All Forum Posts by: Dan D.

HI,

My first option would be to give a mortgage on one of your already paid rental properties if you can.  If you hold them in your name and not in a corporation /  llc, you will likely get very good rates and right now is when I would be trying to get a fair amount of cash to lock in on 30 year rates.

But this all goes back to what your goals are.  Many people's goals are to own 3-5 properties out right because that would give them sufficient cash flow to quit their jobs.  In your case it sounds like you want more properties.  How many do you want?  Or do you just want to keep those and flip.

If you want to double the number of houses you own, giving mortgages on your already paid properties so you have the means to buy more would be your next step.

If you want to retire and just collect rents, then stop at the number of houses that you need to do that, and start minimizing your debt.

I think almost all markets are good.

If the population is growing and it's a place you yourself would want to live, chances are others will like it as well.

The main thing is, do the numbers make sense.  Will you get enough rent to make you happy, or will you have enough steady income from your job to buy it and hold it until you want to live in it? 

If so, great.

Desirable areas are very unlikely to hit a 50% drop in price.  You can wait each year as prices accumulate 2-5% a year or you can jump in and lock in your cost for the next 30 years buy getting a 30 year fixed loan.

Trying to time a drop in a market doesn't work for long term hold investors.   If you catch it, great, but barely anyone ever buys at the exact bottom.

There are only two real mistakes when it comes to buying real estate.

1.  Buy far more than what you can possibly afford in an area where prices will go down.

2.  Never buy a property.

Hi,

Depending on when you bought the property, and any possible appreciation that may have occurred, do you have an ability to refinance any of the existing properties to pull cash out?

The idea is to refinance the house now that you fixed it up to pull the cash out.  Example:  Buy a house for $200k.  Fix it for $30k.  Now it's worth $300k.  

You put down 20% (40k) and had a balance of $160k mortgage when you bought it. But now you can refi at 80% LTV and. $300,000 * 0.80 = $240,000. Refinance to pull out $240,000. Pay off the old loan of $160k --- Likely closer to $150,000 now. Use the newly borrowed difference of $90,000 to buy your next house for cash (or to use as a down payment on the next one).

The next step is getting the cash out of your house for your next purchase.

I'd agree with it from the standpoint that almost anyone could go out today, buy a house to rent out in a nice growing community, and in 20 years (provided they had the capability to make the mortgage and tax payments) they will think it was a wonderful investment 20 years later.

Without seeing the toilet in person, it's hard to determine, but toilets can leak via the wax ring, which was just replaced, or it can be from the tank itself.

If it's leaking from the tank, you would notice it being wet or dripping from the supply line running into the tank.  Feel around if it's wet there.

If it isn't, where is the moisture?  The other place for it to leak would be around the toilet seat after flushing.  So the tank holds the water fine, but when you flush it, the water goes through a bad seal around the toilet and down and around the outside and that's where your leak is.

It is less likely that the plumbing in the wall or floor is bad.  Usually copper or pex is run with the joints being visible, and pipe doesn't just start leaking too often where there is not a joint unless if something has been moving it causing wear / vibration  or something else that would damage the pipe behind the wall or below the floor over time.

In any case, you will likely need to do some drywall repair to make things look new and perfect again which will make your tenant happy.  Not to mention, you would probably want to remove any water soaked drywall anyway because it could have been damaged or started to get moldy.

Do what's right for the tenant.

@Ivan Shao Good question.  I actually do.   http://www.city-data.com/  

Can sort by growth, income, etc.  It can be a little dated, etc., but it's better than just guessing.

Upstate NY probably has some deals.  Pick a town with an increasing population though.

Ton of great knowledge here.  Better than a book.  (Listen to the podcasts...  worth their weight in gold).

Listen to every BP podcast.  Those alone are worth the value of a good college education.

The one thing I'd suggest you do is when you buy your first home, make sure it's one you are not going to live in.

Live with mom and dad for a couple years or rent a cheap room from some buddies to get by, and get that first house under your belt if you can.

Many people buy a house, then have to make payments and realize they don't have the cash to invest because they bought a house which isn't providing any cash.

Good luck. 

Thanks @John Weidner.  That makes sense as well considering our two seasons of Winter and Mosquito.  Having in closed still has some benefits.  I was at the house briefly today and noticed the neighbors house is similar and they have grid windows that look really nice.  I'd probably want to do a craftsman style grid if I do put new windows in.