All Forum Posts by: Benjamin Morris

Bank of America has a free balance transfer + 0% 18MO card running atm. I'm currently floating a free $20k which I applied to my line of equity to save me 5% APR on that $20k.

An opportunity has presented itself, but I can't find a way to make the numbers work. A commercial property owner is looking to sell an asset to me for: 1.3M. I would need to pay off the current mortgage of $300K and they would owner finance the balance. They need to be out of the picture in 15 years. I laid it out in Excel that it would be interest only for the first 5 years, while I take out a mortgage for $300k; this doesn't get my monthly payments low enough, so looking for alternative suggestions to make the monthly payment lower. 

Rough income/expense numbers are: $184k income; $100k expenses [Pre-Mortgage]. 

The property has an upside of being worth ~$2M when fully rented; it currently has 7 vacancies. The owner is not actively looking for tenants. Any suggestions or ideas to make it more palatable would be appreciated. I can sell a couple of properties [within maybe a year] and net approximately $200k if that changes the outlook. 

Have a tenant in CT whose lease lapsed October 31st, they remained in possession until November 10th, who refuses to provide me with a mailing address to meet my obligations of mailing a letter outlining what money I've retained towards their security deposit. They actually did a bit of damage (estimated @ $2000), owe for the 10 days overage, thus I intend to keep the whole deposit and bill them the excess. Wanting to bring them to small claims court, but because I don't have a mailing address for them I can't initiate a claim. I originally dropped any intention of pursuing this claim as they have been unemployed for the past few years (alimony support + children were helping them out), but a few days ago received a letter from their attorney requesting I mail the attorney a check for the remaining security deposit. Thoughts of via this letter mailing the small claims request to the attorneys office? 

I interpret the letter as requesting all communications going through his office. Looking forward to your thoughts / opinions of why this would or wouldn't work. 

Thanks, 

Yes you can buy an investment property using a HELOC. I have done so. Its a great way to tap into existing equity in order to advance in real estate investing.

it's super easy to start an llc in CT. I did it from my phone in my insurance agents office (we needed to know the llc name in advance). And then faxed the form over.  Couple hundred bucks and a couple weeks later was all set.  

Billy, 

The numbers have to really work for it to be worthwhile... I struggled to find financing for a boarding house here in CT. In the end I found a bank that didn't blacklist them 100%; if the deal worked they would lend for it. I'm sure there are other banks in your area with a similar school of thought. It just comes down to finding them. Just for comparison....I bought mine for $70k; so far it has 5 tenants (4 vacancies) in it bringing in ~$30,000 and the annual expenses are around $24,000 (including a 15 year mortgage). If I knew my expenses would be so high I may have passed on this property. But also, highly consider what you offer for free and ensure there is money to be made. 

If you end up paying $150k after remodel was it still a deal? 

I use Sava Insurance for my properties in CT. I have a 8-unit sitting at just over $5k annual. My single families are around $1k. 

 What county are you from?

Its always possible that they are living below their means, I know that I do. I'm living in a 9 bedroom boarding house that I bought for $70k; thats about $8,000 per "unit" (The going rate for multi-families is at least $30k per unit here) and the bedrooms rent for $700/each!  If I compared this deal to your deal, I would have picked this one any day.  Why do I live in this house? Because the tenants are paying the mortgage while I build equity to buy my third property. Without knowing your market that property could be a good deal or a horrible deal. But be aware there are deals in every market. I spent a year passively looking until that boarding house came under my scope. 

Sorry, I didn't realize that down payment was an obstacle in getting approval for a larger amount. My experience through banks has been it has to be my money; the seller can't back a note for 10% etc. Though others have had luck with doing that. Maybe it's a solution in your area? 

Do you have the funds just no proof of them? Can your loan officer get creative and let you include a months worth of rent in the down payment? Does it have to be investment or can it be owner occupied? that can cut your down payment to 3.5%