All Forum Posts by: Ben Visser

Thanks @Andrew Kerr. I have the carpet and padding already so it is just labor I'm looking for. I've tried thumbtack, but everyone wants to come out to see it before they even give a rough estimate. That's time intensive for me.

Thank you for the information and replying so quickly.

Anyone in northern Utah have suggestions for a good carpet installer and sheet rock tape and texture work? A handyman that can do it is fine as well.

Thanks in advance.

Thank you. It is just west of Washington. I did walk the area and it is a mixed area, however the street it is on has had several recent remodels and updates and seems pretty quiet. This is the ugliest on the street.

Awesome! Thank you for all the input and replies to this thread. I'll keep you posted!

My current investing game has been MLS based and using traditional/owner-occupied financing while I still can. I do plan to branch out later to be more creative, but for now, this works. Because I'm using and agent, I'm avoiding SLC. Housing prices are insane and multi-units don't make sense right now.

30 miles north is Ogden, UT. It's been a city that has had its share of economic ups and downs over the years. Housing prices have stayed relatively stable, but are now on the up tick. Ogden has a lot of rentals and the inspector I hired says the properties he manages there stay rented for long periods of time and have short turnovers when vacant.

Found a duplex that seems to make sense.

Here are the numbers:

legal duplex/converted home.

one 3 bedroom 1 bath side and one 1 bedroom 1 bath side.

3 bd rents currently for $500, 1 bd rents for $300.

Inspector said rents should be $700 and $550. My research supports raising rents.

purchase price $105,000

down 15%

owner/occupied 30 year conventional about 4% interest.

Mortgage only should be about $430, I don't have exacts on tax or PMI.

I'll raise rent to $650 on the 3 bed side and live in the 1 bedroom for now. Upon move out I'll rent out the other side for $550 and move the rent up on the 3 bedroom side when possible. 

after move our $1200 monthly

It has a new roof and windows. Carpet and tile in the last 3 years. It was built in 1893. Inspector found no major issues. It will need the metal siding repainted and some cosmetic work. Furnace is less than 10 years old. Water heaters and near end of life. Not gorgeous, but everything seems to work. I do plan to stash a portion of rent to upkeep as it isn't a new house.

How does it sound? Missing any calculations?

Looking at a duplex and have the offer in and accepted. Met the inspector at the house and he went over the report with me and then proceeded to talk with me about his experience investing in that area as well as his experience as a property manager in the area. He confirmed my suspicion that the rents on the house were very low and recommended I raise them by 50%. Awesome! All sounded great and I thought I had found a great inspector to use.

My agent sent over the fix-it requests we had and the owner/agent agreed to fix them, BUT then went on to say how basically that if everything didn't go well with this purchase and she had an out, she'll take it. This is based on her having a conversation with the inspector I hired who told her the same thing about rents. She has been a very absentee landlord and doesn't know the area so she had no idea her rents were so low. She'll keep the house and raise the rents if she gets the opportunity to get out of the sales contract!

Who the hell does this inspector think he works for!?!?!?

I just sent him a friendly email to remind him and told him I expected at least a full refund if this deal falls through now. We've lost power to any negotiation on this deal %&(&#$!

Thank you Upen. Our first is conventional, so the FHA would be our first FHA, but I'm not sure the house will qualify FHA. Working through the other possible issues on qualifying FHA on a home less than 100 miles from our conventional.

Maybe it was poor research on my part, but I hadn't thought the down payment would jump to 15% already. Isn't commercial/investment only 20%?

@david My lender told us we wouldn't qualify for a 5% down conventional because we already own a home. He said we would have to put 15% down on a conventional. 

I would love a 5% conventional, even with PMI, but how? That is the roadblock I've hit.

We bought our first property last April owner occupied/conventional loan with 3.5% down. 

After speaking with our mortgage guy a few months ago he did a prelim pre-approval and said everything was good to go.

Found a duplex about 30 miles away from Salt Lake City in an area we plan to invest (Ogden, UT) in more down the road. Offer in and accepted. Inspection done, so we are on the clock.

Lender is now saying that since it is a second home and a duplex that conventional may not work and would require 15% down. It is very iffy that the house will qualify FHA (if the seller is even willing to do some cosmetic fixes) and we are also being told that since it is less than 100 miles away FHA might not approve a loan. Also, since it is 30 miles away with jobs closer to the other home that FHA may not buy into the reason we are doing owner occupied on the second home.

Maybe rules have changed, but it seems we are hitting a dead end on trying to buy the 2nd property. Are we stuck? Are there programs we may not know about? Suggestions?

Thursday would be great.