All Forum Posts by: Lynn Z

Yes, I rent properties in a university town.
No one but slumlords really deal with property close to campus because students trash the houses and the yards.

Buy in the best residential neighborhoods because their parents are footing the bill and they want their children to be safe.
Call and post when you catch a glimmer of the first wheel on your grass and never let them do the yard...they're incapable. Same with filters.

Monitor, monitor, monitor. When you've had enough of lower classmen you'll be on Craigslist looking for law students, MBA's and Seniors. Meet the parents and no pets.

Every expert looks powerless today when trying to explain how every aspect of our economy has gone broke all at once.

Why should the unknowns of real estate investing be any different? It's a huge game and very few play it well. The ole 80:20 ratio applies in this business as well as others.

I've met with several "planners". First they want me to buy long term care insurance and they hit that hard. They always "pooh-pooh" my rentals and offer sage advice like " you can go to work to support your rentals" -- Downright depressing. Also, they want permission to talk to my CPA. Why would that be?

If you plan to do one 1031 exchange in your lifetime, you'd better know a CPA that knows these IRS requirements. A real estate lawyer has to set the legal papers up before you even close on the deal.

You still may wind up knowing more than your professionals. They might not recognize the term "QI" for example. Pay now or pay later by going it alone.

Have any of you been through an IRS audit?
Gads.

Hey there are two real estate CPA's that come and talk to the local REIC here in Columbia. They're great. Maybe you could get in touch from their website and talk to us.

We're very informal.

I'm down in Columbia. Welcome aboard. Alot of agents ( who are licensed) are investors on the side. I'm sure that's everywhere. They jump on the hot sheet on the MLS and gather up good listings.

Getting the license isn't hard and a good way to get involved if you're going into investing.

All my lenders commercial and conventional want a minimum of 20% down and again won't count but 75% of your rental income.

Why isn't PMI kicking in for the other 10%? Is it factored into the rate? Make sure you get a clear understanding of their charges-- Sounds too good to be true. Commercial lenders won't go more than 5 years and amortize over 20 years at the most.

go to the courthouse and research it otherwise.

Been borrowing for purchase, purchase/rehab, from a commercial lender in a regional bank for years. SF, triplex, duplex--all types but not tied to LLC or other entity.

He wants strong taxes, high FICO, etc. but not in to cash out refis (is anybody anymore?)

15-20 yr. interest only for 6-12 months max,
good rates, .5 closing fee for bank. Will cross collateralize with properties owned for the 20% down required.

There are several commericial lenders in town that investors work with. Regions bank is one name but they've had problems lately with deposit withdrawal and are now asking about number of mortgages over 4

Number of mortgages is a non issue with commercial style lending. They do consider rental income but none of them really share their approval tricks.

Look, you probably shouldn't be buying without putting 20% down. An investor friend of mine who is just acquiring property was turned down by major banks where he had an LLC and there were other partner names' involved.

Another bought a beach house and they quit claimed after the closing from his LLC to his individual name but the cost of the stamps for the transfer ran up a $4000 tab due to the high price of the house.

I've borrowed from commercial lenders for SF rentals. They do like it all (just like insurance agents) like the post above said so build a relationship. Get someone who does business in real estate to introduce you. You have got to have a clean credit report and hopefully a high FICO. You cannot have over 4 investment type mortgages today. Yesterday it was 10; today it is four.

Don't go the PMI route. You've got to have 70% LTV to be released from PMI on rental property with some lenders and there's a time requirement. Some lenders require that you have significant improvements made to be property and documented by a certified appraiser (in our state additional appraisal certifications required to do PMI appraisal) which has to be submitted for the lender review. I think we had to wait two years minimum before applying to drop it as well. The appraisal was very expensive.

They were so slow in releasing the property from PMI I finally decided to refi out of the situation.

I do my own evictions at the magistrate's office. I will not accept partial payment of rent because you do have to start over to get the rest plus running late fees. The one question you have to decide is whether you want the money more than you want the deadbeat tenant put out. Here is S.C. it probably takes two months to really get them served and put out so you're out two month's rent or more.

You could repost the (here it's 5 day notice)
stating the amount due plus late charges due as of that date. Notify the tenant that you must have the money and fees or you're filing the eviction form.