All Forum Posts by: Jim S.

Gotta do what makes sense for your own situation but I'll give you some insights into my own plan. With a 401k you can typically take the greater of: $10k or 50% of your 401k balance as a loan up to a maximum of $50k.

The interest you pay is going back to yourself, at a low APR, and you're now using pre-tax money to help with repairs, a down payment, etc.

My current properties have all been financed post-tax but eventually I plan to buy a property using a loan from my 401k + conventional financing. I.e. buy a $60k cashflowing property in the midwets using a 25% down loan, downpayment is covered by a $15k loan from my 401k. No hit to my post-tax savings, all of the money will eventually go back into my 401k, but now I gain another cashflowing property.

Look into the exact details of your plan to see repayment period, loan terms, etc. 

One thing that is pretty standard with a 401k loan is that if you leave your company (fired, laid off, quit, doesn't matter) then you will need to repay the loan within a set period of time - typically 60 days. That's an important caveat to keep in mind with this strategy and you should have some liquid form of investments such as stocks that you can tap into should you need to repay these funds.

Had nothing but great experiences with all 3 of the realtors I've worked with so far (2 in CO, 1 in NY).

I can't say I entirely follow why this is unethical, if I was the seller and I wasn't interested in offers below a certain price I wouldn't care if my realtor said no thanks on my behalf. 

Depends on the understanding between seller & their agent. I'd speculate after the 100-day mark they've probably received multiple offers that were also below ask and the realtor knew their client wouldn't be interested.

Originally posted by @Russell Brazil:

Many many transactions occur because there is a relationship between the two agents on each side of the deal. A redfin agent will not have those relationships, so you put yourself at a disadvantage in competitive situations.  

This is a very important point - my first property would've never happened if my realtor wasn't friends with the other realtor. Asking price was $178k, the offers were me @ 181k financed @ 20% w/ all contingencies vs. full asking price cash offer - $178k. 

Both realtors recommended folks to the same mortgage loan officer as well so they knew when my loan officer "MB" said I was qualified that it wasn't going to fall through. If there was no relationship there would be no question, seller's realtor would recommend the $178k cash offer but "a loan from MB is as good as cash!" 

That property has since appreciated enough that I could sell for a >200% profit 2.5 years later.

@Malick Guindo GuaranteedRate. Used them for a couple properties now and they've been fast, easy, & had good rates.

Not a huge NY presence (bought 1 NY property through them), bigger out in my area.

Don't think it'll raise home prices by $200k but $50k sure. I sure hope they choose Denver. Both for the property I'm in the process of buying & so I can work for em :)

Just got quoted a 30yr fixed loan today @ 5% down, no pmi, no points, 4.125%, $1200 loan costs @300k purchase price. I'll leave it to you to decide if that's better than an FHA for your situation but there's some market context.

Great site - will be using it for a property I just got under contract. My co-worker raves about it and I can see why. Previous two investments were out of state so I have property mgrs handle everything for those. New tenants will be screened/charged via Cozy. Makes things simple for both sides.

Joe just beat me to it - county assessor is the first place i'd look. Even if I'm looking at MLS listings I'll always check the assessor site as well to confirm taxes, assessed value, land vs improvements, etc. Owner's name & mailing address is usually listed there or is easily obtained.

Great book - read it a few weeks back and have since given out copies to my little brother, some friends, and convinced a retired friend to buy it for his recent college grad kids as Xmas gifts.

It helps you set a good foundation for saving so that you can pour all your money into building wealth. It's already more than paid for itself in terms of me consciously choosing to save in various situations (and I'm already pretty damn frugal!)

Would highly recommend it, and once you've finished reading it let your friends read it too. RE gets a lot easier if you have people you know that you can bounce ideas off of :)

My entire ski condo is decked out in Ikea - including the furniture, mattress, plates, silverware, etc.

They are geniuses at creating decent looking stuff for half the price you'd pay elsewhere. Given the wear & tear from constant short term rentals it's all held up well and even if it does get damaged I'm happy to replace it as needed.