All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I just signed a contract for a foreclosed duplex at Norfolk, VA using my VA Loan. It's going to be my very first investment and it'll allow me to have the other side pay for my mortgage while me and my wife live in it for free. Everything's going great, the seller agreed to pay about about 95% of closing and all major repairs and it appraised $3000 under market value. Until my loan officer told me yesterday that because the appraisal found that it's "Legal, non-conforming to zoning (Grandfathered)" it may affect the property's eligibility with VA due to zoning issues because if it burns down it could only be rebuilt to a SFH. I'm about to find out today what VA will say about it. I'm thinking that's bogus, I'm sure there's more to zoning than what I know but how would VA consider that non-eligible when it's a residential property in a residential area, the only thing is it's a duplex. Even then, if they usually give mixed use properties a pass anyway why would this one be any problem? Does anybody have any experience with this? The atmosphere's really tense right now. I read the handbook for VA Loan guidelines but I can't understand how this could affect the property's eligibility. The only difference is it's going to be rebuilt as a SFH if it burns down, it's still going to be residential no matter what. As far as I know I'm capable of paying the mortgage myself with or without the tenant.

@Rafael the comps we have are really off, the closes one we found is the last one in the list that sold on February for 169,000 with listing price being 172,000. And it was an up/down. This one is a side by side. It had 9800sq ft of land in total, one unit was 1br/1ba (600sq ft) and the other unit was 3br/1ba (1200 sq ft).

Also to answer your questions. I'll be using my VA to help finance and the previous owner was in the process of fixing it up when the bank foreclosed on it. It's in a ready-to-move in condition.

@Daniel DiGiacomo yeah, you're right about class B except it's referring to the people in the neighborhood. It's pretty much a mix of white and blue collars. And I am buying from the bank. This property has only been in the market since the beginning of April so it hasn't really been out there for long, but where this is located, the place is flooded with investors due to the area being very saturated. So good deals like these come and go within 3-4 months typically.

Asking price is 174,000. It's a 1br/1ba (980sq ft) and 4br/2ba duplex (1400sq ft). One side is currently being rented for 1100. It's located in a type B neighborhood. And it's also a foreclosure. It has about 18,000sq ft of land. Assessment value according to city is 218,000.

This would be our first property if we were to get it. If my loan officer was right on the dot with his estimations, we'll be living in this property for free then we'll have more money to save up for our next property.

Right now, I'm thinking of just biting the bullet and meet them right where they want it. Offer 170,000 then ask them to pay ALL closing. That sounds a bit fair to me considering that it's a foreclosure and it's selling with a special warranty deed.

I agree with the notion that military people could settle for mfh's but i personally cant afford multi's in the ghent area or similar high end locations. (Plus, they're so expensive i dont think the returns would be ideal. I'm sure they'll have some type of cash flow but the grm on these properties would probably be 10 or 11 at the least) Plus most military personnel who rent on Multi's are people who rent with room mates and that's what's pretty risky about it. from the horror stories I've witnessed myself, what usually happens is that some type of drama breaks out between them and one leaves and the other cant pay by himself so he tries to cheat his way out of the lease and now you're left with 2-days notice of vacancy. Maybe i'm always just at the wrong place at the wrong time when i see these things happen, so please feel free to correct me if i'm wrong. Don't get me wrong, the scenario i mentioned can occur on a sfh tenant but military personnel with family are more responsible and they normally tend to stick to sfh's. So i guess what it all boils down to is, based on your experience either multi or sfh, what is the vacancy rate for your investments? Also where are your properties located at?

Thanks!

Hi,

Just wanted to get some advice from seasoned investors that are located at big military cities/towns. I'm planning on investing in Norfolk, VA and I'm debating whether I should invest in SFH's or Multi-Families. My original plan was to focus on Multi-family for obvious reasons. But at the same time, I'm in a military town and I think I should capitalize on that but that would mean I have to focus on single family homes and I understand sfh's could be a gamble compared to multi-families. And trust me, military people could get pretty creative when they want out of a lease. I would know because I am one and I've seen some write fake orders and there's really no way to tell it's fake.

I could really use some advice from people who has experience in investing in military towns. Am I better off with multi-families, or should i take a leap of faith and go single? Is it worth it?

Me and my wife looked at it today and it turns out that one of the big branches are just hanging right above the roof. About a foot or two from the roof itself. I'm thinking of getting the whole tree cut if we were to buy. Thanks for the input everybody!

@Sedat Coban just for the sake of curiosity, did you end up buying this property?

I'm about to view this property at Norfolk, VA tomorrow and I'm not really sure what to think about the trees in the front yard. Would you consider these trees hazardous? What are your experiences on trees that run this tall, especially since it's right next to the property itself.

If I end up buying this property, should I include the trimming of the trees in the contract or would that be asking for too much? That is a lot of trees.

Hmm. Good question with the ARV, I would have to come back with those numbers. Would ARV still be the right term to describe it after I have made some modifications to the units? It would have to be liveable before I can buy it due to the VA Loan so I'm I haven't really thought about how much repair it's going to need.