All Forum Posts by: Arron Robertson

@Jeremy Taggart

Thanks for the response! 

My plan would be to leave 20-25% of the equity in the refi. 

The area we live has a lot of brewery’s and restaraunts moving in and there’s no other condos/apartments in the city limits. We also have some of best schools in the state. 

I could see our condo’s value and rental income growing a lot over the next 5 years. So, I would like to hold onto it long term. 

The cash flow if we refinanced and left 25% in would be about $210 a month. Nothing spectacular, but the area definitely attracts good tenants. 

Hello everyone,

My wife and I are looking to buy our first rental property in the next 6 months. We are looking to house hack by getting an FHA loan on a duplex. Right now we are living in a condo that we owe $77k on a $93k 15 year mortgage (about 3 years in) at a 4.125% interest rate no PMI (we got a portfolio loan that we put 3% down on). We have about $10k in the bank to put towards our first property.

We are looking to rent the condo longterm, but with the mortgage payment being close to $700, there's not a lot of room for cash flow. Right now similar condos (with less upgrades than we have) are selling for $120k.

My plan is to refinance while we're still living here to lock in a lower interest rate. While also pulling out a little cash from the refinance. 

Does right now make sense to pull the trigger? Or are there other factors I need to consider? I'm new to the Realestate/Refi world, so I just want to make sure I'm thinking about this clearly.

Any feedback or advice would be appreciated.

@Tony Mai

Thanks for the response! I agree, I don’t think he took me seriously. I can sound a lot younger over the phone at times, and I am a newbie. 

I do think him being unprofessional could be an advantage in some ways, but he could also be not willing to bend at all. 

As far as due diligence, I feel like we’ve got a lot of the numbers figured out (or at least in the ballpark). The numbers I’m totally in the dark on are repair cost and also what his current leases are. 

From my understanding, sellers (not just this guy) of properties this large, want to see proof of financing before they “waste” their time getting inspections done, or letting us look at the properties. Is my thinking accurate? 

Thanks again!  

@Michael Strobel

Seller financing is definitely a viable option! That's something I'm not as familiar with, so I'd have to do some more research. Also having two options going into a deal can be a great thing from what I hear.

Thanks for the encouragement! 

@Jim K.

Thank you for your response! I can see where you're coming from about the guy "spreading it thick and heavy". I've definitely got some numbers to get more exact. I do think there's a strong possibility he just wants out of the game. Just from the state of the properties, the fact that he hasn't listed them for rent anywhere online, and the fact that he actually lives in one of the units. But like you said, he could also be trying to get rid of a "portfolio of rotting lemons". 

if we do eventually make an offer, we'd for sure have contingencies pending having a home inspector and contractor giving us input.

Thanks again!

Hello all,

I am brand new to real estate investing looking to invest in value add multi family properties and I stumbled upon a deal that has a lot of potential. 

Let me start from the beginning.. After reading Rich Dad Poor dad I started listening to Bigger Pockets about 10 months ago and I've been trying to read and absorb as much as I can. I've narrowed down what types of properties I would like to invest in (as mentioned above) but I haven't had much success finding deals using typical avenues like: the MLS, Zillow, Craigslist, Loopnet, Etc.

Theres this duplex a couple blocks from my condo that's had a "for rent" sign up for about a year, so I decided to call the number on there to see if the owner would be interested in selling (since it seemed like he wasn't getting any tenants even though we live in a really good area). Also, it wasn't listed anywhere online for rent that I could find, so I figured this guy just didn't care. 

Fast forward to the "deal".. I ran some numbers on the duplex and had a price in mind so I called the owner. When I asked him if he was interested in selling he said "make an offer" which got me really excited, but then he followed up with "make me an offer on everything". "Everything" is 6 total houses (4 of them being duplexes). I told him I'd have to run some numbers before I could make and offer. I talked to my uncle (who's a Realestate agent) and asked his advice. He told me to try to get current rent rates, leases, etc from the owner, but when I called him back, he changed his tone and basically told me not to waste his time. 

So heres where I could use some advice. We would like to make an offer of somewhere around $850,000 for the whole lot, plus $60,000 in repairs.

How can someone with no real estate experience get a loan for almost $900,000? I have family and friends that have enough money to possibly take care of the down payment, but I wouldn't know how to structure the deal? 

I know this is a lot for my first deal, but I feel like I have to at least try to see where this can lead.

Any advice or guidance would be appreciated!