All Forum Posts by: Nick Flint

Thanks for the tips @Caleb Brown @Stephen Diakos! Time to start saving my pennies 

Hey BP'ers,

My fiance and I recently purchased a home in Tampa 6 months ago. The goal is to purchase another one about 2 years down the road and rent this one out. So what steps should we be doing in the meantime to set ourselves up to qualify for another loan/make this a smooth transition?

I asked my lender this same question and here were his answers, any additional tips or suggestions?

Combined income ~ $100,000/yr

Current mortgage (we put 5% down on 290k house) - $1,850/mth

Answers From Lender:

- Paying off more of my current mortgage? No, just make normal payments

- Or keeping more in savings for a new down payment? Yes, this will be to your benefit when buying a new home

- Refinance current house at a higher valuation to use that money for the new down payment? Probably won’t be an option that will make sense. The interest rate will most likely be higher than what you currently have plus you can only cash out to 80% of the appraised value so there really won’t be much equity to cash out..

- Renting out my current house first to show that income before looking at new houses? You can go under contract to buy a new home and use a new lease to offset the existing mortgage payment. Your current home does not need to be rented out prior to the purchase. Tenants can move in right after you would close on the new home.

Appreciate all of the replies!

Looks like I'll be contacting the city to check for coding/permit requirements before doing anything.
 

I've got a 600 sq ft, 2 car garage at my house. The end goal is to make it a liveable unit on paper with permits, but that's a few years down the road.

Right now the goal is to turn it into a home office, so what steps would you recommend taking that would eventually let me turn it into a liveable unit?

I think getting the floor done, adding climate control, and adding electrical are the first steps.

The main things I'm wondering are:

- any flooring recommendations? I was just going to epoxy it so it looks better

- it has 1 outlet right now, do I just get someone to come wire more into the walls?

- do I seal up the garage doors/remove them/replace them with cinderblocks?

- what would you recommend for A/C as far as insulation? I think a window unit would be the best option. I'm in Tampa so it would get close to 100 degrees without anything

- anything else you think I'm overlooking?

Thanks in advance! Pics below for reference

Nice work starting out so young, do either of your parents work in real estate? Or maybe a close family friend who can let you shadow them for a day or over Spring Break so you can get an insiders look at the industry? While you'll want to know as much as possible about every aspect, it's good to narrow your sites on one or two paths and become a true expert in those fields.

Check out some other property management companies on Google, Yelp, and Facebook to see what the reviews are saying. What are people ranting and raving about? Here you'll find unfiltered feedback to see what some of the top priorities are for homeowners, and what aspects get on their nerves.

Good luck!

Writing things out has really helped me. Whenever I go to bed I write notes in my phone for what I need to get done the next day. Other things come up in between but I focus on those, if I miss something it’ll stay on there until the next day until it gets accomplished.

Cashflow is another option. ARV will only come into play when it's time to sell. So if you're making $200+ profit a month for a rental, that's a win in my book!

@Justin Heitter

Also who knows if his 70k rehab estimate is accurate, could be higher or lower with a different contractor. So before making an offer, see if he’ll let you in with you own contractor to get a quote, and use that to decide your offer.

@Chong Liang

Keep looking, there will be better deals out there. Even if you’re just a little negative each month, just imagine what it would look like with some vacancy and something going wrong on the property