All Forum Posts by: Christopher Sica

Hey everyone, thanks for taking a look.

I am under contract with a duplex in Austin, TX that was converted to a 2 unit condo.  The interest rate and mortgage are less favorable and the warranty and insurance are higher.  I want to convert it back to a duplex once I own it but I need to find out if:

1)is this possible?

2) how much does it cost?

3) are there any things about the property that might prevent this from being allowed?

Thank you so much for you time y'all,

Chris

Austin Texas

@Graham Mink I have never heard of piggybacking but it sounds like a legitimate option. I am going to research it this afternoon and find out what a good way to compensate someone for helping this way would be.

Hey All,

So I have been looking at property here in Austin for a while. I have figured out that I am ready to purchase my first duplex and have found a few that cash flow and are in areas I consider sound.

I have a problem. I am 28 years old, have been self employed forever, and have never borrowed money. So I have no credit. I got a credit card but its brand new and so I am just get credit started. I am just not sure what to do next. I applied for the tradition FNMA mortgage and was denied.

I have plenty of cash, but banks don't care about that. They want to see my tax returns, which is fair of them; however, as a small business, i have written off as much as I could for the last few years and it looks like I only make about 40k a year.

I am planning on a buy and hold (for at least a decade) strategy and unfortunately, because Austin is relatively expensive/ bc I'm not flipping, Hard Money just will not work (it kills the margins in a violent and gruesome death). I have been given the suggestion of going and meeting with portfolio lenders, of which I have found a list here on Bigger Pockets. I have been told to consider finding a rich friend and getting them to cosign.

Finally, about half of the multi fam properties here in Austin have been paid for in cash this year so far, so I have considered just using all of my money to get into my first house and then pulling equity from it in a year or two. But this seems like a huge waste of reserves I have built up so I will have a cushion for vacancies/repairs/etc.

I don't know what to do. Do i need to just leave Austin alone and go to some cheap city and buy cheap multi's there or do I tough it out here and hope to find a portfolio lender or do I try to bribe a rich friend or do I use all my cash to get into something I can refi later.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Chris

@Brandon Turner I got the idea to read it from one of the Podcasts. I don't remember the person's name but this was their answer for favorite book.

Wow. @Brandon Hicks That is incredible. 11 seller financing properties in three years. great job!!

Yes @Luke M. It appeared he was quite optimistic with his equity build up.

And yes @Brandon Hicks I would like to know how you structure them as well. Inventory in Austin is low and cash buyers are a plenty so finding them is going to be difficult but I will definitely ask every one of them if they are open to it...Is it worth giving them a rate that is between banks and hard money (say 8% ) for the first year or so to entice them?

Wow. That is amazing @Brandon Hicks

I was literally on a hard money lenders website here in austin when I checked me email and saw that this message had posted. I didn't even consider doing selling financing from the landlord.

I am going to look at a few duplexes this week and I will ask every single one of the landlords if they would be willing to do that.

Thanks!!!

Chris

Wow, thanks everyone. This has been really good. I am starting to get a feel for what is a good GRM vs. Whats too expensive for different parts of Austin as they differ widely depending on the neighborhood.

Thanks Zaid! I have been speaking with a mortgage lender and he has been pretty cool but I am afraid I will need to use hard money as I don't have any credit (never borrowed anything before)...

Hey all!

I just about finished this book and found it to be pretty incredible to read and learn from. For any newbies out there like me, this book was really helpful and explaining how people build and create wealth from REI.

As a 28 y/o, I have spent the last few years saving so I could get into real estate. I have come to find that having a bunch of money isn't really necessary for get into the game. What I am finding is that the money I have saved can perform risk mitigation in the event that more vacancy comes up than I calculated or if something needs a big rehab job out of nowhere.

My question is to figure out how to leverage this money most efficiently without putting too much leverage in my portfolio. I don't want to find myself foreclosed on in a few years because of overextension and greed. Does anyone have a way of calculating how much debt I can take on using income, money saved, current expenses, etc?

Thanks,

Chris