All Forum Posts by: Brian Barcelona

@Brian Barcelona if I were you I would start buy paying off my car loan to help my DTI ratio. When I brought my first home I was making half as much as you, and my credit score went up when I pay off all my open/ended debits. I've learned that credit lines still open is a good look, not so much with loans, they weigh down my score.

(Side Note: if you really want to jump your credit score in a few months (because it takes time for the reporting to update), and if your disciplined with your spending try this;
1st) I went and did the math to see what my positive cash flow each month off my active income (let’s say you’ve got $500 left over after you go through your monthly spending avg. which is all you kick out vs what you bring in)
2nd) Go get a credit card with 0% interest for 12mths with NO higher than 5% transfer fee.( their are some with low as a 0% transfer and I had got that one on my 2nd round cause my credit wouldn’t let me at first)
3rd) do a transfer balance after 24- 48hrs of opening the card (Nope you don’t need wait to actually get the card just call in and tell them over the phone to send a Blanche transfer check to your bank account in the amount of your car Balance; because you’ve only got a 30day window of transfer with 0% interest for the 12mths)
4th) PAY YOUR CAR OFF IN FULL, and take your old car note (let’s says it $450mth) plus your $500 positive cash each month and add all $950 each month to pay against
the balance on the card
5th) in 45days start checking your CreditKarma app (its free) and don’t worry about the 5% if it’s larger than your car loan % because once you’ve paid your car off your score will go up and in a couple months of $950 your car will be paid OFF not in 2more years or so...
Thus saving you probably more than $2,000 in interest on the car loan (so you get to keep $$) and time in payments.
Your saving money on interest (keeping it in your pocket thus making your pocket bigger! Lol... get it )& raising your score all in a couple months.

Now once the credit card is 60% paid off which won’t take long you’ll see your score jump again! The more you pay off your score climbs, once paid off look how far you’ve jumped. Prob like mines did! I went up over 55pts in what 4 or 5 mths (of course I kept paying until it was paid off under the 12mths).. I’ve save 13yrs of payments and over 19k in Just interest alone using discipline and strategy financially like this.))

And now I’d GO get the house hack strategy!
Get a duplex or four, and get the FHA. You'll still have your 20k but now with more for monthly cash flow! No debt! Higher credit!
Make the local small banks fight to give you a loan! You can rent out the other side, practically paying no mortgage & have your positive cash flow. Then within 1 to 2 years move out by buying another place rent your old place out you lived in and continue to increase your positive cash flow.

Remember, cash flow is king!!

Just my 2cents...
Either way, congrats on saving 20k and having a mindset to prosper.
Wish you the best.

@Brian Barcelona

@Corey Gee has some great advice.  Take it.

House hacking is also great advice, but timing is important.  Get your score over 640.  There's a big difference in rate below 640 generally.  Don't wait too long because rates are going up, but fix your credit and buy a multi family property.  Plenty of agents out there.  Start interviewing and doing your due diligence.

Best of luck

Stephanie

I'm in Fort Lauderdale looking for similar investments, if you want to chat sometime let me know.  

BTW I'm also the VP of a pretty big roofing company down here, so let me know if I can be of assistance,  I have a lot of connections in the contracting world.

@Brian Barcelona if I were you I would start buy paying off my car loan to help my DTI ratio. When I brought my first home I was making half as much as you, and my credit score went up when I pay off all my open/ended debits. I've learned that credit lines still open is a good look, not so much with loans, they weigh down my score.

(Side Note: if you really want to jump your credit score in a few months (because it takes time for the reporting to update), and if your disciplined with your spending try this;
1st) I went and did the math to see what my positive cash flow each month off my active income (let’s say you’ve got $500 left over after you go through your monthly spending avg. which is all you kick out vs what you bring in)
2nd) Go get a credit card with 0% interest for 12mths with NO higher than 5% transfer fee.( their are some with low as a 0% transfer and I had got that one on my 2nd round cause my credit wouldn’t let me at first)
3rd) do a transfer balance after 24- 48hrs of opening the card (Nope you don’t need wait to actually get the card just call in and tell them over the phone to send a Blanche transfer check to your bank account in the amount of your car Balance; because you’ve only got a 30day window of transfer with 0% interest for the 12mths)
4th) PAY YOUR CAR OFF IN FULL, and take your old car note (let’s says it $450mth) plus your $500 positive cash each month and add all $950 each month to pay against
the balance on the card
5th) in 45days start checking your CreditKarma app (its free) and don’t worry about the 5% if it’s larger than your car loan % because once you’ve paid your car off your score will go up and in a couple months of $950 your car will be paid OFF not in 2more years or so...
Thus saving you probably more than $2,000 in interest on the car loan (so you get to keep $$) and time in payments.
Your saving money on interest (keeping it in your pocket thus making your pocket bigger! Lol... get it )& raising your score all in a couple months.

Now once the credit card is 60% paid off which won’t take long you’ll see your score jump again! The more you pay off your score climbs, once paid off look how far you’ve jumped. Prob like mines did! I went up over 55pts in what 4 or 5 mths (of course I kept paying until it was paid off under the 12mths).. I’ve save 13yrs of payments and over 19k in Just interest alone using discipline and strategy financially like this.))

And now I’d GO get the house hack strategy!
Get a duplex or four, and get the FHA. You'll still have your 20k but now with more for monthly cash flow! No debt! Higher credit!
Make the local small banks fight to give you a loan! You can rent out the other side, practically paying no mortgage & have your positive cash flow. Then within 1 to 2 years move out by buying another place rent your old place out you lived in and continue to increase your positive cash flow.

Remember, cash flow is king!!

Just my 2cents...
Either way, congrats on saving 20k and having a mindset to prosper.
Wish you the best.

Hey @Brian Barcelona,

First - congratulations on saving $20k at your age, most Americans don't have more than $1,000 in their savings account, so that in and of itself is quite an accomplishment.

I would concur with @John Warren, find something that cash flows and get into it! However, something to be aware of is that your credit score affects not only your interest rate, but also your mortgage insurance. If you're putting less than 20% down, you'll have to pay mortgage insurance. If you want to play around with what your mortgage insurance would be based on your credit score, you can use this tool:

mgic.com/ratefinder

Again, really impressive Brian, I wish you all the best.

@Brian Barcelona if I were you I would start purchasing solid 2-4 unit properties that cash flow right now. Your credit will sky rocket once you start paying a mortgage anyways. You should seek out a local real estate agent who knows investment properties, and start looking at everything you can in your target areas. Find the areas that are nice, safe areas, but aren't the most expensive. Those will probably be the areas where you get the best returns. 

Welcome! 

Welcome! Have you read Never Split The Difference? I enjoyed it and has some relatable negotiation ideas.