All Forum Posts by: Audra Todd

Yes @Forrest Faulconer, I think you're right!  

Hey @Account Closed, thanks so much for the reply!  For the hard money refi w/rehab loan, our issue is that we have really come to see that we want to DIY more of this ourselves (two contractors now have told me how impressed they are with our tiling work etc. and another local guy said to directly hire for what we can't do and for us to do the rest since we're willing to take more time and he can tell we're "handy")... all to say that we plan to be here and be working.  However, when we're done rehabbing, we'll be on the road/plane again.  It figures that we'd just have a super weird situation.  We never seem to do things the "normal" way.  It has paid off so far though!

@Forrest Faulconer, thanks for the suggestion. I've thought about it certainly, but thought I'd check for experienced wisdom first! Glad to know it worked for you. I am a little concerned that US Bank may not want to consider us again. Of course, there are other options and I hear it's good to go through hometown banks at times for a HELOC. Another issue is that we would still have our mortgage through a "non financial institution".. my mom. Hence trying to figure out if there's a path I'm just not considering. Thank you and man, your parents gave you an awesome name!

Hey everybody,

We bought my childhood home at an exceptionally great price and rented it out for about 14 months at a low rate while he worked around the country, but still considered this house our address etc. Our tenants were excellent and we knew before they moved in that their next step was to buy their own house. So now we are back at the house and ready to renovate. I made the mistake of trying to get a HELOC, not realizing that most banks won't do it for a "rental" property (our insurance showed the home as such) and/or a home that is mortgaged through a non-financial institution (the mortgage is 0% interest with my mom-woohoo!). I didn't realize it was pointless to try to get a HELOC to do the reno.

Fortunately, through that mistake we got a free drive-by appraisal that showed the property to be worth $135k more than we paid for it.  So now I'm curious, could I even potentially just do a cash out refi right now (with the home likely appraising for much less than the drive-by, but still hopefully enough to use to fix up the place) then do another cash out refi after repairs OR just bite the bullet and go for a hard money lender now and cash out refi later?

Because we are both handy (tile our own floors, put in our own windows etc), we would like to take a little more time to save money doing certain things ourselves, but I know that would get more expensive with a hard money lender and especially without us currently having tenants.  I feel like I'm also foggy about some cash out refi logistics. 

Extra details that might help: We both have excellent credit. I essentially house & pet sit in exchange for us living for free & not paying for Netflix or utilities etc when we're in places like LA and I also focus on our stock investments etc to make future money for us... ie, my "income" will not impress any banks. He is a freelancer-ish in the film industry, so even when I tried to get the HELOC, I had to give them numerous W-2s and W-9s. Easily doable as I do our taxes etc., but just throwing it out there in case any options would be closed to us for not having 9 to 5 jobs.

Advice greatly appreciated!

~Audra

We live in a rural area on 2 acres beside a beautiful forest which lines the west and south sides of the property.  There is also a beautiful, clear, spring fed creek. Most of our lives, the forest has been fairly clean and we've had a good enough relationship with the owners that we were allowed to walk the trails and play out there.  In the past 5 or so years, they have been dumping trash back there, and it's massive, easily visible, and concerning me about our well water and the beautiful creek.  Last night we saw the vehicle, pulling a trailer, taking more garbage back there.  I'm thinking the son is actually collecting money to pick up people's trash, pretending he's taking it to the nearby local dump (which is VERY inexpensive), but instead is keeping the dump fees etc.

My husband and I know we could turn them in, but we don't want to go that route and even though what they have been doing is wrong, illegal, and comes with stiff fines, I would rather the situation be fixed without harsh consequences that would forever rift any relationship.  I'm wondering if any of you can recommend a course of action where we might amicably approach the owners about buying the land, while managing to get them to pay for the clean up by lowering the property cost or something.  I guess the worst part to me comes if they have no desire to sell the land and still insist on dumping trash.
I would love to own the property to make sure that trees aren't clear cut by the ever nearing farmlands etc. and eventually make it into a park where people can hike, ride mountain bikes, etc.  The current owners would absolutely be welcome to still use the area for enjoyment, but of course absolutely no trash left behind.

Thanks for any help!
~Audra

Hey @Will Fraser,

Thanks so much for the response!  Definitely gives me some great leads and may help out others as well :)

Hi @Sofia Sharkey,

I've attached pictures of a few things, though I'm not wanting to truly sell them. I'd like to let someone in LA use the decorations since we may end up having a more permanent place again here someday and I'd love to have the option of getting it back. It's awesome that you manage vacation rentals etc! You all have opened up my mind to a whole other realm related to REI that I wasn't considering. Do you have to have a large storage space for your business or do you keep a fairly large percentage of furniture/decor in use?

My husband and I have found the ultimate hack for living essentially rent free in LA, but our Instagram worthy stuff is sitting useless in a storage unit and I don't want to sell it.  I would love to find someone with an empty room/apartment who we could partner with so we could all benefit.  Is there any sort of service for these things?  Definitely wanting to work with someone kind/honest and who already has experience with renting out via vacation sites, or who would prefer for me to do the listing etc.  I totally understand that there will be wear and tear etc., but right now I'm of the mindset of our belongings being assets rather than not benefiting anyone (except the owners of the storage unit).  Thanks a bunch for any input!

I mostly agree with this, except at a particular 4 way stop in Cherokee Triangle of Louisville.  I think people need a review on how such intersections work 😂

Are you thinking short term or long term rental?  I would definitely go for rental on KY Lake!  I grew up in the area and my dad lives on Barkley Lake.  Tons of lake houses (especially nicer/larger homes) stay on the market for a very, very long time when you could be making money renting it out :)  We have a house in Murray, KY—not far from Kentucky Lake—that we rent out while galavanting everywhere else 😂 Just find great tenants!

I remember going to one of the first Forecastle fests... It was actually on a small lawn at the Mellwood Arts Center.  Crazy/amazing how it has grown!