All Forum Posts by: Charyl J.

@Kevin Romines I'm looking into conventional for Single Family but would do FHA for multifamily. A lot of sellers in this area aren't accepting FHA loans though. I had a pretty difficult time finding my first house using an FHA loan.

@Isa G. Thanks!! That is very helpful. I was considering looking into Amerifirst Home Mortgage. I appreciate the referral!!

Hello BiggerPockets people,

I'm hoping I can get some advice/help. I'm looking for a Mortgage lender. I'm in Kalamazoo MI. I'm on the journey of obtaining my 2nd property. I'm focusing on Single Family homes and Multifamily no larger than 4 units. I plan to move into my next house so I can use a conventional loan with a lower down payment. I found a broker in my area but he isn't used to working with Investors and he's been pretty difficult to work with so far. I've also checked out the Mortgage Lenders section here on Bigger Pockets but honestly it's kind of overwhelming. Can anyone recommend someone I can use? Thanks in advance!!

I've personally never had a realtor present me with a Buyers Contract. I heard a similar question on a podcast awhile back. I think it was the Real estate rookie podcast. Every situation is different but it doesn't sound like something that comes up often from what I've heard. It would depend on the contract and the realtor, but I personally wouldn't be crazy about the idea. Again just my personal opinion. 

@Xavier Begerow Welcome! What area in Michigan are you looking in? I'm a newer investor in Kalamazoo. I'm always interested in networking with like minded people if you ever want to chat, let me know!

@Connor Anderson Sweet! That is good to know. Much appreciated!!

@Matthew Zsidi Hello fellow Kalamazoo investor! I hired out all of the work I had done on my house. I used recommendations from friends and looked for local handy men instead of going with big name companies though which saved me some money. I helped with some of the renovations just to gain some knowledge. On future properties I plan to do some of the small renovations, but will definitely be hiring out for most of the work. Let me know if you ever want to connect! 

@Connor Anderson Hey Connor, thanks for your reply and advice!! That helps a lot! I wasn't entirely sure how much I would have to put down house hacking a multi family using a conventional loan so I appreciate the info. I did use an FHA loan to buy my current property. Since I'm refinancing I will be moving to a conventional loan. Am I allowed to apply for another FHA loan?

Thanks again for your help! Who knows, maybe one day we  could end up working together :-)

Hey Everyone!

I'm still new to REI. I'm focusing on buying and holding. I have one property that I'm house hacking and doing the BRRRR method for. I'm in the process of doing a cash out refi. Closing any day now. So I'm making plans for my next property and would love to get any advice you all have for me.

I will be looking for either a single family or multi family house to move into and BRRRR and house hack again. I'm leaning towards a conventional loan, but I'm curious what you all would do if you were in my shoes? I plan on holding and renting out my current house.

Also I'm in Kalamazoo MI and would love to network with some local people. If there are any wholesalers out there I'd definitely love to get in touch! Thanks everyone!!

I'm also a small fish on this site. And while I've been interested in real estate for quite awhile, I'm only just now really getting into it. 

Speaking from personal experience, I used a 401K loan to buy my first house and I'm really glad I did. I bought my house 3 years ago and was making about $30,000/ yr. I was getting tired of reading about real estate and listening to podcasts and decided I was going to find a way to take action. I only took out a loan of $5,000 from my 401K. I'm in the Midwest so home prices thankfully aren't ridiculous. I was able to qualify for an FHA loan and put down 3.5% on a $55,000 house that needed some pretty basic repairs. I ended up house hacking, and while it didn't cover the cost of my monthly mortgage it allowed me to save quite a bit of money over time. I did take my time fixing up the house and using money that I saved up. Now I'm in the process of refinancing and the cash out I get from that I will be using to buy my 2nd property.