All Forum Posts by: Charlie Lockwood

Still  waiting on plans to be done. Should be done shortly (Element Design out of Carson). Will get back with an update when we move forward with submitting to City of Sparks.

Hey BP Fam,

I hoping to get an ADU built. Have already done some DD, ordered design plans and met with my local city..

I'm looking at ways to fund this project.

 I'm trying to go a slightly unorthodox route and fund this project mostly out of pocket with a smaller-ish amount 25-30k from some type of loan. I've looked into HELOCs and considered Cashout/refi but not too interested in either. I have a fixed rate mortgage under 4% so would like to not touch that. 

I've considered private lenders. But the ones I've looked at seem to all want a loan of at least 50-100k. 

I saw that SoFi offers (or at least claims it does) a home improvement loan without using your home as collateral. 

Just curious if anyone has used this loan product and can comment on its legitimacy?

I've also considered an auto title loan from my local CU. Rates are still under 6% and I could get a loan for roughly 110% of the value of my vehicle. However, I have an older-ish car so might only get a loan for around 10k...doesn't quite meet the 25-30k I'm hoping for. 

Thoughts? Other loan products to consider?

ADU- I have looked into converting this to an ADU (3x) but my local planning department won't allow it because the detached garage sits on the property line. Thankfully, it's grandfathered and therefore can stay as-is...no ADU

Good Morning BP community, 

   Question- has anyone rented out their detached garage as storage? I know there are some apps that allow you to do this. 

For some context- I have a SFR that i've had rented out for almost two years with pretty good tenants. My current rent is on par with rent in the area and I don't think I'll be able to raise it much (if any) this year.

I've noticed my tenants don't use the detached garage. 

I was considering when this lease is up, renting out the SFR w/o access to the garage, and then renting the detached garage (with alley access so wouldn't disturb tenants). The purpose being to try and maximize cash flow on the property.

Thoughts? Things to consider? 

@Nathan Weber the link to the next meetup is here: https://www.meetup.com/meetup-... 

Reno Real Estate Investors is the name of the meetup and Alex is the host. He and his partner run Reno Area Homebuyers. Very nice guy, he's been running the meetup for 3+ years. I'd recommend it. The next one is Wed Dec 28th 6pm at the Bosma Business Center. 

@Dahlia Khalaf  Thank you, I'll check out WeStreet. Once I get my ducks in a row, I'll reach out regarding finding a property. 

Hello BP fam, 

I am looking for a credit union in the Tulsa metro area that offers mortgages for rental properties or a DSCR product. Any suggestions on credit unions or local banks in the area that you've worked with for your rental properties?....Thanks in advance.

I bought my first house for 200k (2016) with only 6k down. I had another 4-5k in the bank as reserves. Over the next five years, I diligently paid down my mortgage with the hopes of paying off my house is 10 years (back then I listened to Dave Ramsey). 

Then interest rates dropped to historic lows...I then learned about debt as leverage (thanks BP). I pivoted and did a cash out refi and bought a second house (new primary) with the equity & appreciation from the first house (2021). This allowed me to rent out my first house and get a new house for my family in a better part of town (Reno, NV area). 

The first house has been rented out for about 6 months now. So far, so good. There have been a few hiccups but mostly smooth sailing. Essentially, I bought my second house with no money out of pocket, we used the cash-out refi to pay for 20% down, closing costs, and moving expenses. 

It is very possible to start with very little money down. However, it is not quick and there will be some ups and downs. Roll with the punches and view the process as a learning experience. 

Best of Luck

Hi Clayton, 

Here's what I did..I' have a LTR. I was curious about managing an STR in order to potentially turn my LTR into an STR further down the road. First, I found two guys in my local meetup that have props on Airbnb. I spoke with them at length, regarding their experience, tips, etc. Then, I found the closest listing on Airbnb to my LTR prop. It happened to be on the same street as my LTR.

I messaged the host and just said I wanted to hear about her experience as a host cuz I was curious about getting into STR. One thing to note- Airbnb will block your message if it has an email or phone number...So, the gracious host suggested I book a few nights a month out and then cancel the booking. Once you book, the host can see your phone number, so the host called me. We had a great conversation. 45 minutes later I had great intel on her occupancy rate, nightly rate, and overall experience with STRing in my specific area (same street).

Also, I used Airdna to find some additional data. On top of that, I've reached out to a few other hosts asking if they need help managing as I'd like to manage a STR to gain some experience while I wait to see if my tenants in my LTR want to renew their lease. If they don't, I'm pretty sure I'm going to turn the LTR into an STR based largely on the info I received from the host I spoke to just up the road from my long term prop.

Hope that helps- def check a hosts cancellation policy before you try what I described above 

I was in a similar position about 18 months ago. I found a local credit union. Told the lender I wanted to cash out refi in order to buy another property and rent out the first. The lender made this work. About six weeks after I did the cash out refi, I found a second prop.  

 I think the saving grace was we did the cash out refi BEFORE we found our second property. On top of that, the second properties previous owners did a rent back from us for six months. This allowed us to stay in the first property for a full 8 months after we did the cash-out refi. 

Prior to all this, I did call a few Big Banks and explained what I wanted to do. They all made it seem like I was nutz and that the cash-out refi to buy another house was not possible. So I took the advice of some peeps on BP...I found a local credit union that made it happen. If you're interested, I can send you the lenders email. I'm in NV so no guarantees this lender will loan in your state. 

Hope this helps,