All Forum Posts by: Ed S.

I just wanted to get a some takes on refinancing to cash out during current times of increasing rates. Its tempting to pull equity for another investment but that would take me from 3.25% (on a good size loan) to maybe 5% or so, increasing my payment by roughly $800. 

Are you leaving the equity put (on long term holds) or cashing out now before rates go higher? 

@Martha Michel lived in and painted whole unit/remodeled kitchen/other stuff 1,200sqft 2 (large) beds, 1 floor, 5 kids, for 9 months then moved to rent for about two before convincing next bank for second loan (fha) for a single family (exactly a year later). Totally worth it as it would have been $100k+ for a down payment on a triplex in the area. Now we have a very good property for a little sacrifice. After the fact I wish we would have picked up another multi 3+ unit, lived in it for a month or so then went and rented a single family to have more flexibility for future house hacking.

Jack Hensy , have you considered purchasing a 4 plex with an FHA? Good way to start a little smaller and save a lot more being that your unit should be free. If you guy right you can still hire a property manager and cashflow.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to help me out! We'll communicate our intent of having it by the first next time and will update my leases to specify ACH transfers more clearly.

Hello BP,

I'm thankful for such a place where I can get experienced advice.

Here's my situation. Rent is due on the first and my grace period is 3 days, so on the fourth its late. I haven't had a problem with any of my tenants direct depositing till now.

On the fourth we texted our tenant to see if everything was ok because we haven't seen a deposit. His answer was bank issues ( of course it's the banks fault) and he sent us a picture of it withdrawing from his account on the 3rd.

Shortly after contacting I noticed a pending transaction to be paid on the 8th (due to the long weekend and Labor Day). I called both banks and they basically said he initiated it on the 3rd.

The way I see it he essentially put the check in the mail on the 3rd and he's trying to say he paid within my grace period.

If it hasn't actually deposited (not pending) into my account by the 3rd but withdrew from his account on the 3rd is it late?

Thanks in advance for any help advice.

A little background, the first 2-3 payments were late as well because of direct deposit issues and I was gracious because he is military and I took his word for it figuring he was good either way.

Thanks for the feedback!

I just received a letter almost 7 months after closing from the title company (national lending service). They are saying that during a recent audit they found that there was a clerical error and that there was a shortage of $488 in the funds necessary for recording and title fees. Is this a somewhat common occurrence? It says pursuant to the clerical error section of the Compliance agreement that I signed in my closing package they are requesting reimbursement. What's their's is their's and I will pay but it seems like they should eat it. They have employees or a team of employees that verify this stuff and this fee would have been financed. I'm waiting on a phone call to hear the details.

Hi, Nicole Keller. Do you have any property management companies in the area that you would recommend?

Great job, I'm inspired by your story! What kind of flooring did you use and did you float it on the tile to save on demo costs?

I would consider putting decent cabinets in unless you think they will get destroyed quickly by careless tenants. I purchased the Cheyenne (brown) cabinets from Lowe's during there big 20% off (+10% for my military) and I was very happy at first. After installing them I found the finish scratched very easily and I regretted not spending more. I'd imagine the espresso color would do the same. You may be ok with the white or natural finish. As far as the 18" stick on vinyl tiles at Lowe's. I learned that lesson the hard way too. They started lifting in spots after about 4-6 months, I ended up having sheet vinyl laid over them and I'm much happier. My local flooring store said they stopped carrying them because they would peel up. They will only install vinyl stick-on planks. The lesson I learned in this is to be careful where you skimp on stuff. If you can spend a little more to do it right or have a product that won't wind up costing you more money in the future then do it.