All Forum Posts by: Bryan L.

Great Job @Kyle Mack and @Michael Henry! Looks like a home run.

@Account Closed my opinion as someone who also moved to the area from another part of the country is to learn the local market first and where you might want to invest. Spend your time talking to other investors, local agents, lenders, and contractors until you are more familiar. There is no shortage of agents who will help you find investments here. As you get more comfortable with the area then you can certainly get your license to give you more flexibility to look as you please and provide additional streams of income that being an agent can offer. 

Sarah Otto definitely think about what else you might use a license for before you decide to get one. Like Joshua Martin said, there are fees to maintain your license and park it with a broker. There are annual Realtor dues as well as desk fees, flat fees, and commission splits depending on what Brokerage you join. Realty Executives is one of the lowest fees around, but they don't provide much support in the form of marketing or training. Keller Williams is big in training, so good if you are wanting to get into the business full time and want some support. If you decide to get your license WRA.org is a great education option since they are the official state trade group. Good luck whatever you decide.

@John Jimenez my experience with VA loans is limited, so I would definitely talk to a lender that specialized in this type of loan for more info.

My understanding of the debt paydown option is as follows. The lender has a maximum debt to income DTI ratio they will allow. I seem to remember 42% for VA loans, but could be wrong on that. If we use 42% and a simple example of your monthly gross income to be $1000 per month they will allow $420 in total debt obligations. The ability for the seller to help pay off some of your debt to help you qualify comes into play if for example the new principal and interest payment on the property you are looking at is $400, but you also have a car payment of $300 per month with an outstanding car loan balance of $5000, you would not qualify because your total monthly debt obligations are $700 and a maximum of $420 is allowed. In this example you could still make this deal work if in the process of making an offer on the property you asked the seller and they agreed to a $5000 seller concession to be used to pay off the remaining car loan balance. If they agreed to that you would no longer have a car payment and you would then qualify because it would bring your new monthly debt obligations under there maximum allowed limit. This is a pretty simplified example, but hope it helps. Definitely find a VA specific lender as they will know all of the unique rules and paperwork requirements.

John Jimenez the others have answered your questions well except for the VA loan question. If you qualify and have your VA certificate for eligibility definitely use it. Also, thank you for your service if this is the case. The VA has definite advantages over a FHA loan in that it is 0% down, no PMI, low fees, and the seller can even help you to pay off debt as part of the sale to help you qualify. The only concern is that you would be highly leveraged with 0% down, but if you buy right that shouldn't be a problem. Find a lender that specializes in VA and get to work. Good luck!

congrats on the probate listing @Joshua Martin!  Good luck with the postcards. Love hearing your results. 

Welcome Joe Arida ! This is a great place for soaking up lots of knowledge and asking questions.

I'm a fan of Moen as well. You typically can only get the fixtures that have brass internal parts from a plumbing supplier, but the vinyl inside parts from the big box stores have held up pretty well also. Another Moen benefit is that the cartridges are guaranteed for life, so if you ever need a new one just call their customer service line with the party number of your faucet and they will send a replacement to you.

Paint is fine to use, but in a high traffic area that is going to get extra wear and outside weather from foot traffic you have to consider traction to avoid slip and fall liability. That's where a commercial grade carpeting works, but if you are going to paint I definitely recommend a high build paint like a deck refinishing paint and preferably one that has some texture added to it like sand for traction.

No need to remove the nails first. It will just create a bigger repair. Just set them deep with a nail set and put a screw just above or below the nail. Then you can spackle them together at the same time.