All Forum Posts by: Christopher Nguyen

Also, does anyone know if you can take a HELOC out on a condo? I know you definitely can for a Townhouse/SFH, but wondering if I'd be able to take a HELOC to leverage a second investment property down the road. Or if it's better to get the SFH then take a HELOC on that to buy a condo for myself.

Thanks for all the advice. I didn't factor things like maintenance & repairs into the pros of owning a condo. I'm assuming if I am working with an agent, they will have a good idea of what's covered within HOA (but I would need to see it in writing to make sure they aren't selling me on it right?)

As for cost of both, that's also a great point. I'll have to do the math and see if it makes sense, but it sounds like having a condo isn't as bad of an idea as I was originally thinking it was.

A side topic...

Do you guys really stick to the 25% rule? I am reading that you wouldn't want your monthly PITI to be more than 25% of your income (what goes into your direct deposit). The above scenario with 750K requires me to make $180K a year, while the first one is $132K a year. Is that rule suggestive that you're keeping all your income saved? I max out all the ESPP at my company, 401K, etc. and definitely don't amount up to either scenarios when you consider all those factors (but I do make more than the first 132K salary scenario)

Hi all,

Before you say the SFH is a better option (because it definitely is from an investment standpoint): I'm debating my options because I want to have a primary residence without housemates before I get an investment property. Assuming that's my criteria...I had a couple questions and hopefully someone can help me out here:

1. The condo would be on the cheaper side ($450-550K) while my budget for the SFH would be $750-850K (I probably also need to save another 2 years if I go this route). If I go for the cheaper route, am I foregoing any 'first time buyer' benefits? I.e. maybe the first loan you get is larger than the next loans you get. I'm completely making that up but just wondering if there is anything like that.

2. Can you take a HELOC on a condo? I am leaning towards getting the condo, taking a HELOC on it, then using that for an investment property down the road

3. If you think the SFH is 110% better than the condo and worth having housemates (I've had housemates for years and can't seem to find one who doesn't constantly mess up shared appliances, etc. and am just frankly getting older and want my own space), I'd love to be convinced! I know it's definitely better from an investment standpoint...but maybe I'm forgetting of ways to have my own space while having housemates. I.e. I build/live in an ADU and rent out the rooms.

4. I've been eyeing San Bruno area (norcal) for a condo, but honestly anywhere in peninsula near SF would be great. If you know anyone, I'm open ears.

I used to rent out (as a tenant) a single family home in San Francisco where the upper and lower floors were separated by their own doors with locks. We shared the garage and the backyard, and the lower unit had its' own kitchen. I was wondering if you were to purchase a SFH and make this conversion, do you need to rezone (not sure if this is the right term) it into a multifamily instead of a SFH? Maybe this varies by county/city too.

If anyone has done this, are there any major complications with rehabbing the house so there are two kitchens that connect to the same gas, etc?

Right on, this all makes sense. thanks!

I've been trying to do deal analysis and finding comps that sold in similar areas- when I go on Redfin and flip the filter for 'sold' houses it shows the last listing price, but not the actual last sold price. On Zillow, it shows the last sold price and the source is 'provided by agent'. How reliable is the 'provided by agent' source? Is there a way to actually check to see if that is credible?

Outside of fixing something that is broken, or obvious things (like mismatched wall colors), do you have go-to rehabs that provide the most ARV or is that dependent on your local area and what people value? For example, say the house is in working condition and there's potential to rehab the kitchen, tiles, bathroom, etc. Are you usually choosing one thing first, like rehabing the bathrooms which will provide the return (return being your investment in the rehab vs ARV)? Or is it dependent on the environment of your property- say you have an area where families move in a lot so rehabing the kitchen may be more valuable?