?  Any red flags we should watch out for?  

At times I feel we may be in over our heads, but this is a learning experience what ever may come of this!  We are very cautious people, and are trying to be as resourceful as possible! Hopefully others can benefit from our story as well~

Looking forward to our interactions!

- Jenny and Chi