All Forum Posts by: Anna W.

Thanks everyone! I think we found a multi we like. My husband leaves in 3 weeks with only 5 days at the hotel reimbursed so we might buy sight unseen. Fingers crossed, we have have a FaceTime appointment Tuesday with the transactional broker that listed the property.

I think we are doing cash with a small TSP draw. Getting a mortgage is drawing out the process considering my husband is (on paper) getting out of the military June of next year. I'm thinking refi if possible once rent starts coming in and see if lender will consider our 2017, 2018, and 2019 rental income history despite nothing in 2020 (sold it all).

Re 1031 - I appreciate the advice. I made the mistake of not doing a 1031 once and I felt so silly not reaping the benefits with that deal. 

My husband and I had a short lived, several year experience as property owners including a duplex and a condo in two different states. We went through a few tenant turnarounds and sold the properties due to me starting law school. My husband is in the military and pcs'ing to Fort Riley, Kansas next month. We are thinking of getting back into the market. 

How is the market in surrounding areas of Junction City and Ogden? We are not familiar with the area at all. We are thinking of buying my husband a small 1-2 bedroom with cash. Schools are not an issue (except for future renters) and we are looking for a generally safe area. We are from Waianae, HI and have lived off base in Fayetteville NC so we are not looking for SUPER safe, just generally an okay neighborhood. 

Also wanting feedback if we should just do cash or get a loan and get a multi/duplex. We would not be able to do a VA loan because my husband's contract is up next summer.

Thanks!

Hi Kenneth, my husband is pcs'ing to Riley next month. It will just be my husband there with our family and I staying back in Hawaii. We are looking to to buy a small place for my husband. We have owned a duplex in Fayetteville NC before and sold that, also owned a condo here in Hawaii that we sold last year. We learned a lot, so good luck on your endeavor! We are thinking of buying my husband a small 1-2 bedroom with cash. Or we could do a multi/duplex with a loan. I'm not sure what direction to go in. I'm leaning more towards a small place cash just so we don't have to deal with the loan process honestly. 

Question is - how do you like Junction City? (I've been looking at Ogden area as well)

How has it been renting out one side of your duplex in terms of rent price, tenant, utilities (included or not)?

Thank you!

My husband is pcs-ing to Riley while the kids and I stay back in Hawaii for me to finish law school. How is the market up there for multifamilies? We have no idea what neighborhoods are good. It would be nice for him to find a 3-4 unit property to help makeup for the loss of Hawaii BAH for us. We've done multifamily purchase and sale at Bragg so familiar with the baggage that comes with it, but we have no idea what the market is like in Riley. Thanks!

Will do and I will update. Thanks!

Lots of great food for thought - thank you everyone! I think I might actually go for my license while I’m in law school. Each one of you left a very thoughtful reply and I really appreciate it. 

 Thank you for your insight!

We are in Hawaii and have done several transactions buying/selling WITH realtors. I am familiar with the Oahu market having grown up here and checking new listing and research daily for several years now. I am far from knowing all there is to know, but can't help but feel like being a buyer here with a healthy budget is just an invitation to be signed up with realtors' MLS without them having to do much of anything until we find a property that makes sense after dozens of drivebys, rental market research, etc. I crunch numbers with rental income, location, comps, etc. for every deal and potential deal. In a previous sale (maybe luck?), I set a price for our duplex 5% higher than several realtors advised (I used comps and market trends in the area, not Hawaii), and had several over asking price offers in 2 days time and closed in 30 days, apparently appraised for the person's VA loan without any hiccups. We are on realtor #2 for the sale of our condo who is really great, but condo is still on the market. Of course this realtor wants to be our buyer's agent for our next primary home (looking for ADU/multifamily), too. Either my standards are way too high, or I am actually fairly hesitant about letting any realtor off the street walk into a deal where I found the property to put an offer on and they get 50k out of the deal. I am definitely NOT putting down any realtor or services they give, ESPECIALLY when a deal goes sour, just kind of exploring options.

Would anyone advise that in this situation getting a real estate attorney could work rather than getting a realtor?

Maybe go with a flat rate type buyer's agent? 

Does coming to the table and making an offer without a realtor give us any leverage in terms of sale price? 

Maybe i'm biting off more than I can chew and just haven't found the right realtor?

Thanks!

I read an article today in another investment type forum about the National Homebuyers Fund Grant. Essentially it's 5% down from some sort of government funding, non profit organization. When I search the BP forum, there's not much on the topic. When I try to do more research on it, I can't find much information on it. Seems like it's offered in all 50 states, but you have to find a participating lender. We are looking for a primary residence mulitfamily/duplex/SFH+adu here on Oahu (we have 3 years rental income and buying/selling duplex experience). Our condo we live in now is on the market and ties up most of our VA entitlement, so would like to sell. If it doesn't sell, we will need to refi to investor loan to free up VA entitlement. Either way, our funding fee is 3.6% if we don't put down 5%. I was thinking this NHF grant, if legit, would be helpful. Would love to hear why you'd recommend it or not, if it's legit or not, sold to someone that used it, etc. Thanks!

The market here on Oahu has so many non-conforming properties that have say an extra wet bar or extra non-permitted bedrooms. We want to but a primary home property with either VA, traditional or FHA depending on the property and what we can do with it. The DPP process for building an ADU is not too complicated, but how should we choose a property based on those guidelines not knowing for sure if we will get permitting approved in the future? Has anyone bought a non-conforming and successfully renovated it with proper permitting? We're looking at a property between 7 and 8,000 sq. ft. lot with an extra non conforming bedroom and bath. I guess i'm mostly looking for success stories in either building a permitted ADU with approximate cost figures, permitting a non-conforming to a conforming multi family or duplex, and just how do you even start? We've only purchased a duplex and condo before, so unfamiliar with all the red tape. We are from Oahu though so at least familiar with the lay of the land and pricing. Thank you!