All Forum Posts by: Brian Kantor

Hey, @Jordan Perryman. Not ready to pull the trigger on anything yet, and still doing research, but I did find a couple options. 

Quorum Federal Credit Union would do a HELOC on a property owned in an LLC and let you borrow up to 80% of your equity. First 5 years are interest-only payments. Also, if you have two or more properties in an LLC (not sure if needs to be in same LLC), they will do a cash-out refi on one of them using the other as additional collateral. 75% LTV. I spoke with Tiffany Mazzoccoli over there.

I also spoke with @Alex Bekeza at BRRRR Strategy Funding, who will do a cash-out refi in an LLC for a loan value of $100k+ at 70% LTV (aka, an ARV of ~$145k+ minimum).

Keep me in the loop with what you decide as the more info I can get, the better.

@Greg Koszkul and @Kana Watanabe. I just purchased my first rental property, both long-distance and during covid. Speaking from experience, @Ashley Stieger hit the nail on the head; it's all about building your team first. I interviewed close to 20 agents and 20 property managers and leveraged them together to help me find the right property. 

Once you have 2+ independent people on your team, they can provide not just "eyes on the ground", but also serve as checks and balances on each other. My Property Manager vetted the property my agent showed me to "confirm" it would rent easily and what I could expect to get for it. My agent vetted the work that my contractor did to "confirm" it was being done to the level of quality I needed.

I definitely agree with @Caleb Brown, though, that your first order of business should be reading David Greene's book, "Long Distance Real Estate Investing", which served as my blueprint.

When looking for markets, there are so many inexpensive areas to choose from. People on BP love the bigger markets in Ohio, Florida, Alabama, and Michigan. Pick someplace that you can drive or fly to roundtrip in a day if you can or where you have some friends/family nearby to provide insight, stop by as a favor to you, or even serve as an "excuse" for you to go yourself when you visit them.

Feel free to DM me with any questions.

@Bhanu Kuna, you mentioned that this is for your second property, but you didn't mention your equity stake in your first property. If you've got a decent amount of equity there, you could take out a HELOC against it to use for the renovation here.

Also, throwing this out there as well: If you have a Whole Life insurance policy, you can usually borrow against your cash value at very favorable terms with an unlimited amount of time to pay it back.

There is nothing I can add that hasn't already been said by the other investors who've posted on this thread. Detroit attracts new investors (like me) for it's low cost of entry and seasoned investors for it's high appreciation and growing economy. As someone living in ultra-high cost-of-living NYC, it checked off all of the boxes for me with regards to an investible market.

@Elvis Albarracin Newark/Jersey City is a lot more expensive than you think. The numbers work there for sure, in the right places, but you will likely need more money out-of-pocket than you would in other areas and more than that $10k to $20k.

Hey, @Elvis Albarracin. Congrats on taking the first step; posting here.

Let me preface this by saying that I don't know the Tampa market or your personal situation. With that said, I think that $10k to $15k is plenty to get started.

I'd suggest considering a "House Hack" where you either buy a Single Family Home with 2 or more bedrooms, live in 1 of them and rent out the others. Or buy a duplex/triplex, live in one unit and rent out the others.

If you qualify for an FHA loan at ~5% down, that qualifies you for a $300k property (if you put up $15k), although I certainly would suggest something smaller so you can save money for repairs, insurance and contingencies. Even at a standard mortgage with 20% down (again with $15k), you've got $75k worth of home to max out on. With a quick Zillow search, it seems like there is a lot of inventory under $75k in your area.

The great thing about House Hacking as you qualify for primary residence financing as an owner-occupant, which makes it easier to qualify for a mortgage and at better rates. As long as you live there for at least 1 year, you can then move out and repeat the process.

Now that this basic idea is on the table, check out the many BP books out there. The Househacking Book, might be a good place to start:  https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/house-hacking-ultimate. Also, Brandon Turner's How to Invest in Real Estate is another great one. https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/how-to-invest-in-real-estate-ultimate. Read a ton, listen to the podcasts, and never stop learning.

Good luck and congrats again on taking your first steps/

I'd start with the BP books. Long Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene is a favorite of mine, as is his book on BRRRR investing. I am an "alum" of Paula Pant's "Your First Rental Property" course, and strongly recommend it. It got me up-to-speed on all of the basics to take you from "newbie" to "confident beginner" in a few weeks.

Parallel-pathing with the above, I'd start thinking about where you'd like to invest. I too am a New Yorker, and investing here is just silly for a beginner. Some suggestions on how to think about where you might look:

• I wanted something that was within a 2-hour flight/drive from NYC, so on the chance that I needed to go out there, I could do so and get there and back in a day
• Think about areas where you have family/close friends that either have a base knowledge of that location and/or can provide a secondary reason for you to travel there
• Make sure you pick a spot that has a diversity of industry, multiple universities nearby, and a compelling price-to-rent ratio (aka, low prices to purchase relative to the amount you can rent it out for)

Cheers,
Brian

Thanks, guys. I am scheduling a call with a lender that specializes in loans for real estate investors both in LLCs and your own name. Once I get some feedback there and gauge how legit this seems, I will post here with general feedback. If positive, I will DM whoever wants with contact info. Just want to do a little research first.

Thanks, @Kyle Altenau. If my goal is to access available capital to fund the purchase of another property, how does a rate-and-term refi help with that? I currently own one rental property free-and-clear. Thanks again.

@Alex Bekeza, I am in a similar boat as Noel. If you have a suggested institution for me to reach out to, please DM me. All of the banks that I have spoken with will not allow me to cash-out re-fi against my property bc it's in an LLC.

Thanks in advance!