All Forum Posts by: Cari Childers

@John AchesonThank you for your thoughtful reply.  I truly appreciate it.  I am always on the hunt and do need to sit back sometimes.  I enjoy the process so it's hard not to want to do as much as possible all the time! We decided to use this time to increase reserves as @Rodney Sums mentioned, and do more goal setting.  

Thank you friends!   Let's see what happens next.  

Thank you Randy,

My husband sold a property he had and we had enough liquidity to put 20% down on the place. Thank you for the advice.  It didn’t make sense to refi but always looking to love forward and expand as fast as we can!!!  Appreciate the advice. 

My husband and I are in a good position overall but really STUCK on our next move. Need some expert advice!! 

We are both working full time and have a combined income of 200K.

Here’s what we have…

We own a 3/1 block single family property we bought in 2012 in downtown Orlando for 120 K, as our first primary residence, we paid it down to 75 K, cashed out two years ago and pulled 100 k out at 3.8 interest rate - we now owe $180K and could probably sell it for 300 K.  We now are still renting this property and it cash flows about 700/month as a long term rental.  

We used that 100 K and bought a block triplex in Saint Cloud with pool a year ago also in central Florida for $425,000 at a 2.8 percent interest rate.  We owe 318,000 and it’s now worth around 630 K.   We replaced the roof, gutters, all hot water heaters, and all air conditioners. The property cash flows 1700/month to long term renters and is in great shape now. 

We also bought a duplex last year that was 1.6 million in Miami Florida. The home is
historic and was converted to a 6 plex without permits by the previous owner (yikes I know haha).  We were able to get it rezoned to be a short term rental and just have to do a few items to be allowed to call it a 6 plex, after a lot of work, and it’s cash flowing 10K per month after expenses.  I think rezoning/fixing permitting has increased the property value and could sell for 2.1 million.  Since we just purchased in October, we aren’t ready to refi or sell this one.  

What's next? Should we cash out refi the Saint Cloud house? The lenders said we could pull about 125 K to leave 25% in. Our interest rate would be much higher and we wouldn't cash flow as much (maybe 200$ at a 6.9 interest DSCR) Should we sell one? Hold and save up again?

 We don’t have much left in our accounts after all the dust has settled - about 30 k that we need to keep in there for repairs, but would love to keep going and buy a primary residence/duplex next, we are renting a bedroom at the moment and would love to have our own space as we are getting older haha but have been house hacking for a long time  to set ourselves up the last few years!  We could save up again but it may take another year or two to have enough for 25 % down especially in south Florida.  Please help, my brilliant investor friends!!! 

My husband and I are in a good position overall but really STUCK on our next move. Need some expert advice!! 

We are both working full time and have a combined income of 200K.

Here’s what we have…

We own a 3/1 block single family property we bought in 2012 in downtown Orlando for 120 K, as our first primary residence, we paid it down to 75 K, cashed out two years ago and pulled 100 k out at 3.8 interest rate - we now owe $180K and could probably sell it for 300 K.  We now are still renting this property and it cash flows about 700/month as a long term rental.  

We used that 100 K and bought a block triplex in Saint Cloud with pool a year ago also in central Florida for $425,000 at a 2.8 percent interest rate.  We owe 318,000 and it’s now worth around 630 K.   We replaced the roof, gutters, all hot water heaters, and all air conditioners. The property cash flows 1700/month to long term renters and is in great shape now. 

We also bought a duplex last year that was 1.6 million in Miami Florida. The home is
historic and was converted to a 6 plex without permits by the previous owner (yikes I know haha).  We were able to get it rezoned to be a short term rental and just have to do a few items to be allowed to call it a 6 plex, after a lot of work, and it’s cash flowing 10K per month after expenses.  I think rezoning/fixing permitting has increased the property value and could sell for 2.1 million.  Since we just purchased in October, we aren’t ready to refi or sell this one.  

What's next? Should we cash out refi the Saint Cloud house? The lenders said we could pull about 125 K to leave 25% in. Our interest rate would be much higher and we wouldn't cash flow as much (maybe 200$ at a 6.9 interest DSCR) Should we sell one? Hold and save up again?

 We don’t have much left in our accounts after all the dust has settled - about 30 k that we need to keep in there for repairs, but would love to keep going and buy a primary residence/duplex next, we are renting a bedroom at the moment and would love to have our own space as we are getting older haha but have been house hacking for a long time  to set ourselves up the last few years!  We could save up again but it may take another year or two to have enough for 25 % down especially in south Florida.  Please help, my brilliant investor friends!!! 

Other info - we are unmarried.

Also, very interested in talking to real estate lawyers/lenders that need some new clients :) ...

@Valentina Naumenko so you've set up an LLC? Thanks for the reply!

My partner and I have been together for 6 years. I am an American citizen living in Florida and he’s a UK citizen. He has a B1B2 visa and comes to the US for business sometimes but still wants to maintain his residency/pay taxes in England.

I have two rental properties in Orlando, and can almost afford a 3rd. He'd love to buy with me, or help me buy another, but we wonder if we should set up a corporation, LLC or best strategy for us to partner together that's mutually beneficial for us both without doubling up on paying taxes, etc? Would love any advice if anyone has been in our shoes.

Hi Biggerpockets family!

I am signing the papers to cash-out refinance my single family home in Orlando, Florida. From this transaction and my current savings I have 125K to invest. I'm looking for SFHs or Multi families in the Vero Beach area (open to other areas but the prices seem more affordable there than in Orlando or South Florida). I'd like to buy and hold, and rent them out. Looking to build a mutually beneficial team! I'd like to use conventional loans with 20-25% down as BRRR is too much for me to take on at the moment.

Any advice on the rental market there, desirable zip codes, etc Id love your opinions. 

Lol @St Corona @Jay Breitlow!  Amazing that you’re becoming a full-time investor :) good luck!!   Congrats!!!! Let me know if you want any insider info about the various zip codes and nice neighborhoods in Orlando.  I lived in central Florida the majority of my life! My tenant and family are also all there so I visit once a month and would be happy to offer you and your wife any assistance I can.  It looks like you’re moving near the MCO airport then? :)

@Joe Scaparra

Wonderful response. Thank you. I've always been interested in real estate. I'd like to become a full time investor and retire comfortably with the income and investments I've made. It's wonderful you've carved out a path with duplexes. I appreciate your info! Also, I should've mentioned my first property that I lived in for 6 years is a SFH, not a condo. I have been working in south Florida for more than 5 years and wouldn't be eligible to sell without paying capital gains! I think I may just be sentimentally attached to it and could picture myself retiring in it someday. It's near my family in central Florida and I love the solid, block construction of the mid-century Florida homes :) you're right though, perhaps I should look at selling it versus the HELOC or refinancing options, multi families certainly do make more than SFHs! How's your market in TX? Have you ever invested in other markets? Thank you so much for your thoughtful advice, it meant a lot to me!

@Joe Hammel

Excellent advice! I truly appreciate your reply.  My mindset was still stuck on the conservative approach!  I needed to see the bigger picture :)

I’m now planning to take out as much equity as I can.  I got lucky and bought when the market was still very low in 2012 in Orlando.  I need to do more research on the markets in South Florida where I work now and see how it compares!  

Good luck to you.  I appreciate your insight more than you know.