All Forum Posts by: Chinmay J.

@Jany Lee  - I went through this thing a few months ago. The simple answer is that they typically don't.  The operative word is typically. You might want to try go to through bank's or credit union's business or commercial department vs personal department.  Update the trail if you are successful  in doing so. We all can benefit from your experience.  Since, my financial need was resolved by some other means, I didn't bother trying to go through their commercial lending department. 

@James Danchus - Larry said it correctly.. Operative word is "most".  I typically just send a pigeon or two with my number. Works just fine as long as neighborhood kids don't shoot it down.. lol. But these kids these days..lol

OK. On a serious note..  Work with a qualified realtor to submit offers. As an investor, unless you are a realtor yourself (which I don't think you are) you should be doing that anyway. There is no cookie cutter method to submit offers.  Some sellers and their agents want something in writing even if its ridiculously lowball. Some prefer to know a ball park estimate of what you are planning to offer. 

So work with a qualified realtor who can help you out. 

@Rich O'Neill -   I took @Account Closed's post as him wanting to finance the purchase of the property and not renovation.  The link you provided seems to be for renovation loans.  Correct me if I am wrong. That being said this is something I didn't know about myself and will talk to my lender.

@Jack Butala- Thanks. That perfectly answers @Andreas Altingul's questions/concerns. !!!

Andrea - Real Estate investing does take some money to get started, or you at least need the ability to get money from bank (credit). However, that doesn't mean you can't take the first step. For someone in your shoes, I would advise to start with house hacking. Buy a property and rent out part of it. Work with a mortgage banker to get yourself an FHA loan with 3.5% down.

Read this specific article on BP regarding house hacking.. 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/11/0...

If you don't even have enough funds to come down with 3.5% loan, then you might want to start working towards it. Maybe get an part time job to save up for 3.5% down. I don't know your local area, but for about $200,000 worth of property you 3.5% is only $7,000.  You can use hacking for multi unit housing as well.. Read the link that I provided up above.. Good luck..

Really not fond of 2% rule. In any highly populated area like the DMV area that I live in, that's almost impossible. For me to reach to 2% rule for some of my properties, I will have to rent each room out like a hotel/lodge. That's the only way I can get to 2% rule.  

@Malcolm Lawson  - I wish I could give you a cookie cutter response. Run the numbers for property regardless of where it is, and let the numbers do the talking for you.  High rent doesn't mean anything if the price to acquire the property is cost prohibitive.

@Angela Kriv -Couple of questions I have for you..

Does the HOA also cover COA costs? At that price point it should. Good thing about condos is that the Condo Association takes care of the external including roof. So you have to just worry about the internal. I am sure you already know this.

Is the condo complex FHA certified? So tomorrow if you were to put it on the market, can FHA loan be secured for the complex? That will really dictate the number of offers you get. When making investments you might want to think about that.

http://fhareview.com/the-guidlines-fhaapprovalguidlines/

@Alton Williams - Can your client show verifiable income? Is his business generating positive cashflow?  If yes, you can see if you can get seller financing.  In future he can always refinance if the interest rates are favorable.  This is hardly creative, but is definitely an option :) 

@Alex Zuroff - No you don't NEED to have separate accounts for REI activities, but its definitely a good bookkeeping practice to have them. You can certainly use a personal account. That's how I used it earlier.. In fact unless you have a properly registered LLC you won't be able to open a true business account. If I were you, I would go to small community bank or Credit Union. Most of the small banks or FCUs have free checking accounts with no fees. Big banks require you to have lots requirements before they waive the fees. I am a huge supporter of small banks and Credit Unions.

Good luck. 

@Rick S. - Its working great. Trust me I am one of the toughest customers to satisfy.  Your customer support staff is also very helpful and really know the ins and outs of the software. A monthly subscription fee would be awesome for people who own multiple properties. I definitely see it as a value added proposition.