Moving beyond 4 mortgages from 6200 miles away (with my Brother)

[Matthew Pinkston]

Hello all! I'm looking for some feedback regarding my thoughts on how to acquire my next buy and hold property. 

I currently own 4 duplexes in Ames, IA, and after many years of expensive lessons, have finally turned them into solid income producing properties with growing equity. 

I've also moved to Japan.. So, this creates a number of hurdles to acquiring my next state-side property.

I'm willing to keep searching for a lender that will work with me. However, after talking to my brother, he expressed interest in getting involved. He has a decent income and zero debt. So, we were considering getting the loan in his name, and I'd take care of everything else (down payment, setting up management, etc.) We're going to start shopping for lenders tomorrow. 

Before we jump into this, has anyone else overcome the 4 mortgage/non w-2 income loan problem this way? And what's a good way to calculate our fair shares of the deal? 

Any input would be appreciated. 

Thanks!

[Daniel Ryu]

@Shaun Weekes

My real estate investing partner and I both live in Korea. My partner applied for and received a conventional loan though he and I both are working for a foreign company.

p356 of the April 2014 Fannie Mae Selling Guide states

Foreign income can be used to qualify under certain conditions - 2 years of income taxes filed (the LO wanted 3 years) and some income verification statements.

It wasn't easy. We went through about 4 lenders. The mortgage broker we ended up using was someone he knew through an aunt. Not a close relationship but it wasn't a cold call either.

It took about two months to process. We had to put together a very sharp presentation. The presentation included all the necessary documents and guided the LO and underwriter through the paperwork, including explaining the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion - form 2555. It probably helped that he also had some assets in the US and had been at his current job for several years.

Later, I heard another person in the meetup I help organize - The Seoul REI Meetup - also applied for and received a loan. He had also been living in Korea for a long time and had a good job at a university (but it was foreign income).

My investing partner applied for and got approval, by the way, but he didn't end up using the loan because we ended up buying something all cash with some other partners instead - a short sale. 

So perhaps there might have been more problems down the line. 

Anyways.. just wanted to add that to the conversation ^^