All Forum Posts by: David Zimmer

If I were to put 20% down on a property and then refinance shortly after with no significant changes to the home, would I only be costing myself the closing costs of the refinance? I know the BRRRR strategy usually involves adding value to the property to pull MORE cash out, but I'm looking at the downside or risk of using BRRRR without adding value. One property I'm looking at needs no significant upgrades.

I should have done a search. There is at least one other thread closely related to this one. But if any other concepts come to mind I'd love to hear them. I am in Florida for context.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

I am in the process of renovating and furnishing my primary residence townhome into a mid or short term rental. I've owned the property for four years. Does the fact that it is now my primary residence have any impact on what I can deduct from my taxable income? 

Also, this change will happen in the 2nd half of the year. In order to claim these deductions, do I have to have income coming in from the converted property for more than a certain portion of the year? Thanks for any help!

I'm thinking along legal lines Jason :D This would be a situation where the full 20-30% was put down but one investor lived in the property. Although I do understand that the house hack is really more geared toward a lower down loan and the benefits that come along with that. I'm sure you're completely correct though as I don't think you can borrow much when doing a primary residence loan.

Curious how the financial arrangement is made if someone, for example, buys a duplex with investor #2 but only investor #1 lives in one of the units. Assuming both investors fronted equal amounts for down payment, closing costs, etc. Perhaps investor #2 is guaranteed 50% of the profit that would be made if both units are rented? I imagine this could be handled on monthly, quarterly or even yearly basis but sounds a little tricky to negotiate or present to a potential investor.

I believe that's the case when you're a FTHB. In that case you could do 1-4 unit properties with FHA. I'm getting clarification though and will post it here when I find out more.

 It's a conventional 15 year  - so actually I have 13 years remaining on it.

I think what I'm gathering is that there ARE 5% conventional mortgage options. I wasn't sure if the 3.5-5% down was FHA only. And as @Kass Farran mentioned, I'd prefer to do 5% for the PMI + UFMIP cost benefits as the 1.5% isn't a deal breaker.

Thanks Kass. The primary benefit of the FHA being the smaller 3.5% down option? Or are there better terms otherwise as well?

Thanks Celine. I spoke with a loan officer the other day (more of a getting to know you and not talking specifics) but the idea with FHAs is that you cannot use an FHA like an investment loan. There are possibilities if you have a life change - like moving for work or a growing family. From what I understand, the best case is to go from a quad to a triplex to a duplex if using FHA as it shows you are growing into more space. Whereas going from a single family to a quad would kind of be going backward and underwriting would only see it as an investment. My hope is that there are other 5% down options.