All Forum Posts by: Craig Jeppesen

@Clinton Fisher bring on the 40% decline. That is when you make money. Have you ever heard of dollar cost averaging and not timing the market ? It seems you are doing both backwards. I am a long term investor and don’t care about recessions or prices going down more. I buy every two weeks and will until I die. The same goes for real estate, but I don’t care about prices until I sell which I won’t for a long time and when I do  I won’t be selling everything at once but have a long term strategy for that as well. Fear is what is causing the sell offs and volatility and that is when wealth transfers from those that are scared to savy investors.

I would shoot for 125-135 k 20% down at 5% 30 year fixed rate loan, no balloon. depends on hvac, plumbing and roof age. If it is a great property with no capital expenses for a long time that would attract great tenants and has appreciation potential $150k at the most for me. Also is area improving.

Time to buy. Stocks are on sale.

Is it turnkey or does it need repairs? I wouldn’t pay $600k for it unless you can raise rents. Also, you don’t have enough for the down payment. You need to save up more first or see if he will let you buy one duplex at a time as you save up the down payments. You also need cash reserves for capital expenses and vacancy. I also don’t like the balloon pmt option. What happens if the market value drops and you can’t refinance. I would keep negotiating with him. I think at this point you are only able to purchase one of the duplexes and at better price and terms.

There is no max. You can claim as many defendants on your w4 as you want. You just have to pay 100% of your last years tax bill or 90% of this year or you get penalized. The w4 is just uncle sams best guess form to try to get it right. Unfortunately it doesn’t work for many tax situations which is why some people get huge refunds and some have to pay. If you don’t know how to estimate for a break even or small refund ask your CPA For help.

Is this for a flip or a rental? If it is a flip ARMs are okay, but I would get a fixed rate for a long term rental unless you will pay most of it off in the fixed rate period. Rates have been artificially low for a long time and should keep going up. Notice I say should as no one really knows where rates will be in 5 years but I don’t think you want to take on the additional risk to find out.

I flip houses and have a full time corporate office job. It is doable but is a lot of work. I spend most of my lunches at Lowe’s or Home Depot, sometimes work on the project in the am before work and on the weekends. I also get a lot of help from my brothers and subcontractors that I know. I try to do mostly cosmetic flips but they are hard to find. My current project I had to rip out most of the Sheetrock in the basement due to water damage, and move some electrical in the kitchen, and some new plumbing drains in the basement bath but the rest is cosmetic. 

I was able to get traditional financing but had do do an escrowholdback for the water damage and tore up kitchen floor. As such , I had to tear out Sheetrock and install the kitchen floor first so the appraiser could come back and sign off on the work. I am not sure if lenders would do this for anyone, but I am able to with 20% down and cash for the Reno.

Also I forgot to thank you for your service to our country!

I would sell a car maybe both, live cheap, and snowball the debt. Sacrifice is the key. You are one emergency into financial ruin. you might stop your retirement for a year while take care of the debt. You might put the student loans on forbearance for now so you have more cash to pay some of the other debts off faster. I might consider selling a property as well since you have equity. You can pick another one up later with less risk on your balance sheet. You probably should get a second job if you don’t sell a property. It is only for a little while, not forever. I wouldn’t wait the 10 years for the loan forgiveness; you will pay your principal amount in interest anyway and the law might change by then. If you want to get ahead in life and become financially independent you must sacrifice now. Also make sure your wife understands what the risk you have from the consumer debt and get her on board. Finally you need to pay more attention to your finances and budget with your wife based on your comment that it just built up so fast without realizing it. Good luck and if you put in the effort you will be in good shape in a year or two.

Either way is fine. With no other bills you should be able to do both this year. Me personally would pay the debt first, but I am pretty conservative. Just make a decision and focus on it. You can also use your home equity.