All Forum Posts by: Chris Low

@Anthony Giannette - great advice. Always good to see how other people look at the markets.

@Ryan York - I agree with you that while the purchase price is lower than people from more expensive areas are used to, SFR still is not producing great cash flow unless you're buying serious fixer-uppers, in which case there's a ton of competition. We continue to re-evaluate this and are looking at Multi-family and areas within commute distance from Boise.

We started in March getting our financing together. That included a refi on our current home. By May we had all of our funds and started looking in earnest. We made about 7 offers, all of which we lost out on to cash buyers. Finally, the 8th one was the magic number. That was October. So we started in May, probably looked at between 30-40 places, offered on 8 and by October got our first one under contract.

Before you back out, if you haven't already, talk to a Realtor who really knows the Boise market and the specific part of Boise your property is in. We're investors in Boise, too. Some areas are seeing a ton of growth and competition. Frankly, getting any house in the Boise city limits for $130,000 means you're getting in at the very bottom of the market so I'd be reluctant to give it up although, of course, you want cash flow if you intend to hold on to it. I can confidently recommend our Realtor @StacyA McBain. She really, really knows this area and is an investor herself. She could probably give you very solid advice and she's right here on BP. Good luck!

@Chinmay J. - didn't realize you were the Realtor. Does someone in your broker's office have any insight for you? Or your local Realtor's group?

@Lee S. - we're from Northern CA, too. Would love the names of the credit unions that will do 95% LTV!

Hey, @Joy Buell - I just wanted to say that you're not getting the benefit of the doubt from a lot of these responses. It sounds like it wasn't entirely clear between you, the bank and the sellers about the furniture because you and they came away with different understandings. That happens. It doesn't sound like you're trying to rip anyone off and you did the right thing by reaching out to them to try to get them to claim their furniture. Sounds like a big misunderstanding. I don't have any advice for you, but it sure seemed like you were getting beat up and I'm willing to believe it was an honest mistake.

Maybe this is a little different perspective, but I wanted to respond to your questions.

- The seller could be acting on their own, but you should be able to tell if that's the case. All communication we've gotten on the short sale we're involved in has come from the bank via our Realtor. There are preliminary forms and what-not they send you. Have you seen any correspondence or documents from the bank? Your Realtor should be able to confirm what's going on.

- Yes, I would be willing to wait a couple of months for a good deal. Someone recently said that getting into a short sale is like a real estate time machine. You can lock in a property at today's price and actually take possession of it at some point in the future. Sometimes that's a drag if it takes forever, but it also frees you up to work on something else while this plays out.

I agree with @William Murrell. Take advantage of every tax break real estate affords you. And, as he aptly points out, the IRS is going to get it eventually so you might as well claim it. Appreciation, cash flow, mortgage paydown and appreciation (in no particular order) are the big 4 in my book.

Seray, I really recommend you have someone who specializes in foundations take a look at it with you. You may have to pay for this. In our area it can cost $350 or so to get a foundation company out to look at a property but foundation repairs can be incredibly expensive. I would not trust a GC to be able to make a call on it. It could really sink you. Best to be careful on this one.