All Forum Posts by: Damien C.

Nice. BTW: I have a condo pretty much exactly between Harvard and Central. I'm obviously a fan of the area. Sounds like you have a killer property location. That's awesome!

Hey Dan. I was just pointing out that you might consider starting to screen property management now (that is, if you think you are going to need it, and it sounds like you will) rather than waiting until you have closed on the property. Just a thought.

@Dan K.
Welcome. Are you actively looking for Fitchburg PMs or do you plan to buy a property and look for the PM later?

@Rebecca Olson Sounds like an incredible deal with 3K down. Congratulations!

I think showing appreciation is just generally a very powerful practice.

I'm guessing of course, but it seems to me that showing appreciation from time to time (say in the form of a gift card or whatever ) in addition to maintaining the property, would either yield no result or a positive result. Can't imagine it would be negative. So it might be worth testing.

Thanks, Scot and Jerry!

Hey Daniel. That's awesome to the hear that the HELCO is working for you.

dc

Hey there everybody. I'm interested in hearing some opinions on different methods of tapping equity to acquire investment property.

I purchased my primary residence in 2011 with 20% down and a 30-year fixed mortgage at 5%. A year or two later I refinanced at 3.5%. The refinance worked out nicely as my monthly expenses dropped by hundreds of dollars. In the past couple years, however, my property's value has jumped up approximately 80-95K.

My plan going forward is to buy and hold multiple investment properties (using leverage, most likely). I currently have only one mortgage.

A few weeks ago, I started a HELCO thread, and I got some great insights on how different investors have used lines of credit to reach their goals.

I'd appreciate any thoughts on the best ways to tap home equity in general. If I do a cash-out refinanced, for example, I would do so at a higher interest rate, which does not make much sense to me (although I imagine there might be some advantages of which I am unaware). I'm curious if you folks have any opinions on using a home equity loan versus a HELCO (versus perhaps another method I have not considered). Furthermore, I'd be interested to hear if using a equity loan or a HELCO for a down payment is problematic in terms of securing a fixed mortgage for the remaining 75-80%.

thx v much!

@Lynn McGeein That sounds frustrating regarding the board! Point noted.

@Cheryl C. Interesting. About the reserves: are you analyzing reserves after making an offer, as part of due diligence? Or do you acquire information about the reserves and management prior to the offer? I'm just wondering about the actual availability of that type of financial information before a bid is on the table.

@Paul Ewing That's interesting that you mentioned not being able to find cash flowing condos. The reason I started this thread is that I am "seeing" some condos that cash flow...and in some cases, they cashflow better than SFH's. I say "seeing," in quotes, because I ran the numbers based on listings only, and I have not actually seen the properties yet. Therefore, my assumptions might be wrong.

@Ursula B. Sounds like a good strategy. And I agree that the small amount of responsibility, with respect to the exterior, is appealing. I don't own condos as investment properties; but I own the one I live in. And I suspect that the aspects of condo living that I enjoy as a homeowner might also be ones that would work as an investor.