All Forum Posts by: Christian M.

Hi Jon.  I am a new guy too.  My advise is to simply read and listen.  There are thousands of people of BP that have the experience and knowledge to help you.  I agree with Brandon when he said to get on BP daily and just read and learn about whatever topics you feel would help you.  Good luck to you sir!

I am doing quarterly inspections on my property until I can get a feel for my tenants and how well they take care of the place.  We will also change out furnace filters out at that time too.  I try to drive by the property at least once a week as well (easy since it's on my way home from work).  I also want to do the 3 month inspections as well due to the harsh Montana winters to ensure there are no leaks, etc.  I like being hands-on and don't mind doing inspections.....gives me peace of mind.

   Thank you Patrick for the reply.  I appreciate the analysis of the three scenarios.  It does appear that saving for another buy is the way to go.  I am still building equity with my current homes, the rental home of which is being paid for by someone else while I save for that next buy!  I also have my rental property in pristine condition, so I am hoping to avoid a lot of maintenance issues.  My tenants also signed a year lease so I will (hopefully) not have to worry about vacancy for at least a year.  My wife and I have been joking back and forth because our rental house now is nicer than it ever was when we lived in it.  I did a lot of work to the house before we rented it out.  I even had a home inspection and radon test done to see if there was anything glaring that could be a problem in the near future.  We also had a huge hail storm in May and I got a new roof, new siding on one side of my house and new gutters for only the cost of my insurance deductible.  I also will get a new outdoor AC unit in the spring as the hail destroyed the coil on my old one.  So, it makes me feel good that my rental house is in great shape and I hope I don't run in to any problems in the near future with it and that my tenants pay their rent.....fingers crossed. 

Rusty, you bring up a good point with PMI requirements. I will need to research if there is a clause with my loan as to how long PMI needs to be in place regardless of being at 80% LTV or not. Thanks for your insight.

Thank you all for the replies. Yes, the ~$50K to get rid of the PMI on my new house is daunting. I would imagine I could buy at least 2 more rental properties using that $50K instead. I like that idea. I will take it month-to-month. What I am also hoping is that my new house will go up in value to where I won't have to actually pay that $50K but instead can passively rely on its value going up and ridding of PMI that way. I am confident that once my housing development finishes getting built on (I have 2 vacant lots that surround my house) that the value of my house should increase drastically. We also feel good that we were able to buy our house for less than appraised value and I am hoping that the market will keep going up to accelerate us getting rid of PMI even faster. Thanks again everyone.

Thank you all for the replies thus far. Depending on the month we sit at between 20-25% of net income being spent on our primary home (including taxes, insurance, PMI, etc).

   Hello everyone.  My name is Christian McPherson and I am from and currently live in Billings, MT.  This is my first experience on BiggerPockets and I look forward to rubbing elbows with everyone and learning as much as I can from you all.  Thank you in advance for your advise!

   I currently own 1 rental property that was my primary home for about 6 years.  My wife and I just bought a new home in July and converted our old home into a rental property.  My goals right now are vague as I now get into real estate investing but ultimately like most of you I want to create enough passive income to where I can retire early and enjoy life!  Talk to you all soon!

Hello everyone. This is my first post and I appreciate any replies. My wife and I just moved into a new house in July and converted our previous home into a rental property. We have 25% equity in the rental house with a monthly payment of $988/month (no PMI) at 4.5% over 30 years. Our new house has a $2200/month payment (4.125% over 30 years) and we put down only 5%. The rental house is renting for $1595/month. I want to get your guys' opinions on where I should concentrate my extra cash. I have a nice $5000 savings for the rental property so I am not worried about that. I want to know if I should work on paying down my primary residence at least to the point of ridding of the $150/month PMI (would cost ~$50,000 to get to the point of 20% equity), work on paying off my first rental (I still owe $146,000 on the rental), or concentrate on saving for another rental property.

I feel like I should be working on saving for another property but I know how people can get that warm/fuzzy feeling by having a property paid off. What do you guys recommend? Additional properties, pay off rental, pay down to rid of PMI or a combination. Thank you so much again and I look forward to the replies.