All Forum Posts by: Christopher Giannino

@Joe Sniadowski

So the cool thing about real estate is that you can get really creative with it and do things as you see fit given that particular situation so I'm not sure there's a "one size fits all type of answer."  I have read posts on here that say someone bought a house that needed A LOT of work and so they bought it cash.  Cash in this example might be private money, hard money, HELOCS, credit cards, etc... just something that doesn't require a "standard loan" but that doesn't mean that you cannot get "standard loans" and successfully complete certain types of BRRRRs.

Same thing comes down to the refinancing part, again not one size fits all.  Some investors prefer 15 year notes for it to be paid off sooner where others prefer 30 year notes which allow them to leverage more so although I hate to be so vague, hopefully it helps show how everyone's situation is different.  

I see some people overpaying for properties in my area too but I chalk some of it up to someone inexperienced dying to just get into the game.  Although I admit I like watching them, these HGTV shows showing how the flipper just made $125,000 profit and overpaying for the property are very deceiving for someone with no experience.  They think they can replicate what the show is doing and maybe some of them can but I think for the majority it just ends bad.  

Let all the others overpay for properties... when they are underwater pick them up for pennies on the dollar :)   

A little over a year ago now, I purchased a condo in my hometown and planned on doing exactly as you just explained.  Buy it as a primary, live there for a year, maybe 2 max, then rent out my unit and cashflow!  Since living there, I learned a few things that I will share...

1.  Try to notice how old is the condo community is. - My condo was built in the late 70s so the community is at the point where many things need to be replaced.  The roof was re-done prior to me buying the place which I knew but being young and naive and didn't realize what else needed to be replaced.  Balconies, stairs, concrete, retaining walls, etc.  My condo community has enough reserves in place where it doesn't directly impact us in terms of a special assessment but my HOA dues have increased 2.9% for the last two years.

2. By-laws can change over time.  My community is FHA approved and in order to maintain that status, you need less than 1/2 the community to not be rentals.  Therefore my HOA is trying to restrict the amount of rentals we have.  What happens if you are restricted and can't rent out your unit later down the line? 

3. Living in close quarters and having someone live above you can cause damage to your unit.  I have not personally experienced this but I have heard stories where leaks occurred in the unit above and trickled down to their unit causing issues the owners just couldn't avoid.

I'm not saying its a good or bad investment.  All I'm saying is make sure you due diligence on EVERYTHING!  Best of luck!  

@Gerald Boone

I bought a property back in September of 2017 and then went through the process of refinancing in April of 2018.  I spoke to a couple of lenders once I closed back in September 2017 and they all required a seasoning period of 6 months.  I bought with conventional financing though so that's why I needed a seasoning period.  Feel free to PM me to get a referral of who I used.

I'm going to preface this post by saying I'm not an experienced investor by any means but I would think that 1 bedroom units aren't as desirable as units having multiple bedrooms.  Now I not saying that there isn't a market for 1 bedroom places but I just think it is limited.  A young professional could still rent out a 2 bedroom unit and turn the 2nd bedroom into a office or get a roommate or something to that affect but a 3 person family couldn't rent a 1 bedroom unit.  Also, I would expect 1 bedroom units to have more turnover since it's so specific.  Personally, I don't think it should be a deal breaker on the deal but I would just make sure you do your due diligence.  

@Patrick Flanagan

Hey! I'm a local realtor in the area and know this exact house.  I'm 99% sure the previous owner was a landlord to college students as well.  It's close to TCNJ but also Rider University.  Many Rider student's rent in Ewing as well which means you'll have a broader pool of tenants.  Only thing is, I know that there are many rentals as well as a lot of new development designed for college student so lots of competition.  Not saying not to buy, just trying to provide as much information as possible.

As the other's have already stated, I think some of your expenses are slightly off.  Also, this house is oil heat.  Not sure if this is a game changer for you but just thought I'd let you know.  Let me know if you have any other questions!

@Annie Levan

You say you haven't done a walk through of this property and just put estimates up for the repair costs. Where are these repair numbers coming from than? Is it a wholesale deal where the wholesaler is providing them? Are you estimating based on pictures of the property from the MLS? Is it some other way?

I would say before you make any offers you would want to see the property in person. You'll want to make sure your budget for repairs is accurate. From what I see, the two biggest issues when flipping is 1. Not calculating the ARV correctly and 2. Underestimating repair costs. Make sure those are 100% in check. Hopefully, you find this helpful!

@Sebastian E.

I once used a balance transfer credit card (Chase Slate 0% for 15 months with 0% balance transfer fee if balance is transferred within 60 days of account opening) to float some money in order to purchase a car.  Although it was only a couple grand, it dropped my credit score a decent amount.  Luckily, I wasn't in the need to use my credit because I went from high 700s to low 700s once the card was fully reported.  Being that you'll want to refinance, just make sure that this won't impact your credit and therefore not allow you to refinance.  Everyone's situation is different but hopefully, you find this helpful.    

As the others have stated, FHA and conventional loans require you live there for a year. At closing you literally sign a paper that states you will live there for a year.

If you're looking to flip, I would think that these type of loans wouldn't really be good for you anyway.. Look into either a hard money lender or private money or some other sort of creative financing because those would probably be better for flipping.

Regardless of all that, you 100% should be honest with lenders because if you lie it's considered mortgage fraud.  

I'm not from your area so I won't talk about specific brokerages but I just thought I'd touch on working for a team.  When I first started as an agent, I was doing it by myself.  Although I was able to get leads and closed some transactions it was definitely difficult (especially since my market lacks inventory.)  I decided to join a top producing team at another firm in my area and I would say it was the best thing I could have done.  I have a mentor who's willing to help train me and who I can call any time I have a question.  He has financial incentive to train me because the more I produce, the more money he gets from commission splits.  If you're looking to do real estate sales full time, I would advise to definitely consider joining a team.