All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I'm in the same exact boat. I was playing around with some pre-qualifications and I was expecting the same rates you were expecting, and got the same rate you got. Was expecting 4-ish, got the high 5s. Must be related to the current economic situation as April approaches.

What's the rationale behind this deal? As with the other folks, I see red flags all the way around.

@Scott Passman Thank you! Rentometer looks fantastic thus far; I've been playing with it for the last couple of hours. Seems pretty accurate and is probably as accurate as you can get on the web without talking to a real-life professional. 

I'm in the process analyzing potential deals, and lately I've been looking a quadplex properties in California. As you all can can probably guess, assessing appropriate market rent is a key part of my analysis. Finding the appropriate market rent has been a little challenging, though.

What tools do you all use to assess market rents? I've used RentCafe, but I don't know how accurate the rents can be on there. I know the best way to find out is to talk to probably chat with local agent and/or a property management company in the area, but I was wondering if there are any good websites or online tools that are accurate. Thanks in advance!

From what I've heard, you can also join more than one board (it's called joining a secondary board). That's what I'm going to do because I do business in SoCal but will also be doing some business in Central CA. I read that joining the board as a secondary is cheaper than if you were joining just that board alone.

I've found that at least in California, you have to not only hang your license with a broker, but you also have to join a Realtor board to get MLS access. This can get pricy. Maybe someone can chime in if I'm incorrect here.

I had looked into this quite a bit myself. From what I had researched, perhaps one of the biggest cons about condo ownership (like others have mentioned) are HOA fees, but you also have to worry about HOA bylaws, which can change at any time; you can buy a condo now and before you know it, in a few years, they can amend the bylaws to restrict renters or put in place some sort of restrictions that can hinder your renting options. Also have to worry about capital calls/contributions that can be called up at almost any time, from what I've read. Pros, of course, being that they're typically cheaper than a SFH.

Hello  all - I'm in a spot where I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on my first deal within the next 60-90 days if all goes to plan. I've been saving up for a long time and I'll be spending a good chunk of my savings on this first investment. I'm already thinking about my second deal though, and my long-term plan. 

My question to everyone here: do you have any suggestions on how I would finance my second deal? I expect my first deal to cashflow, obviously. But I do not think it will return enough to give me an incredibly substantial income boost. My main source of income currently is my salaried job, and I have a few side hustles in the works that I expect will generate some additional income. It will take me some time to save back up to where I can throw down 20-25% on a downpayment for a second property (especially in Southern California), so I was wondering how most folks finance their second, third, fourth, etc. deals.

@Andrew Postell That makes perfect sense; to me, that's an absolute deal-breaker. One of the things that had been hurting me in getting approved for a good amount (I live in a pricy market in SoCal) was my front-end DTI was not taking into account any rental income I'd be getting from my house-hack.

Are there any catches/caveats to the information you're giving? It almost sounds too good to be true. Thanks again in advance.

@Andrew Postell that’s actually super helpful! Thanks for th clarification. Now... suppose the other units in the multi are unoccupied/vacant. How does a lender determine the rental income that would be applied towards the mortgage payment? Do they base it off market rent in the immediate area?