All Forum Posts by: Ben Wallis

Hey all- just an update, I'm getting a 3.625% on a 30 year cash out refi, closing on the 15th.  Looking forward to using that to add to the portfolio!  Thanks again.

Hey @Blake Garcia- on the rental property, I'm getting a 3.625%. Currently, the property is in an LLC so we're going to pull it out of the LLC and then put it back in...I've read some other concerns about piercing the corp vail, and looking back I wish we had not put it into an LLC, but in it is and we'll just roll with it. I've got an umbrella policy, etc. so I'm not worried as much on the liability side. I imagine if the loan was a commercial one it would have a higher rate, right?

I'm also redoing my personal property and have a loan that will be 3.0%, no points on closing costs.  If we added a point we could get to 2.75% I believe, but I'm not looking to drop that amount if we don't have to.

Thanks @John Morgan!  Great insights.

Wow, thanks everyone for all the feedback and help!

@Marco Rodriguez- agreed, thank you.

@Joseph H.- thank you!  Will check it out.  

@Corey Chonsky- thanks for asking.  Right now we use that money to fund other investments but have just been saving the profits each month.  This would allow us to have a big "chunk" to then invest as the right opportunities come along.  Yes, we do have a property manager (my W-2 job is Enterprise Sales, so I travel some and also have 4 kids under 7, so life can be a bit nutty sometimes) :-) But the property manager is outstanding, and renting to the demographic that we do has created 0 problems the last 3 years.  Have not had a vacancy yet, and when we have turned over it has been filled within weeks.  Also, we have $10k in cash reserves, which we feel good about given last year we replaced the A/C, foundation work, etc.  Nothing major to replace this year, outside of re-staining a fence.

@Anthony Vicino- so, you don't think we should just plow it all into bitcoin? :-) 

Hey BP community- I wanted to post this to get feedback from the more experienced investors out there.  

My wife and I have a 3/2 home located in Flower Mound, TX that we rent out.  Value on the home is $275k, and we are fortunate not to have a mortgage on it currently.  We bought it 8 years ago for $150k, and it has appreciated extremely well.

With the way that mortgage rates are currently falling, we began the process of doing a cash out refi to pull $150k out of the property to be used for other investments.  However, this is our first time doing this process so we're looking for wisdom/insight to ensure we're not missing anything.  

The new mortgage will mean that we're still cash flowing approx. $500/month on the property, and give us the new capital to use with other investments (we're looking at passive, multifamily syndications).

In my mind, this all makes sense and we're ready to go full steam ahead...but the fear of the first time is a real thing...so basically we're just looking for affirmation that it's all going to be ok, haha.

I appreciate any insight, help, downfalls, or reassurance that you can offer.  Thank you!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Flower Mound.

Purchase price: $149,500

Our first home, that became our first rental property. We lived here for 5 years, and when it came time to move were able to keep the property and have it become our first rental house. Through having some great tenants the first 2 years the house has been incredibly maintained. Properties in our area are appreciating like crazy, and we're looking forward to using the equity in this home for future rental properties.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We were fortunate to be able to keep this property when we were looking for our 2nd house. It had been our plan all along to hold onto it, and thankfully we were able to do so.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

By the grace of God :-) My wife was just looking online and we found this house, and a great real estate agent. Neither of us were considering Flower Mound (or had heard of it). The property was owned at the time by an investor who was out of state, and did a very poor job marketing the house. Only a few pictures, not well done, etc.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA first time home buyers loan. 3.5% down

How did you add value to the deal?

Over the years we put a ton of sweat into the house. Sprinkler system, backyard grass, new fence, redone counter-tops, stained the cabinets, hardware, etc.

What was the outcome?

A property that we've been able to pay off that generates great cash flow each month (that includes a property manager as well)

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Wish I would have been able to buy the other houses in the neighborhood that werefor sale at the time :-)

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes, a great real estate agent (Goodman Group) here in the North Texas area. Jonn and Alexa Goodman are outstanding at finding properties that fit our needs.