All Forum Posts by: David Shakhunov

It is possible. When you run your numbers make sure you assume HELOC is a variable rate and talk to the professional tax advisor to estimate the taxes once you sell the house.

Use personal time off/vacation to finish up your flips asap. I would strongly recommend keeping your day job. I would concentrate on making more high quality flips and maybe using your own money (if you have enough). There are a lot of uncertainty in the economy right now and I would hold off leaving 150K a year job.

Hello. Do you need a HELOC for a primary residence or an investment property?

If it is a primary residence I would go with UMPQUA Bank. That is what I personally have. Cost to open a HELOC is $500, $0 required for an initial draw, variable rates, and they have 20 year repayment term. First 10 years are interest only and the next 10 years are principal+interest. No prepayment penalties.

I personally use TenantCloud. It is great for accounting, advertisement, background checks, contracts, etc. It is free to use. They also have paid packages starting at $15 a month for more features. You can upload your receipts there. It is an online platform and the learning curve is a little stiff but once you figure it out and it pretty simple to use. They have a lot of customer support and tutorial videos. Since it is free to use for a basic package, I would sign up and try it out to see if you can get hand of it.

In NY once you accept the money for forbearance you are NOT allowed to refinance your house or sell it for the next 5 years. Yes you will become current on your mortgage and your credit score might go up but if you decide to sell or refinance your house you will have to pay all the money on the spot that you received for the forbearance. So if you accept forbearance money from the state, your only option is to get your personal financed in order and clean up the debt using your work income and the income from the properties.

I see. If you decide to go with option 3 ("trial" payments) and declining 50K, then make sure you get HELOC that way you can keep your current rate of 4.1% and have a variable rate for the HELOC. With HELOC you can take money as needed basis instead. Most are require to pay interest only payment for the first 10 years and then interest + principal on years 11-20. The downside of HELOC is that the rate is variable.

Also keep in mind when the state pays 50K of deferred payments, your house equity doesn't increase by 50K. Most of the 50K will go towards the interest and smaller portion towards principle. Most likely it will be 15K/35K split (maybe even smaller split). So you are only getting a smaller chuck of 50K towards your equity. 

Looks like option 3 might be the best approach. 

Hello,

I would check the local/state laws of what is considered a last payment (even a partial payment) and I would seek a legal advice on eviction process. Eviction process has to be done properly and make sure everything is done correctly from your end. Accepting 1/3 that was paid might slow down your eviction process (depending on the local/state laws and regulations). I am assuming you have the move in deposit that can be applied towards unpaid rent if the eviction goes through. Nolo.com sells quick summary of laws and regulation by topic for a reasonable price. I believe they have landlord-tenant section where you can purchase an e-book.

If you want to get into the real estate investing I would fix the personal finances first. Why wasn't the mortgage paid? Do you have some kind of savings? Also sounds like you have some kind of aux. debt as. There will be a lot of unexpected expenses once you own a real estate investment property. So I would figure out how to fix your debt and personal finances before jumping into the investing. Maybe the best option for YOU is to take the 50K and work on paying off your debt and save up for 5 years. If your income is/will be high enough you can get approved for a second mortgage. It might be smaller amount that will price you out of local market but you can explore option investing in a different state. OR Maybe it is better to go with option 3 and push payments and use the equity to invest in the real estate but if you are not ready financially, this move will hurt you. I think you might know the answer if you analyze your current situation in a greater depth. I can't give you a solid recommendation since I don't know all the details.

I would but a some kind of lawn with some concrete/gravel paths. I would also use decorative gravel around the house.

I want to echo all the other budgeting responses. It is super important to budget.

Benefits of budgeting:

1. can plan on how much you can save every month

2. don't feel guilty on spending money on fun/entertainment (you don't overspend in this category as well)

3. when every dollar is budgeted, you see where you can cut expenses

4. having a plan and approximate time when you will save X amount by Y date is motivational