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Updated about 12 years ago,

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2
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0
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David L
  • Buena Park, CA
0
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2
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Building seed money with primary house

David L
  • Buena Park, CA
Posted

I'm looking to sell my house and luck would have it that after being here for 3 years and the rehab I'm doing after I read and learned about some stuff, I should make enough profit for me to pay off almost 75% of all my debt (like 150k in student loans!). I can actually pay off about 85-90% actually from the profit of our house (one and only, primary residence) but that leaves no money to roll into another house for a downpayment.
Now student loan rates are higher than mortgage interest rates though so I'm thinking of a few possibilities but anyone here who has had experience getting into the flipping business with very little seed money and used the "step up" method, would love to hear from you. Could be common sense stuff but I'm still learning and open to being educated.

Being that I reside in southern CA the prices are very steep. So capital requirements are much higher here. Can't even get a starter home at under $250 unless it's inland.
The plan is to rehab my current home and sell it within 6 months. I took out a HELOC for this given that my debt is already high with loans. It was necessary even though the risk is there, there are repairs and rehabs that have to be done and if they are done, I can have enough equity from the sale to pay off a large chunk of the debt.
I left myself about $30,000 to put into a downpayment on another house (the one we will move to). I'm not sure if I need it all and if I don't then that'll be okay. If i end up getting a 203k or FHA loan then the rest of the funds will be available for something else.
Well, if I use all $30k to buy a home to move into, that leaves no real opportunity for investment. I would have to find a home that's suitable to live in for 2 years so I don't pay the capital gains tax and during my residence, I would rehab and sell it at a profit. Basically live there and flip it. This is obviously slow, the market is bound to change in 2 years and not doesn't seem very optimal for money making. For owning and home and comfort with a little bonus cash, sure.

Or I can try to get a FHA loan and use a small portion of the $30k to buy a home I will live in and fix up (same as scenario above) but also use the rest of the capital to buy a second home for investment purposes calculating holding, closing costs, etc. and trying to flip within 6 months or less. Problem with this is I would need to get a second FHA 203k rehab loan due to not having enough capital for the rehabs. There would be no HELOC to pull and credit card interest rates are insane. Not sure if I can even get (2) TWO FHA rehab 203k loans at the same time.

Which brings me to my third option: Rent a home. I won't own property and nothing I'm paying pays towards principal for anything but it will allow monthly mortgage payments to be cheaper, no prop tax or anything else associated with home ownership, will allow me to take a FHA 203k rehab loan (or even a conventional) and allow me to use that $30k for investment on the house I buy while I pay rent to someone else. Basically do this until I can roll the profits and save up about $100k. Then I can look into buying a home should I want my own property and also have enough cash to invest and flip at the same time.

The hardest part for someone like me is that without enough capital to buy my own house AND another investment house, it's almost impossible. Financing poses just as much difficulty esp because it all comes down to capital when you factor in holding costs, down payment, etc.

Are there any other options that I can consider to invest and flip properties with such limited cash?

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