All Forum Posts by: Amy Paradis

It never hurts to shop around. Things very well could have changed but the worst a lender can tell you is no. We've had luck both with mortgage brokers and with a local credit union on an ARM loan when other banks turned us down (NEFCU). I think on one of our commercial deals, I was turned down by the first few banks but I'm not someone to go down without exhausting all options.

I hope you find something to work!!

While there are certainly Some downsides to FHA loans, have you met with a lender yet to see if you can qualify together? Last I knew, FHA allowed credit scores down to 580. You may not get a prime rate but rates are still quite low. Things may have changed with COVID but you could still understand what options there may be. If you have the 2 year landlord and self employment history and can carry the 230K within the allowable DTI ratios, you may find a lender willing to work with you.

@Connor Dunham yes! We pressed pause to focus on growing our maple sugaring business/local investing m and focus on our personal lives for a bit. We are hoping to look seriously over the next few years and see what we can make happen! Thanks you for the reply.

Hey BP!

We are Vermont investors and I side hustle as a real estate agent. We are evaluating the possibility in 1-2 years or so of purchasing a multi family in Alaska and keeping one unit open as a second home for us to travel to in summer months. Hoping to hit a few more local milestones before investing out of state.

We are evaluating the Wasilla, Palmer, Eagle River and possibly anchorage area. The last time we traveled to Alaska, we liked Wasilla but are open to areas within that region that's not incredibly far from Anchorage. I'm curious if there are any recommendations on agents that may be able to set up auto MLS emails for multi families to help me get a bit more familiar with the markets. I'm also curious if anyone could point me in the direction to educate on Alaska market data. The information I'm finding online is scarce.

I really appreciate any insight and would love to connect if anyone had other recommendations.

Hi All,

Currently, I am a landlord in Saint Albans, Vermont with 4 doors. I self manage and very much enjoy the management aspect of being an investor. The challenge I am facing is that I need to find a better system and am curious if any smaller landlords utilize a software. I work in public safety and my W2 job can be unpredictable with unscheduled overtime and, at times, quite a bit of chaos. This can make some of the smaller things fall through the cracks. I am curious if anyone uses a web-based software (possibly an app) that can do the some (or preferably all) of the following:

• Accept mobile payments
• Allow tenants to submit non-critical maintenance requests 
• Allow me to manage certain maintenance functions (ie. state mandated lead paint, furnace maintenance, etc)
• Lease management, especially if it can set reminders to send out renewals. 

Our priorities are accepting mobile payments as it seems to be what most folks prefer these days and lease management. I would love to have a section that tenants could access to do more then just pay but if there are solutions that don't encompass that, it isn't the end of the word. 

To complicate matters, one of my duplexes is held by an LLC and the other in my personal name. I am struggling with just using a Google calendar as things occasionally slip through the cracks. In addition, we hope to scale our business over the next few years so I would like to build a system now while everything is still manageable. If the software also did financial, it would be pretty easy to merge our current system.

I would love to hear if anyone has any suggestions, even if it isn't all encompassing for the above. 

@Shane Brown I think the hardest part is going to be to know when to pull the trigger. I agree that you don’t want to jump into a bad deal just to get into a deal. That said, if you haven’t gone to see it, that may be a good place to start. In reviewing your numbers, just a few thoughts: 1: I would make sure the heat number is correct. Being in Vermont this can cut into your bottom line, especially if the property is electric heat (If it’ the property I’m thinking of, It might be). You can often call the utility company and get the past monthly average for the two years which might help. 2: be sure to account for exterior maintenance including snow removal. All that said, if you are this far into evaluating, go take a look and see if it is something worth pursuing further.

@Shane Brown I think part of the risk can be mitigated to some extent with a strong tenant screening process. I just think you need to be selective in the area you purchase so you can find qualified tenants and don’t Battle vacancy.

@Megan Phillips I’m planning on attending!

@Shane Brown hey Shane, I hope you are doing well. I have a friend that has a SF property In Rutland that she is renting as she moved to Chittenden County for work. I can put you in touch if you are interested. Working in public safety, I’ve had a few people tell me there are certain areas that you would want to avoid due. Reach out if you want me to try to put you in touch with someone about location. Best of luck!

@Jamie Rose I will be honest to say that we haven’t made any moves. To be completely honest, we took a step back from our investing this year to purchase a single family home as living next door to tenants became a bit too much. The market is on fire near us right now and we are hoping to add another rental or two nearby (trying to get enough to have the option of hiring a property management company and make it worth their time). I want to revisit Alaska and I want to keep an eye on Anchorage. Unfortunately, I think any possible moves would be a few years out. Our investing train has taken a bit more time to get started then we were hoping. In the next 6 months, I’m hoping to refinance one of our properties that should give us a sense as to what options we have moving forward.