All Forum Posts by: Ashley Sommer

Oscar Perez Thanks for your reply. Based on the guidance we are receiving we are going to just make the monthly minimums at least until we secure a loan and purchase a property.

Mark Ferguson Thank you for replying. Right now we don't have any properties and the ones we're looking at don't look like they are going to perform better than our loans. These aren't necessarily deals we're going to peruse just the options that seems to be in our area. It still sounds like cash is good to have on hand so we'll be cautious with pre-paying loans.

Jeff Arndt Thank you for the tip! We both miss that cutoff but a little bit which I guess isn't the worst problem.

Aaron Junck Thank you for posting - I am seeing everywhere on BP that cash is an REI's best friend so we are going to try to hang on to ours!

Oscar Perez Welcome! I'm new here too but not yet an investor. I live in Westchester, NY but my husband is from northern Jersey and we would be interested in investing there. Have you been able to find decent deals and/or cash flow? We're having a difficult time finding anything decent in the area. Are your properties in West Milford or elsewhere in New Jersey? This site has helped me so much already, I hope you enjoy it as well.

Paul Cordero & Jeff Arndt Thank you both for your response. This is very helpful! We will continue to make the minimum monthly payments and hold off on the large payment until we close.

I do wish a 7k payment would eradicate our loans! Unfortunately, we're pretty far from that.

I move most of my paycheck to a Capital One savings account each pay period so my checking account is rather sparse between pay checks. Is there a big advantage in waiting to get pre-approved the day after I get paid so there is as much as possible in my account? Or will they see my salary and be able to conclude on their own that the account gets replenished every two weeks?

Thank you again

Hi,

My husband and I are looking to get pre-approved for our first home very soon (this weekend). Our only debts are his student loans. Our combined assets outweigh his total debt (not sure if this matters).

My husband has been making his minimum monthly payments but also likes to put larger payments toward the loans to help pay them down sooner. He has saved to put about 7k down for the next large installment. My question is: should he make the extra payment or should we wait until after we've received our pre-approval. If so, should we also wait until we actually find a home and secure a real loan?

By making a larger payment we'll have less debt but I've heard that you shouldn't make large payments right before getting approved.

Any advice is appreciated! Thank you.

Tanya S. Hi Tayna, I don't know how hot my market is right now. I am just starting to look into real estate agents, hopefully they can give me some guidance on the local market. We're also not wedded to one market right now. We are open to different locations in the tri-state area based on the distance from our jobs and the numbers, of course. Thank you for sharing that information!

Raymond B. Thanks Raymond. I've heard a little bit about that. I'm a worrier and pretty conservative so I'm going to strive for the 50% rule if I can until I have some more experience. My area is a difficult one so we'll see what's even possible!

Raymond B. Thanks for your reply Raymond. I have read a lot about the 50% rule and I am trying to do my best to see if that's possible around here. I want to be smart about this so I am going to be cautious in my investigation and actions. Thank you for your links.

Karen Margrave Thanks for the tips! I'll try that.

Karen Margrave Thanks for the advice - it is very helpful. Is there a good way to search for agents based on the type of properties they specialize in - other than just a Google search?

Joshua Eng Hi Josh, I'm new to BP too and live in Westchester, NY. There seem to be a few of us new members from NY realizing the same thing about pricing. I'd love to keep in touch as we both gain more insight on succeeding in REI while living in NY.

Joel Owens & Johann Jells I'm piggy-backing off the information provided here to Joshua and thank you for your guidance.

Karen Margrave Thank you for your reply. The guidance is very helpful and I feel like I have a better idea of where/how to start now.