All Forum Posts by: Billy Amberg

@Chase M.  Welcome to the BP community!  Through my research on the 203K loan I have found that there are a lot of pros, but also many cons if you are not prepared.  As I started to get more serious about doing a 203K loan, I started a discussion on the topic, which you can find here: The 203K Loan: Open Discussion.  Lot's of great posts from people with experience on the good, bad, and ugly of this type of financing.

@Tara Smith If you are going with a 203K loan it will take significantly longer to close.  Though there are many pros to the 203K loan there are also a lot of cons if you are not prepared.   I have been considering doing a 203K loan myself and started a discussion on the topic here: The 203K Loan: An Open Discussion.  Been getting some great information and stories about BP members' experience with the 203K loan.

Do any of you have any experience with or have come across a situation where a conventional loan was used to purchase and later refinanced into a 203K Loan?  There are obvious fees associated with refinancing, but it might be worth it if it allows for more time to vet the lender/consultant/contractor and potentially avoid one of the pitfalls mentioned in previous posts.

Wow!  All this feedback is great!  Thanks for sharing your stories and experiences with the community!

Ed, this is awesome!  This is exactly the kind of personal experience/story that people, including me, can learn from.  Love the specifics.  Thank you for sharing!!!

BiggerPockets Community,

This is directed at those of you who are interested in the 203K loan.

Done one or more 203K loans? Great! Share a success or horror story!

Never done one? Also great! Hopefully my post can get a conversation started about this type of financing. If even one person can learn something from this I will consider this a successful post.

After reading the BiggerPockets book "Investing in Real Estate With Low or No Money Down," my wife and I have began doing detailed research on using a "203K" loan (part of https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicost1.cfm

This is the basic research I have done so far. Let me know if any of you find this helpful and/or if there are any missing/incorrect points. Again, just trying to open a dialogue to facilitate learning and improvement.

NC BiggerPockets Community,

This is directed at those of you who are interested in the 203K loan.  

Done one or more 203K loans? Great! Who would you recommend as an FHA consultant/contractor?

Never done one?  Also great!  Hopefully my post can get a conversation started about this type of financing.  If even one person can learn something from this I will consider this a successful post.

After reading the BiggerPockets book "Investing in Real Estate With Low or No Money Down," my wife and I have began doing detailed research on using a "203K" loan (part of FHA) to renovate a home. The book does a good job of explaining the basics, like the renovation/rehab costs being packaged into the mortgage, but there are a few critical parts that are left out of the book that we uncovered through research. (See below)

• Maximum FHA loan amount for Mecklenburg County is $294,515. This means that the maximum home amount (including repair budget) would be about $368,000 if we want to pay 20% down - https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicost1.cfm
• There are 7 approved 203k consultants in Charlotte. From what I can tell, you have the option of using them either as your home inspector or in addition to your inspector to verify the necessity of improvements for the 203k loan (you have to use one) - https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/f17cnsltdata.cfm
• For regular 203k loans, there is a minimum of $5,000 in repairs to add to the mortgage of the house. I can't find a maximum amount. https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/sfh/203k/203k--df
• For limited 203k loans, there is a maximum of $35,000 in repairs, there is no minimum. Also limited 203k cannot be structural repairs. https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/sfh/203k
• Mortgage Payment Reserves, which is an amount of the renovation budget set aside to make mortgage payments while the property cannot be occupied for up to 6 months. This means you don't have to live in place while it is being renovated AND you don't have to pay your current rent AND the mortgage for the newly acquired property during the time it is being renovated. 
• I don't think you have to use specific contractors to complete the work, you only have to use a 203k consultant - pg. 386/1009
• There is no specific time frame that repairs must be completed in a 203k loan. The 203k consultant will basically set a reasonable timeline for the repairs to be complete. The key to all of this would be finding a great 203k consultant. It may also be worth having a 203k consultant come to see the property to determine the amount of repairs, just like we would with a home inspector.
• Any unused rehabilitation funds in a 203k loan will be reapplied to the principal
• There is no early redemption penalty for any FHA loan.

This is the basic research I have done so far.  Let me know if any of you find this helpful and/or if there are any missing/incorrect points.  Again, just trying to open a dialogue to facilitate learning and improvement.

Charlotte and surrounding area investors,

I will forever be a student of the real estate game, but I am now comfortable enough to begin looking for deals and pull the trigger on a single family or multi-family property.  The only problem is that I am currently working a full time job and in business school at Chapel Hill, so I have very little time to search for properties.  Do you all have any recommendations of a buyer's agent that can help me find properties and/or provide a guiding hand on getting to know the markets around Charlotte?  I seem to find out about deals too late, as I have had several slip between my fingers in the last couple of months.  Granted, I saw the deals after several days, and in one case, several weeks after they were listed, so I can hardly complain.

Hey everyone!

FNG here.

My name is Billy Amberg, originally hailing from the self-proclaimed hottest place on earth, Columbia, SC, I moved to Charlotte, NC with my wife and dog during the summer of 2015. I have been thinking about investing in real estate since I got to the Queen City but have only just gotten serious about it.

I have done a bit of reading and networking to start. I have read a few of the Bigger Pockets books and listened to numerous podcasts, and I have had the fortune of working with people who have showed me how they have done their deals.

I fall squarely within the "Real Estate Investing With a Full Time Job" category, as I work at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management during the day. My goals is to acquire a multifamily property within the next year and begin building a portfolio of buy and hold, stable, cash flowing assets. This will also serve to insulate me from things I cannot control about the company that I work for when it comes to income. By having an additional income stream I can protect my family from unexpected events and situations.

My good friend Walt Hammond introduced me to the Bigger Pockets community.

Cheers to Real Estate Investing and the Bigger Pockets community!