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All Forum Posts by: Aaron Bry

Aaron Bry has started 7 posts and replied 38 times.

Post: Keep or Sell SFR in California?

Aaron BryPosted
  • Sacramento, CA
  • Posts 38
  • Votes 6
Originally posted by @Gabriel Ugarte:

You haven't owned the property long enough to avoid capital gains tax. That alone would keep me from selling with that little of equity. You also have to subtract out commission on the sale making your gains even smaller. 

 That is true. Capital gains is two years, right?

You guys make some good points. I think keeping it as my primary may be good for now. Home values are steadily increasing anyways so I may see it rise over 300K in the next year.

Post: Keep or Sell SFR in California?

Aaron BryPosted
  • Sacramento, CA
  • Posts 38
  • Votes 6
Originally posted by @Jeremy Brown:

How do you figure this becomes cashflow positive in a couple years? It sounds like it's not even close.

I used BP's rental property calculator adjusted to Sacramentos average rental increase amount per year, and also assuming that I refinanced and put enough down to eliminate PMI, which is entirely possible for me to do. I'm still new and learning so I may be missing some things.

Post: Keep or Sell SFR in California?

Aaron BryPosted
  • Sacramento, CA
  • Posts 38
  • Votes 6

Hi guys. I purchased a 3 bed, 2 bath SFR in Sacramento, California (Elk Grove area) in March of 2016. I joined BP a few months back and have been learning a lot and lately have been questioning my decision to buy this home. It is my primary for now, my idea was to begin renting it out, but after learning more and running numbers it won't be cash flow positive for 2-4 years. Lesson learned. On the positive side, I am paying less monthly here than I did for my apartment (I only own 50% of the home, so $800 monthly) but I am not nearly as close to work and now spend roughly $150 monthly to commute. My older brother, with whom I purchased the home 50/50 with, is open to the idea of selling.

Purchase Price: 270K

Loan Amount: 256K

Rental Prices: $1500-1800 in my area, depending on quality of home.

Monthly Mortgage: $1600 (PITI)

Current Home Value: $293,000 (I ran comps - house down the street with same exact floor plan sold for $290k last month, but they do not have new flooring, upgraded appliances, remodeled bathrooms, or a new stamped and colored patio in the backyard like I do)

What does BP think? Should I keep it as my primary and take longer to invest elsewhere (maybe when the market is more favorable?) or cash in and run?

Post: Bathroom remodel ideas?

Aaron BryPosted
  • Sacramento, CA
  • Posts 38
  • Votes 6

Yeah, I was planning to, just haven't had time to go shop for one. Do you know how I would fill in the recess? It's six inches deep. I have very little experience with drywall but I'm trying to learn to save on costs. Or is this something worth paying someone for? New lighting is a good idea - the lighting in there now looks very dated.

Post: Bathroom remodel ideas?

Aaron BryPosted
  • Sacramento, CA
  • Posts 38
  • Votes 6

Hi guys - I am trying to figure out ideas for remodeling my bathroom but have come to a halt. I can't figure out what I want to do.

Back when I purchased the home, I ripped out the old linoleum flooring and installed new linoleum, new toilet, stainless steel water lines, new cabinet, vanity. I still need to fix the drywall and paint where the old cabinet left marks, but I've been sidetracked from this project lately.

Just recently I removed the hideous mirror and equally hideous medicine cabinet that was recessed in the wall. Now I'm at a blank. I've seen several options, from a "picture frame" medicine cabinet (That is $350...) or custom DIY in wall shelving that I could probably get done for under $100.

Also, I'd like opinions on what I've done so far. It's the second bathroom/guest bath in a 3 bed valued at around 300K. Is what I have fine or should I look into doing a nicer vanity and tile?

@Chris Mason - we are both willing and able to sell the toys. We both got the motorcycles for less than they could sell for now, so all is well.

It's just a question of if it is worth it or not. At the time of our home purchase, selling everything we had wouldn't have got us close to 20% down. Now, things are looking up with both of us getting raises and bonuses so that is why we are considering trying to get to that equity mark to eliminate PMI.

Thanks for the suggestion Mark! I will look into that!

Looking back I do regret going FHA and not doing 20% down to eliminate PMI, but I'll chalk it up as a learning experience and on the positive side, I'm still paying less to own my home than I was before renting an apartment.

Thanks guys.

We paid a little under market value for the home - definitely not 25% under, though.

George: I have never had cable TV in my house. Just a flatscreen with a DVD player!

If home prices rise enough we have talked about selling - is it worth refinancing if we sell in 2-3 years?

Hi guys. Most of you may not know me, so here is a quick backround:

I am 22 years old and just purchased my first home at the beginning of 2016 (Our current residence) with my older brother.

We financed through FHA at 3.8%, and a monthly PMI of $260 for the life of the loan (versus a conventional where it drops off at 20% equity)

We want to refinance out of FHA as soon as possible. It was a good way to get into a home early on (as opposed to trying to save up for a bigger down payment) - but now we are looking for ways to cut costs.

I/my brother have been toying with the idea of selling our excess toys - two motorcycles - and hitting that 20% equity mark by also getting an updated appraisal (our home value has gone up by about 20K since purchase) - is there any certain way to go about this, certain lenders you would suggest to refinance with?

I'm looking at the best ways to cut costs on our monthly mortgage so any advice from you guys would be appreciated!

Post: Justifying New Vehicle Purchase

Aaron BryPosted
  • Sacramento, CA
  • Posts 38
  • Votes 6

The only upside to the Accord is I received it for free, and it's only at 144,000 miles. But costly maintainance is almost here (I work on my own vehicles, but parts can still be expensive). The rotors will need to be replaced before the end of this year, valves adjusted, timing belt, water pump, new tires... That being said I could sell it as it sits for roughly $2k.

Hyundai offers 10 year, 100K warranty bumper to bumper. It's likely I would keep it for about 7 years and sell for $5k roughly, so less than a grand per year.

I can't finance anything new though. Financing requires full coverage insurance, and being 21 years old, liability vs full coverage difference is huge. $70 a month for liability on my Accord vs almost $200 a month for full coverage on the Hyundai.