All Forum Posts by: Christian Nachtrieb

Hey Tucker,

Welcome to Boston! I'd like to connect sometime, I'm in the process of closing my first rental property deal on Monday for a place in Dorchester. Pretty new to all this but always looking to learn and constantly on the hunt for something. Thanks for posting.

Do you all use the same bank to get your HELOC as when you originally took out the mortgage? Or can you shop around and see what options there are?

@Chris Perrin LOL at the tree house comment. I totally feel you and was pretty let down recently at how costly everything is. However, I did manage to find a gem on the MLS in Dorchester that I'm hopefully closing on in the next few days. My winning bid was for $197k. The catch? It's only a 450 sq. foot condo, however, because it's only a 5 min. walk to the red line the rental rates are incredible. So, you could focus on tiny condos that are very commuter-friendly?

@Chris Perrin I think the idea (correct me people if I'm wrong) is that you only use the HML in the short term, and once you refinance the property after a seasoning period and after fix-ups, you pay them back with the equity you pull out. The problem I think around the greater Boston area is that there are very hard to find deals that are below market value. Boston is EXPENSIVE.

What does draw and payback period mean? I'm sort of guessing that you can continue to take as much money as you want out for 20 years... is that interest free?

I'm having trouble understanding my next steps as an investor. I'm closing on my very first rental property at the end of the week and have been bitten by the bug, BAD. I'm already hunting for another deal but am not sure the next steps I should take. My current situation is as follows: I own the condo I live in, with roughly $50,000 of equity and have a good rate so nice low payments. The investment property I bought I got about $15k below market value and with some minimal work can be about $20k-25k above what I paid for it.

I guess I'm wondering if it's better to do a HELOC on my primary residence to use as a downpayment on investment property #2? My understanding on private money lending is also a little fuzzy... is private money lending used in addition to my own down payment with the plan being to refinance a property once it's purchased and fixed up and you switch it out to a conventional mortgage? How long do you typically hang on to a private money loan or a loan from a portfolio lender or something? Can anyone explain this part to me? Thank you!

I'm also curious on this and what other people do, just bumping here. Thanks all

@Robert Rodriguez This is all interesting helpful, thanks for updating Robert. Any new info comes to the table for you I'd love to hear and what your next steps are. Good luck!

@Lior Rozhansky I also just noticed they're putting in a huge new condo building right across from the T at Malden Center. Didn't know that plan was in the works for awhile but it's going to be nice. For more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/north/2015/01/16/malden-city-hall-will-occupy-condo-new-development/WDYlRvDeDfiwSGMz6CcVaO/story.html

@Shirley X. Thanks so much! As for the tenant who I have that filled out an application already, she was a Craigslist find, as were the 3 others actually. I have the listing on Zillow, Trulia, and Hotpads and have gotten a lot of emails, however no solid leads from those sources. Craigslist is still king. The other thing you could probably do is hook up with a city-focused rental agent and just have the tenant pay their fee which is common in this area.