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All Forum Posts by: Chris U.

Chris U. has started 3 posts and replied 21 times.

Post: MTR Rent by Room - Platform

Chris U.
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Posts 21
  • Votes 7

@Eric Chiang Matterport would also be an amazing solution once you move out. That or other 3d photo/video solutions. Now that you mention it, I might start implementing it with all my properties going forward.

And thanks for the Padsplit connect! I'll take a raincheck once my IG is presentable haha. There's actually a Padsplit event here in NC tonight. They're supposed to be launching in Raleigh.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/p...

Post: MTR Rent by Room - Platform

Chris U.
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Posts 21
  • Votes 7

@Eric Chiang

Great tips, and congrats on the success with your MTR! I just went live with mine last month. It's for a whole 2/1.5 unit, and the tenant is a medical professional but not a traveling nurse. I got lucky, and they moved in without a live showing.

To Bonnie's point about scams, one idea that I got from the current tenant was to meet the renter somewhere other than the actual property at first. When they rented other properties, sometimes the landlord would do a quick meeting elsewhere for a vibe check. Your idea to call is a good screening tactic as well.

Edit to post: 
adding another detail. According to the tenant, one of the reasons my listing appealed to them was the lower security deposit. It's $250, but I may increase it to $500 next time. I'd seen a lower deposit recommended on the BP forums, especially for a shorter stay.

I've started doing rent by the room in an LTR (just two rooms). Grad students & University professionals have been the ones most interested in that one. 

I'm looking into the viability of PadSplit if it makes sense for future investments. I don't have any experience with them yet, but maybe that could be an option for you? 

Post: MTR Furnishing Tips

Chris U.
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Posts 21
  • Votes 7
Quote from @Roman Puzey:

Hello,

We are getting ready our MTR property to be rented for a traveling nurse. We are still in early stages of getting our property ready for rent and I had a question regarding furnishing. I do have a check list (spreadsheet) of all that's needed to get it ready but I was wondering if it matters if furniture needs to be brand new or can it be used as long as it looks good/decent? Since some of the prices for new furniture are a little expensive and things do add up. With that said, would HomeGoods, Wayfair, AFW, perhaps GoodWill are good places to consider in buying furniture? Looking for some advice from anyone who has previous/current experience with MTR


We found some great deals on FB Marketplace, but I think it will depend on your area. That being said, it was also more of a time suck than I'd like to admit. You may negate some of the cost savings by having to chase those deals down (picking up, coordinating, no shows, etc).

It's already been mentioned, but check to see what's the norm in your area. Really, you just need to be better than that for the most part. 

Post: MTR Furnishing Tips

Chris U.
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Posts 21
  • Votes 7
Quote from @Braedie A.:

Congratulations on your MTR, that's very exciting! A side note, it may already be on your checklist but room darkening curtains or blinds are IMO a necessity for traveling nurses, you never know what shift they will be working so they really appreciate that little gesture. 

 A great recommendation that's always worth repeating. I just got my first MTR rented out, and I put "blackout" + "quiet" front and center in the listing. I also put the bedroom as the first photo on Furnished Finder. Not sure if it made a difference or not, but I noticed that other listings didn't seem to do as well when posting, say the kitchen. 

Great recommendations in BP Podcast episode #728 too. Adding box fans to my shopping list for sure.

Post: How to find homes with cash flow.

Chris U.
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Posts 21
  • Votes 7

@Sai Medavarapu

I know this is an older thread, but I thought it was worth responding to. I'm fairly new to real estate investing, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Generally what @Chris Seveney says is true -- "Just look at any city with high crime or a city with a D neighborhood. It will cash flow on paper."

The last bit is the important part, and I'm sure that he's included it for a reason. Like in most areas of business, higher risk comes with higher reward (and often greater amounts of effort). Managing what I'm sure is likely a nice property in Phoenix will be very different to managing a high cash flowing property in a high crime area or a D neighborhood. Your cashflow will be greater on paper as Chris S says, but you'll need to take into account that you'll need to do more leg work on screening tenants and may have to put up with more headaches in the day-to-day management (e.g. tenant unable to pay rent, tenant is gone, house gets broken into, etc).

To add onto the bit about the D neighborhood, if you can find a property in an area that's experiencing rapid growth and development, you can likely get a return on the appreciation and the rents may go up too. You'll need an experienced local agent to navigate those neighborhoods though. And as mentioned by others, distressed properties anywhere can cashflow.

You may also want to take a look at an STR or mid-term rental. There's effort in managing these, but you might not have to deal with some of the issues that you would in a high-crime area.

PS $100 Cashflow might not seem all that great. But if you're in Phoenix with a hands-off property that's not a bad situation to be in. 
  

Post: Closing TOMORROW - Emergency Replacement Mortgage Needed

Chris U.
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Posts 21
  • Votes 7

@Anastasia G. thanks for offering assistance, I'll shoot you a message

Post: Closing TOMORROW - Emergency Replacement Mortgage Needed

Chris U.
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Posts 21
  • Votes 7

@Dave Skow - Closing attorney presented Friday Aug 3 as an option (they have a time slot then), in response to extension needed for the original lender. I haven't asked for any additional time other than that, because nothing is definite yet with new lender. I'll see what we can do once we have a more definite idea from both lenders, hopefully within the next few hours. The "good" news is that original lender is now saying maybe $8K - $10K increase in cash needed as opposed to 10-20. Still not what we want exactly.

Regardless of what happens, thank you! appreciate all your advice.

Post: Closing TOMORROW - Emergency Replacement Mortgage Needed

Chris U.
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Posts 21
  • Votes 7
Quote from @Chris Seveney:
Quote from @Chris U.:

Hey BiggerPockets, 

Didn't think I'd find myself in this situation. We've been working with a mortgage lender the last few weeks and have already signed the closing disclosure on a $170K investment townhome. Our closing date is supposed to be tomorrow Aug 2nd @ 2pm. The long story short is that our cash-to-close is set to increase anywhere from $15K - 20K due to the lender completely changing our terms. 

We cannot make this work. Can anything be done to help us in this situation - other brokers or lenders? We're in the process of trying to contact a few right now too.
--------

Explanation: Our usual trusted loan officer is no longer with the company, but stayed on long enough to make it to our closing disclosure. However, now the lender is completely disregarding my wife's income due to her being part-time for less than 12 months (approximately 9 months). She voluntarily made this change and can increase her hours on request with no issue (sets her own schedule). Her hourly rate is  >$35. There have been no previous issues raised with our bank statements, pay stubs, W2s, or any other document that we've submitted. Both of our credit scores are 760+

The closing disclosure had our cash-to-close at $31,980 on a $170K townhome. The terms were 20% down 7.125% with 1 point. Increasing our down payment no longer makes sense for our personal or investment financials.

-----------


 Did you have a financing contingency? If so, run the numbers and see if the deal even works. My guess is based on the required equity the deal is no longer viable for you. If that is the case just walk and use financing as the reason. Also, if there is a change in the CD the lender needs to notify you 3 days prior to the closing. So no matter what by law you could not close tomorrow assuming you just received the new CD.

Hey Chris - appreciate the help. There is no financing contingency. Because who needs those?! (apparently us). We'll keep this in mind for the future. We've definitely been blindsided by this experience. First lender is working different numbers right now and should be sending them soon. New broker has sent a few applications that are more favorable, but who knows how long that will take to close.

(Edit - adding on): running the numbers, the deal still works from a cashflow perspective. And there would be forced equity with ARV around $210K (appraisal was 190K). However, this leaves us scraping the bottom of the barrel (i.e. no money left for rehab and almost nonexistent emergency fund). I guess a partner could step in, but we've never partnered with anyone and it seems late in the process.

Post: Closing TOMORROW - Emergency Replacement Mortgage Needed

Chris U.
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Posts 21
  • Votes 7
Quote from @Alan Lacey:
your best bet is to go to sales manager of former LO and understand why that is a issue need for a 2 year history for part time income is only when it is secondary income not primary job. Now if your spouses hours have been jumping around then the issue is that it is not consistent. The closing disclosure is separate and irrelevant to final approval. Loan could have had this issue for weeks and they could have still sent out CD. Poor service to not make you aware until the last minute.
 
This is very interesting Alan. This is her primary job. The hours have been reduced, but are consistent (12-24 hrs per week). And our situation explains the lower overall income. It's maternity leave at the start of 2021, followed by voluntary reduced hours for childcare. This is our choice, and another day of work per week could easily be accommodated in our current situation.

Post: Closing TOMORROW - Emergency Replacement Mortgage Needed

Chris U.
Pro Member
Posted
  • Investor
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Posts 21
  • Votes 7
Quote from @Dave Skow:

@Chris U.  1)  if any lender will be able to  help - you will likely need  a  minimum of   7-10 day  extension ...is  seller  willing to  provide this  2) the  lenders  issue with your wifes  income  shoudve  been soemthing all parties  discussed weeks ago  3) is lender  requiring  a 25% down payment ?if so - rate/ fee  should improve  ....

Thanks for the help Dave 1) new broker was confident about closing within 7 days. Seller has granted short extension to the first lender (Friday). I want firm numbers and from broker, before extending any further. 2) we thought so too, however the application was handed off when our primary loan officer left. Current person has been helpful, but the variable income is a sticking point for underwriting. My wife has had the same employer for 5+ years, increased role & income throughout that period. But I understand that the terms are the terms 3) with the first terms, lender was able to make 20% down work. 25% down got us 7% vs 20% down at 7.125% w/ 1 pt. Not amazing, so we were going to refinance when able. The property needs updates, so I wanted to pocket the $7K to get the property rent ready. We thought we could close quicker, since we'd worked with lender before.