All Forum Posts by: Christopher Giannino

@Maurice Lightner

I might be confused here so take my response with a grain of salt but isn't multifamily apartment buildings (5 unit+) valued based on NOI?

Or did you mean you can't find comps for what the potential rent will be once the units are renovated?

My personal opinion (not saying I'm right) is too many times people get stuck on the interest rate thinking that's the way to get the best deal.  At the end of the day, you know your long term goals and objectives so I can't comment on if it's a good idea or not.  Run the numbers and if it makes sense to you and your goals, go with it!

You can do a calculation on how many months it will take you to finally benefit from putting down $7k extra.  Just out of curiosity, what is your reason for wanting to buy down the rate?

If your concern is regarding the appraisal, are you sure the ARV of $270k is correct? That can make or break the deal.

@Justen Johnson

I could be wrong here with my logic but won't it actually cost you more by closing on 9/30 vs. 10/9?  

My thought process is you close on the property for 9/30 but since it's occupied you cannot start any type of work (demo or reno) until the occupant officially leaves.  So yes, you saved on a portion of interest for the month but now you've delayed your project by a week and half and are paying interest on the money while it can't be used and is in limbo until 10/9.

Other than saving on interest for the month, what would be your reasoning as to why you would want to close sooner?

Right now I'm in the beginning stages of my real estate sales career so I know this method will change over time but I like to try to make it personal to the client.  My thought process is if I can pick up on something within small talk/conversation about a hobby of the clients or etc it will show that I listen and hopefully really impress that client.  At the end of the day, referrals and word of mouth advertising is what you want as a real estate agent and so I'm hoping that my current method helps with that.  

As you get more established I know this method is not really feasible and therefore you need to do more generic gifts and so I'm starting to think about things that are more generic yet practical to most people.  I think whatever you get should be definitely have your branding on it.

I'm not trying to sound like/come off as an a-hole here but the fact that you're asking this question and trying to rationalize it means your conscious knows it's wrong.

I went to my local branch and opened a personal checking account which is strictly for my rental and where I will run everything out of.  The checking account I opened required a $1,500 minimum daily balance in order to not get hit with a monthly service fee.  To me, this was fine because I started the account with a reserve of 2 months and then plan to build up my reserve fund even more before I officially start "taking a profit."  

For the tenants security deposit, I opened up a savings account using a W9.  This is because the security deposit does not belong to me, the landlord, and therefore could cause bigger problems later on if I was to commingle the funds.  

Right now in my investing career, it makes more sense to just open up personal accounts vs. business accounts since I don't hold the property in an LLC and I only have this rental at the moment. As I start accumulating more properties my logic might change but for now it works.

I'm thinking maybe it's your DTI ratio that's too high therefore not qualifying you for the loan but that's just speculation from me given the information you provided. I'd start reaching out to a bunch of lenders to try and get someone who will say yes and make this deal go through. Maybe try and go to a small community bank or credit union since many times they tend to keep loans on their books vs. selling it after they originate it.

Also, how did taxes go up $2,300?!  I'm a New Jersey resident and my taxes don't go up THAT much each year.

1st and foremost, don't open up a credit card until you officially have closed on the 4plex.  I have heard lots of horror stories of individuals opening up new lines of credit during the closing process and then losing the deal because things have changed and now the bank won't lend them the money.

Also, if you plan on doing any kind of refinance on the back end just know that if you don't pay off the credit card in full, the debt will count towards your DTI ratio when it comes to refinancing. Depends on the lender but I believe this could potentially cause an issue.

Last thing, if you're going to open up a new credit card I would look for something with some kind of benefit or reward.  It could be a introductory 0% for XX amount of months, it could be XXX bonus after you spend XXXX amount or simply something with some kind benefit that works best for you life eg travel points.

Hopefully you find this helpful and best of luck!