All Forum Posts by: Brian Loibl

Thanks everyone for your responses and sharing WHY it's not a great idea to take anything other than certified funds for the deposit and 1st months rent. I have since received the certified funds from them and I look forward to receiving the monthly payments via Cozy. 

@Micah Haworth welcome to the BP community! It's good to see that you have taken action on the books that you've read, that's the most important step in my mind. I'm always happy to talk REI so feel free to reach out. Best of luck on your property search!

So I just accepted someone for a unit in my duplex and are having them provide certified funds for the security deposit and 1st month rent. I will then use Cozy for their regular rent payments. I then got to thinking if it is possible to use online sites like Cozy to accept those initial funds instead of the traditional certified funds. Has anyone used something like Cozy for accepting these initial funds or am I restricted to just certified funds?

@Wayne Brooks - I agree that it is not the mortgage payment, they just word it as if it is. The cash that I would bring to close is the $2300 and the new loan balance is the same as my current loan balance.

@Philip Ganz - I was thinking I would refinance out of the FHA loan a few years down the road, I've only had the property for 6 months and don't believe I will have 20% equity until a few more years. In the meantime I though the extra $200/mo would be a benefit if not planning on refinancing into conventional for more than a year. You do make a good point that restarting the MI is not ideal either.

It's not as straight forward as they make it seem to be and that's why I appreciate people on BP for providing a fresh perspective.

I have been house hacking for the past 6 months and I recently received information on FHA streamlined in the mail. I talked with the lender and with the drop in interest rate would save me roughly $200/mo and I would have to bring $2300 at closing which they describe as my mortgage payment so its not really an extra out of pocket cost? If I consider the $2300 an actual closing cost, the refinance would pay for itself (saving $200/mo) in a year. It seems almost too good to be true so I thought I would reach out to the BP community to see if anyone has experience with this and can shine some light on any of the pitfalls that I may be overlooking or not experienced enough to hone in on.

@Tyler Smith welcome to the BP community. I'm glad to see another fellow engineer jump into real estate! I'm 6 months into my first house hack in NE minneapolis and have learned a ton! There a lot of virtual stuff still going on locally so PM me if you would like some suggestions or feel free to reach out if you want to talk REI, I'm always happy to discuss. Best of luck!

@Mahad Omar welcome to the BP community! House hacking is how I got into the industry as well. I have used Neighborhood Scout to help analyze things like crime, growth, etc. BP has many books for beginners and a free Ultimate Beginners Guide on the site. Feel free to reach out anytime. Best of luck.

@Jordan Crockett welcome to the BP community! I recently closed on my first house hack in NE Minneapolis. Through that process I found out that there are a decent amount of properties that just have "Band-Aids" over issues and to the untrained eye it looks just fine. However, a good realtor can help you spot some of those issues as you walk through the property. Feel free to reach out. Best of luck!

@Mamadou Ngom Welcome to the BP community. House hacking is a great way to get into REI. I just bought my first house hack in NE Minneapolis, it's challenging but very rewarding. Feel free to reach out. Best of luck.

@Mike Paisley welcome to the BP community! I was in a similar situation last year, I paid off all my debts and finally purchased a house hack in Minneapolis. It seems like you are well prepared, just need that final push to get that deal. If you'd like someone to bounce around some ideas, feel free to reach out. Best of luck!