All Forum Posts by: Jim Mcmillen

Hi Peter, I just sent you an email through your company website.  Thank you and look forward to hearing from you.

With looking at potentially buying my first rental home, my better half thought it would be best that I hire a property manager.  Does anyone know of any good property managers in Columbus, OH?  Is the going rate about 10%?  Thank you.

When you are reviewing someone's FICO score (the one that goes to 850), what is the minimum score you will accept?

Newbie here and need advise on mortgages.  I hope to be purchasing my first property with some stats as follows:

Zillowestimate: $80,000

Purchase price: $40,000

I will need some cash out of this deal in order fix up the place (maybe $15,000)  When I spoke to a lender recently, he said he could do 1 of 2 things.  I forget what the loan term was, but I could get a 30 year mortgage, pay the $40k to the seller.  I would have an appraisal done on the place and the appraiser will say what needs fixed.  I would get bids for certain things and as they are completed, the bank would release the money to me.  In essence, I'm pay up front and then reimbursing myself once completed.  He said the problem with this is, the appraisal may come back high and the seller would have to "gift" me $15,000 which means she would have to pay taxes on it as I'm not related to her.  The second option (which I like better) is to just get a straight 30 year fixed loan with my current lender and then go to a different lender to get a second mortgage and use those funds to fix up the place.  That way its she is selling me the property with no gifting issues.  My question is, does anyone know how long after I close on the 1st mortgage, could I go to another bank and close?  Right away?  Or does anyone have any other ideas?  I will certainly pose this question with a second lender for their input, but wanted to run this by everyone to see what they thought or have other ideas.  Thanks much!  Jim

Do you know of any good websites that offer a rental agreement or is it best to go to a local real estate attorney for this?

What is the general rule on the minimum salary someone should make in order to qualify for a rental? For instance my sfh rent would be $800 per month. Thank you.

Great, thanks for all the info.  The house is in Franklin County (Columbus).  If the bill is in the tenants name, would I be able to call the division of water to check to see if they are making their payments on-time?  Also for the other utilities such as gas and electric, if they are delinquent on those, they would not come after me, correct?  Thanks again.

Who pays the water when you rent out a single family home?  I'm in Ohio if that matters.  Thank you.

First timer here. I have the potential of buying a home at a great price. A friend inherited it and wants to unload at a great price. I want to purchase and rent out but before I commit I'm trying to figure out how much rents go for. Zillow states $950 but I don't know how accurate that is. Thanks for any insight.