All Forum Posts by: Bruce Ng

Working on an opportunity to acquire a property with an existing FHA loan.
Seller was saying that escrow is supposed to end up being 6 months before we can acquire the loan. Supposedly that's what their lender told them the last time they went into escrow. When we asked why, we were basically told that's just the way it is...

Anyone have any idea why this would be the case? We tried to get info on the lender to ask directly but they wouldn't give it to us.
I would have thought this would be a relatively quick process to do a credit check, check debt to income, employer verification, etc.

current loan's interest rate is very low so they definitely haven't refinanced anytime recently.

Additionally, having never assumed a loan before, anything I should keep an eye out for that might cause a hiccup? 

Hi,
Does anyone have any idea how much legal fees approximate for evictions in Los Angeles?
Just trying to figure a loose budget for these sorts of things. 
And/or know of any firms that provide this sort of service?

Thanks!

Hi all,

Working out some family stuff on a 4 unit apartment. 
2 of 3 current owners just want to cash out.
The 3rd wants to hold onto it. 

My sister and I are exploring ways to get in with one of the owners that still wants to hold the property. 

4 units
All occupied 
Trying to keep the existing mortgage which is just $200k at 3.5%
We are working through numbers right now and haven't made an offer, but the current owners floated $1.6 mil for the purchase price. 

The mortgage broker I used for my last purchase said we won't be able to open a new loan in second place to the existing one with how much the loan amount is going to come out to.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas on how best to handle this while keeping the existing mortgage in place? 
or do we really need to refi the whole thing? It would be nice to bank the extra $500/mo difference.

Thanks all!

I’m not looking to immediately sell it, but it seems like the smart thing to do would be to sell it in roughly 2 1/2 years because it has appreciated more than $250,000.

Since I’ve lived in it for at least 2 years, if I don’t sell it at some point in 3 years, I would have to claim the 250k in capital gains whenever I do sell it… unless I did a 1031. 

Essentially, unless I am misunderstanding something, I’d have to sell the house in order to save money on taxes down the road.

So for background, I have been house hacking in North LA county for a few years now. Since then, I've come across Biggerpockets and last year I started seriously looking for a second property. This month I got a larger property under contract that will be my new house hack, and I'm trying to plan out what I'm going to do long term with the previous house. The rental market is very strong and I have an 2.25% VA loan. One of the current tenants just signed a lease to take over the whole house after I move out. It will be cashflowing $1k/mo. The other is going to move into the new house with me and I have one other already lined up whenever I finish rehab on the property. The 4th bedroom I'll be prepping for a travel nurse as it is across the street from a trauma 2 hospital.

Because I have lived in this property for at least 2 of the last 5 years, my current plan is to sell it in 2 years and then pick up some new properties with the cash. 

Without doing a 1031 down the road, is there any way I can get away with not sacrificing the $250k tax exclusion benefit without giving up that interest rate? 

I am definitely trying to do everything by the book. I also have an LLC if that helps.

Thanks for the input. If any of you tax folks know the answer to this, I'm also going to be looking for help with taxes and tax planning soon.  =] 

Hi,
I'm looking at a property with some foundation issues. 
Definitely a motivated seller that bought at the peak. 
What's the worst people have seen for foundation repair?
The house is on a hillside in california, so its a little specialized. 
Obviously I'll be getting an inspection and estimate but I just wanted to get a sense of magnitude before I put in an offer.
Any thoughts? We are expecting 100k+

Thanks!

Bruce

So I'm looking at a commercial property in Los Angeles county and this area has rent control in place
The property is a 5 unit, and they are all 1/1's. All of the units are making roughly half of market value for rent.
There is a open lot on the side of the property that I should be able to add another unit to. 

I know if this was a residential multifamily, I can kick someone out and move in.
Does anyone have insights on this as a commercial property? 
(Don't forget its California)

Thanks!