All Forum Posts by: Darvin Johnson

Thanks @Drew Sygit, you always come through!

Hi BiggerPockets Family,

I was wondering if anyone in the Detroit/Metro area would be willing to recommend any contractors they've had good experiences with. GC's, painters, electricians, flooring, HVAC etc. I appreciate you guys and I hope everyone is having a great year. 

@Stephanie P. Thanks so much for the info! I've mostly been finding lenders that require 20%. I've already got the lending for one side in place. If I am able to get both I'll weight the pro's and cons of having the deeds converted back to a single deed. 

@Stephanie P. It is a duplex, two attached townhouse style units. They were deeded separately so that they could be sold individually. 

@Tanner Sherman that was actually the first thing I asked, he's not interested in any time of seller financing. 

Hello Bigger Pockets Fam,

I've recently come across a great deal that may be a little difficult to pull off and was wondering if anyone could provide me with any ideas for creative financing or recommend a lender who may be able to pull it off. 

I've found a duplex (in MI) that is deeded separately but the owner is willing to sell them both to me. Unfortunately he is NOT willing to do a land contract or any other type of short term seller financing options. The total cost is $650k ($360k/$290k). I think each side could appraise for between $360k-$400k and could rent for about $1,500-$1,600 as is but should be able to get $1,900 - $2,200 with a few minor things fixed up. 

My issue is I could come up with 5% down if I did an owner occupied loan but wouldn't have enough for the 20% down payment for the other side. Or I could come up with 20% for one side as an investment property but not have the 20% needed for the other side. I have a family friend member who offered to gift me 5% for one side but with a conventional loan/lender this would still increase my DTI to much for me to be able to purchase the other side as well.

I currently have another property that I am finishing renovations one now and intended to refi once I'm done but I would need that cash from that to assist with this deal and I the seller isn't willing to wait. Any one out there have any suggestions on possible ways that I may be able to pull this thing off? I appreciate any advice, tips, suggestions or any other form of constructive dialog.

Best of luck all and I hope we all have an amazing 2022!

@David M. great points. I keep 6 months now because my portfolio is still pretty small but as I scale and I'm also able to have a larger overall reserve fund I won't worry so much about that specific metric. The reserves will be more so for big ticket items in the future but I'll be very conscious of using it for when the market presents an opportunity.  

The speed of both is something I've really been thinking of the past few days. And being able to comp the properties will safe a lot of time when considering different properties. This could easily help me make up the inspection fee. Thanks for the info, major help. 

@David M. no, that was a big help. Having the lenders refer you business (appraiser) vs having buyers refer you business (inspector) is a huge difference. 

@Allan Smith Thanks for stopping by the post. I think I might lean a little more towards appraiser. I really enjoy all of the inspecting things for homes that I'm considering and purchasing but for a living maybe not so much. I can always avoid stepping in, crawling through or climbing on anything I don't want to if it's for me. Huge help.