All Forum Posts by: Donna Salmiery

I just closed on  my first deal. It is a townhouse, should cashflow about $300/month. There is a lot to closing on a property! I purchased my home 20 years ago, so forgot how involved it is. The bank wants everything except your first born - I guess this is as a result of the 2008 fiasco. A couple things I learned: the title company said they prefer a wire transfer for down payment. The bank charges $25 for this. The title co. would have accepted a cashier's check which would have costed $6. Minor thing, but will know for the next one. We went to the property for the final walk through and I asked the realtor why the lights weren't turning on. You have to transfer utilities to your name!! Newbie mistakes. I also didn't factor in costs for hooking up utilities, they are not cheap. I opted for title insurance, which wasn't originally included in the closing cost quote but was afraid not to have it. Does anyone have thoughts on owner's title insurance? Overall, it went great and the best thing of all was immediately after the closing my husband said, "time to start looking for the next one" He is finally into this! My response was, "I already have"

Congratulations!!

@Hersh M. I just watched The Big Short. Have you seen it yet?

Welcome to Bigger Pockets! That's great that you have an accounting background, since investing in real estate is a "numbers game". I am working on my first deal currently, our offer has been accepted and we asked the seller to fix a leak, so waiting for the answer, and then hopefully closing! It is a townhouse that we will keep and rent out. Good luck on your endeavors!

Welcome to Bigger Pockets! You can search the forums for many topics to help answer questions that may have been discussed previously. There is a wealth of knowledge on here. Good luck on your property search.

@Jeremiah Draper - A good way to get started if you don't have much money to put down is "house hacking", where you live in a property and rent out part of it. That's something else you could look into to start building up some cash  for a deal. 

Welcome to BP! I am also in Martinsburg. I am looking at the Winchester area for rentals. I made an offer on a property this week, but no deal yet. Have you lived in this area for long or are you new to the area?

@Kyle Soderman @James Smith - I had a question regarding whether it would be ok to apply online rather than face to face since I am at work during banker's hours. I searched the forums and found your reply so thanks for posting. I will set up some time to do this. I have met with one banker already in person and I did learn a lot from that meeting, but wasn't thrilled with the terms, 20 yrs ARM starting at 5.5%, maximum it can go up is 2%, but people tell me to hold out for 30 year fixed.

Thank you everyone, this place is so full of excellrnt, knowledgeable people!

This is an part of an ad I saw on Craigs List:

If you fix and flip
After repair value $115,000.
Purchase, plus costs $15,760.
Repairs (estimated) $45,700.
Holding costs $2,400.
Closing Costs $11,500.
Gross Profit $39,640.

I don't understand the closing costs. I imagine there is a title search, but what other costs are there, especially if it is a cash purchase? Can someone explain? The closing costs are almost as much as the property itself.