how to leverage equity of paid off home

Question

Hello, novice here looking for some advice from this great community, I'll try and keep it brief!

I fully own my townhome here in Las Vegas (valued at $400k+), wife and I would like to buy a larger home (around $600k). I have VA disability/Federal Deferred retirement/self employed1099 income, but isn't enough to qualify for a new loan on it's own. (also, no debts at all and credit scores over 800).

Really want to avoid selling current home and renting it back for a while from the buyer until I find another home, get a loan for the difference. Realtor friend suggested a bridge loan or Heloc but neither seem viable from my research.

I would think there would be a way to leverage the equity in my current home in this situation? Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Stephen DeThample · Answer

Sit down with a few loan officers and see what they have to offer.

Henry Lazerow · Answer

Apply for helocs, many have much more relax prequalifications vs mortgages. Just apply a few it has no cost to apply and see what get approved on you will be surprised they often do not even verify income fully. I use Citizens and its great terms 25 yr with 10 yr draw.

Bill B. · Answer

I don’t think your plan is going to work, but maybe I don’t understand. He’s what I think you mean.

You get a heloc, hard money loan, whatever you want to call it for $300k. (75% is about the most you can get. They can’t lend you more because if they have to foreclose it will cost them at least 10%.)

Then you want to take that $300k and get a loan for another $300k with that $300k to buy your dream home. Sell the existing home and pay off the first $300k loan.

Your second problem is. That’s the same as qualifying for a $600k loan. If you don’t qualify for a $600k loan you’re not going to qualify for 2 x $300k loans. No matter who borrows you that first $300k you have to tell the loan officer for the 2nd loan. 1) where the downpayment money came from. 2) that you have an outstanding $300k loan.

I THINK you could make, what I consider your bad plan work. If you borrowed the $600 from your shady source then sold your old property and got a new loan to pay them back. But I think you’ll run in to the same problem. They won’t want to lend you 100%.

Your cheapest and easiest plan would be to rent back. If you're totally against that for some reason. I THINk you would find it easier to get your home under contract, get the new home under contract. Pack up all your stuff in pods/self storage/whatever. Move in to an STR for that month. And then move in to new home with 1 regular $240k loan.

JJ Flores · Answer

wow thanks so much for the reply but that doesn't sound simple to me as a real estate novice! I think I just need to find someone to lend me $400k that my home is worth and I'll pay them back that plus a high amount of interest in 3-6months once I sell it and move to a new place, maybe need to find a LV loan shark :) Just trying to avoid having to sell this place while living in it and having to rent it back.

JJ Flores · Answer

thanks so much for all the info/advice so far. I see my options are limited, but had one last idea that maybe someone could assist with, maybe I'm crazy to even think this could work?

Yes, our main issue is the wife and I aren't as young as we used to be, and I'm a disabled vet, plus we have too much stuff in our tiny townhome. I don't want to get a storage unit and move things there to show our house to sell, and can't store much in the garage as summertime in vegas (it's already in the 110s so inside a garage gotta be 120s). We just want to move out of this house to a new home, then spritz this one up a bit to get the most outta the sale.

Is there anywhere one can find a private personal lender? Maybe be able to borrow $250,000 for a few months and I'll guarantee payback with an interest rate of their choosing and a specific date? I guess what I'm looking for is a legal loan shark, do people like this exist?

This way the 250k I borrow from them won't be shown on my credit report, I can get a VA home loan for another 250k, buy our foreverhome for 500k, sell the townhome once moved for 400k, then pay off the personal investor loan for 250k + interest. We go right from townhome to new place, don't have to rent townhome back after sale, don't have to move anywhere temporarily, no storage units, etc.

thanks in advance!

JJ Flores · Answer

Thanks Stephen, yea I did talk with one private loan officer whom also said to do a sale and rentback but need to talk to some more for sure. I think I just need to find someone that will loan me what my house is worth and charge me some super high interest rate that I don't mind paying and give me a 3-6month window to buy a new place and sell this one (which have been selling in my area within a week) and payback the loan/interest.

how to leverage equity of paid off home

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