All Forum Posts by: Brad Sneckner

@Curtis Mears It's all about being good to people, and being a decent human being. Good for you sir! I'm glad it turned into a positive deal for you.

@David G West I would definitely recommend buying while you can leverage a consistent W2 income. It will make qualifying MUCH easier for you. Then, you can go 1099 the purchase and establish the necessary history in time for property #2! :) 

Especially because at that point, you can even line up a tenant for your current home and get some rental income to help offset that payment. #loanhack

@Mary Baccellieri Sounds like a great property! I agree with Jaron on assessing how long you will keep the property. If you plan to keep it for more than 5 years, I would agree that doing the refi while rates are low is great to minimize your long-term PMI being paid.

With that said, Conventional guidelines require 25% equity on 3-4 unit properties, not 15%. (It's 15% on a duplex though). So perhaps this is a portfolio product that is offered by a specific bank? $21k seems very high for the closing costs generally but if it's a specialty product that could be why. 

@David G West Hey David! Congrats on starting your journey! There are a couple things to note in your questions. 

First, if you start working 1099 in June, you will not be able to qualify for a conventional or FHA loan. As a 1099 independent contractor, you are seen as "Self-Employed" and you will need a 2-year history. There may be SOME flexibility to allow for only a 12-month history depending on your specific scenario, but if you just graduated that is unlikely.

Second, I would definitely recommend saving more for the down payment, but whether you pay off the student loans or not would depend on your income level. Even if they are in forbearance, they will still impact your debt-to-income ratio since you are looking at a 30-year mortgage and they aren't going to be in forbearance for the whole 30 years. If your income level supports the added "payment" they would calculate (1% of the balance, so ~$300/mo) then I would say save more for the down payment and don't bother paying them off. 

Hope that sheds some light! You're off to a great start, nice work!

@Matthew Porcaro Absolutely. I've had clients want to use "handyman" type construction guys and that's a risky plan. But the contractor typically does still have to go through a vetting process with the lender. 

@Matthew Porcaro The contractor typically has to fill out some documents to be approved (you can't have your best friend's brother do the work because you're buddies). But I misspoke still... The HUD consultant has to be an FHA-approved person, but the contractor I think is LENDER approved so they'll have to go through a process for that if they aren't already on the "good guy" list.

Hi Vanessa! I'm actually a residential lender. What is your reasoning for wanting to use a 203k loan? Are you intending you purchase a property that is not liveable in it's current condition? Or just don't want to pay the rehab costs out of pocket? There are a few things to know about 203k loans: 

There are "scope-of-work" plans that will be needed, and there is a HUD consultant (an FHA designated overseer of the project) that has to sign off on each stage of the project before draws can be issued to the contractors. Additionally, the contractors have to be approved by FHA, and be willing to receive those draws only after various stages of the project are complete. You'll want to research approved contractors in your area and contact them to see what their capacity is to complete the project.

The cost of the HUD consultant, appraisal, and plans are typically required upfront, probably between $2k-3k depending on the project.

If you have any other questions, I'm happy to help!

Hello Bigger Pockets! My name is Brad Sneckner. I am a 24 year old newbie from Riverside California, and I am excited to be apart if this community, and hope to be able to offer whatever I may, although I'm here mostly to learn, since I am only just beginning to learn the business, and don't have much experience at all. I do, however know a bit about financing, and have worked in finance for the past 6 years. I am hoping to learn the business of REI, and want to work my way into my first flip this year, and quickly move to multi-unit properties to hold for income. I look forward to interacting with all of you.