All Forum Posts by: Chris Armstrong

@Zachery Highfield Did you ever get this worked out? There is a lender I know of that can easily take care of that but you may only get 70% LTV since its MF property.

@Johnny Dlcrz  There is one lender in this Area who will do that loan if you have a lease and documented rental income for a year. The rate is not going to be the best but it doesnt have to be owner occupied. Her name is Anne Noble and she works out of Charleston SC. 

@Ian Smith make offers on bigger things with a team.  :)

@Sarah Moncivaiz

If you had to get the soil tested again, get a new permit, and go through engineering and installation that time frame would be 6 weeks at best UNLESS the soil classifiers are very backed up and DHEC (Dept of Health and Enviromental Control) is backed up as well, then I could see it taking longer. It varies from county to county where I live so I don't think a one size fits all answer is appropriate. I do agree with others that getting multiple opinions can make a world of difference. 

@Dave Meyer

For the most everyone always talks about finding the deals and the tactics surrounding that process. I am interested in a deeper dive into disposition strategies.

I would love to hear some guests on the podcast discuss keeping a running tab on your depreciation recapture and capital gains taxes as you hold a property, and whether it's better to sell and pay the taxes or if it's better to do 1031 exchanges: the pros and cons of each. In addition, what can you do to offset some of the capital gains without doing a 1031 exchange. Are there other strategies that have not been mentioned before?

@Kanchi Ji 

Its not that important. Dress nice, not look homeless, and dont over spend on a car. Lord knows the first few years are hard enough without having payments hanging over your head in addition to building a business.

Agents who are driving really nice cars have really big payments, and if they are not collecting a lot of commission checks then they are really in a bad spot unless they have passive income...which sadly.. not many agents do. 

The clients you gain work with you because of who you are and how you come across on the phone or whatever medium of conversation you use. They aren't working with you because of your car. Go out there, lead with value, keep your expenses low, invest in real estate, and you will be fine. 

@Adam Blandford

Putting the loan type aside, it sounds like you are considering the STR path and before you go too far down that path you really need to make sure that STR is feasible for your location. Specifically in the Charleston area you have to be within certain areas.

Thats hurdle number 1, because nothing kills your STR cash flow like the local government telling you that Airbnb cant happen there.

Second hurdle, you will need to establish a documented revenue stream for a lender to count STR/LTR income for a loan. Airbnb and VRBO both have those forms if you do go that route, and if you are going LTR then you will need to provide leases to show cash flow.

If you cant show that you have enough income/cashflow to sufficiently offset the liability from the 1st mortgage then you are not likely going to qualify for a second mortgage. Also need a down payment for next mortgage.  

@David Galea

I just read your post, and I have a few questions for you. 

1) Where did you find your agent? (family referral, or some other company)?

2) What kind of expectations were set before you started shopping for a home? 

3) When you were signing the offer, did you read section 8 of the South Carolina Purchase contract that tells you how you were buying the property? (Repair Procedure, Due Diligence, or "As-is")

4) Did the agent tell you how he/she was protecting your Earnest Money / making sure you're protected?

@Jose Varnadoe 

I wouldnt get your license unless you're really passionate about selling residential real estate because it costs about 1000.00 per year to just have access and hold a license. Getting access to MLS is free when you ask an agent to set up a portal for you.

Starting with house hack is probably an easier route to success in my opinion. The reason I say that is, likely you do not have a lot of money right now (I am assuming this). Think of money in the bank like a good offensive team. If you dont have a strong offensive team then you can still do alright if your defense is strong. I would consider defense as your ability to hold onto the money you do make, and by house hacking you essentially eliminate your biggest expense which is likely rent/mortgage. Then you can save a lot more in a much shorter period of time, all the while you are building equity in your home with paydown and likely in this market getting some appreciation on property values. 

Just my $0.02

@Nick Lawler 

Hey Nick I sent you a message. I own rentals and do investing in all sorts of asset classes. I would love to chat with you more about your strategy and your goals. You can see all my deals and what I am doing in my profile. 

Charleston is a cool place to live and has a lot of depth to it outside of the food and beverage scene (which is really strong).