All Forum Posts by: Chris Hewitt

PenFed had one of the best and easiest HELOCs out there and allowed you to go to 80% LTV.

I already have a lender lined up. PenFed said they would do a HELOC on both in this exact scenario at 80% LTVs. Alliant Credit Union would do the cash out refis on each property. FWIW the properties are east of Atlanta so not in my local area.

So I closed two weeks ago on two townhomes that together make up one duplex. Because the purchase price would have made the loan below lending standards (49k for each one), I had to get creative and buy them both for cash. My original plan was to put a HELOC on each unit and pull 80% of the value out to recoup my cash, however now I'm considering doing a cashout refi in six months for the same amount or more.

Using the HELOC, my original plan was to take a 50k line on each unit and use all of my cash flow (no money set aside for reserves/profit) to not only pay the interest but also the principle down. Using this strategy, I'd pay one HELOC off in roughly 56 months, and the second one off in another 44 months. So essentially in about 8.5 years I'd have both units totally paid off and in the clear. During that time I'd also have the line of credit to pull on for repairs/vacancy/maintenance, and I'd have that line already established for my next investment.

The second option is to put traditional mortgages on them in 6 months once the sale seasons. This yields the same amount of money, however stretches the payments out over 30 years vs 8.5. I will cash flow less, and I won't have the line of credit to pull on. Nothing says I cant put a line of credit on it once the balance is paid down, but it will just take longer.

I’m leaning towards putting the HELOCs on them as it gives me more flexibility, however with interest rates climbing that could bite me. Thoughts?

I just picked up a duplex in Monroe and need to replace three windows.  Normally this wouldn't be an issue, however one is an odd size and every place I'm calling to source one is telling me a minimum of 4-6 weeks.  Any leads on a local mom and pop shop that makes all their stuff in house and has a quick turnaround time?

I was under the impression that lenders wouldn't lend (or make it very difficult) to an LLC and/or you risked them calling the note should you transfer after the sale.

My plan is a buy and hold rental if it matters. I'm not opposed to forming and LLC, but on the surface it seemed harder than it's worth.

So I'm totally lost.  

I'm an out of state investor about to go into contract on my first rental in Georgia. For the time being I'm going to go as a sole proprietorship, eventually hopefully in a year or two I'll make it into an LLC.

As I understand it, I need to register in Georgia as a business with the state, as well as with the county. To do this I need a federal EIN as well as a state EIN. Do I also need to register in my current state (Washington)? I thought that if you're owning SFH and not in an LLC form you can run taxes etc on your personal income tax statement?

Would it be better to contact an attorney/CPA in the state of Georgia to handle setting this up?

I'm not specifically set on any one location per se.  I'm just trying to vet some areas of the country where I might want to buy as my local area (Seattle) isn't very conducive for starting out.  I like St Louis as property prices initially looked inexpensive when compared against rents in the area.  The dark blue all over the map had me worried however.

I'm looking at different properties in the St Louis area I keep finding deals in areas that on the trulia crime map is in the level 2/3 of the shading.  Listening to the podcasts, most guys say to stay away from the high crime (obviously), but what about the more moderate levels?  How much weight do you give that map on making an initial decision?