All Forum Posts by: Brian Rosher

Hi @Gabriel Morley and @Jamie Brayton.  Happy to get together and discuss strategy for landing your first/next deal.

Welcome.  Watch out for the refinance costs when you run your numbers, the refinance will have to pay 1% mortgage recording tax in NY.

You could be able to get a 80% LTV commercial loan. They will care more about the specifics on the deal than how your LLC is setup. It has to have solid returns and financials. 5+ units you'll need to go commercial or private money either way.

If you really don't want to sink your money indefinitely, you need to use the BRRRR strategy which involves getting a fixer upper and making your own equity through repairs.  Then when you refinance at 75% LTV you can pull your initial cash outlay out of the deal.

 I use Alex as well.  Let him do the shopping.

If the rents will support it, you could sell both houses as a package to an investor and have your parents rent back their apartment.  You may also have better luck calling local banks and credit unions that hold their own mortgages, rather than brokers who can only do conforming loans.

If they are in the capital region I may know some banks to check with or can assist with valuation.  What town are they in?

Navy Federal Credit Union will do a HELOC up to 70% LTV on investment property. TD Bank is the other option as you mentioned. I don't have personal experience with them yet. The other benefit to the HELOC is you don't need to pay the mortgage recording fee, around 1% of the mortgage value like you would in a cash out refi. Most banks can do a 75% LTV cash out refi conforming loan.

As long as you are factoring taxes for the property into the numbers, it's not any different than anywhere else.  There are counties in the Albany area with low taxes compared to downstate, just need to know the right places to look.

Does the cabin have a foundation or is it more rustic than that?  Electric and running water?  I would get a building inspector or some contractor opinions on stabilizing and sprucing up the cabin.   I think you are on the right track with Airbnb out there, but management may be a challenge from a distance.  Other option is to market land for sale.

Every town is a little different.  Go in to town hall and speak with the building department.  The main benefit of being "grandfathered" by using the existing structure is that setbacks and construction techniques can also be grandfathered.  In many cases zoning has changed over time so that the property line setbacks and minimum lot sizes are much larger, which could render your lot useless for new construction.  You would then need to pursue a variance which is not guaranteed.

Also, don't knock down any garages or sheds without first talking to the town for the same reason.  Some times you can do a demolition permit which documents what is on site so it can be brought back later.

Conventional financing will allow for 75% LTV on a cash out refinance. I've seen 80% LTV on a commercial loan. You need to ask lenders about "seasoning" requirements if you have increased the value.