All Forum Posts by: Edith TenBroek

So we have been "Dave Ramseying" for the past few months.... working on debt reduction.

I've been learning, and reading, and listening to podcasts about REI for a solid month.

I just got the word from my primary bank that we can move forward on a refinance on our primary residence and will be dropping to 3.6% on interest and reducing our 21 remaining years to 15 years. Our payment is going up a whopping $14 per month, plus we get to skip a payment in August. Woo Hoo! We are getting somewhere!

Our banker also said we qualify for a mortgage for an investment property up to about $50,000, or more if we want to go through the hassle of including my self employment money. However, DH and I decided to wait on our purchase until next spring. He's a prof and gets summers off, so if we can close on a SFH in late spring, we will have the summer to get it renovated and rented out. In the mean time we can pay down more debt and save more for the down payment and reno costs.

I'm thrilled that we have some hard numbers and an idea of what we should be looking at! It gives us a goal to work towards.

I know there are all kinds of creative ways to jump in the game now, but with our first investment, I feel a little risk averse. Plus the timing is just better if we buy in the spring.

So wish us luck!

Well, this will be our first deal so I'm definitely open to suggestions! In my mind we will be heavily involved in the renovation, then turned it over to a Property Manager before moving on to deal two. That's mainly from my experience renovating our own house and doing a lot of it ourselves. But that may not be as feasible from a distance. I could see coming out and painting for a weekend pretty easily.

So any advice on finding good contractors? I've dealt mainly with the big box stores, but I imagine there are better ways out there.

how do you figure it's a war zone? The houses I looked at showed lowest crime level on Trulia. It was green all around.

Thanks Timothy! I just sent you some info. I forgot to add, I'm looking to renovate to make homes rent ready, and probably use a property manager. My handy hubby and I will do some work ourselves, and hire some out.

Hey all,

In my search for the best deals in IL I came upon the Chicago Heights area. There seem to be many lower priced homes available, but it certainly doesn't look like a war zone. The houses don't even look that old. What's the story? Why so many foreclosures in this area and are the rents really that good? Is there a glut of rentals available due to the low priced housing? Is it a good place to look further? It's about 2 hours from me, but that's not too difficult.

Thanks for any input!

Thanks for the update William. How can you tell if a house on homepath.com is eligible for the homepath loan? Is the sticker the final word or is there more digging to do?

that's what I am trying to clarify. Many of the properties on homepath have no sticker at all. So are they or are they not eligible for a homepath mortgage? Who should I contact to find out?

Ok, so are the properties listed at homepath.com all Fannie May or not?

I've been talking to my banker about homepath loans. My bank is a Homepath lender, but they can't do the renovation loans. So I was looking through the homepath homes near me and very few actually have the "homepath mortgage" sticker next to them. Are the homes WITHOUT the sticker next to them NOT eligible for the homepath loan? I noticed the sticker only seemed to be on the higher priced homes.

@William Robison Are you a Realtor as well, or do you have any suggested investment friendly Realtors in the area?

Thanks!

Edie