All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Account Closed Figuring out who pays to what utilities, and who manages the yard/snow is important information to know as well.  Thanks for the suggestions.  I've reached out to my agent to have her ask the current owner. Thanks!

@Steven Gesis Thanks for the advice. I am looking to get an FHA, which requires you to live on the property. So the Cash for Keys option would be for a single tenant, just so I would be able to occupy the property.

@Brie Schmidt Yeah, I mostly want to know this information before I even send an offer. 

Thanks everyone for all of your help!  I really appreciate it!!

@Patrice Boenzi thank you for the advice.  I will have my agent reach out to them and request the information.  Asking for annual expenses and vacancy information would also be incredibly helpful! Thanks for the suggestion.  

@Brie Schmidt Having a contingency to have a single tenant vacate early is a good idea.  I would have no issue helping pay for a cash-for-keys situation.  I would gladly split a fee if it means that I get the property and loan that I want.  Thanks for the advice!

@Thomas S. That is incredibly insightful.  I never though of that, but it totally makes sense!  I can see how all of those things would point towards a lazy owner.  Even if the purchase process is difficult, once the property is purchased, those issues go away, right?  Is there any issues that would cause in the future?  Thanks!

@Jathan Bingham

Welcome to Bigger Pockets!

First thing I would do is check out the Ultimate Beginners Guide.  Read all the way through it, and it will give you a good place to start.  http://www.biggerpockets.com/UBG

Start by building a plan. What kind of investing do you want to do? Fix and Flip, Buy and Hold, BRRRR, Wholesaling? Figure out what you are most interested in, then refine your plan from there. Say you want to Buy and Hold rental property. What kind of property? Land, Single Family Homes, Multi-Family homes? Figure out your plan and write it down.

Then start doing some research into that strategy.

How are you planning on Financing your investment properties?  There are tons of different methods of financing properties for different strategies.  Find the ones that work best for you and what kind of strategy you are interested in.

There are TONS of tips on the BiggerPockets Podcast.

Every Wednesday, BiggerPockets hosts a free hour(ish) long webinar.  You can find it and sign up on your Dashboard.  I also really recommend PRO because you can watch all of the past webinars.  They are incredibly informative!

Also, there are a ton of books that are worth checking out.  If you are interested in rental properties, definitely check out "Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Turner.

J Scott has an incredible book for house flipping if that's what you're interested.

If you have questions at all, everyone here on the forum are super helpful!

Hope this helps!!

-Emily

@Ray Harrell

Great advice.  I would like to know the current rents/leases before forming an offer, if possible.  Plus another big thing is that I'm planning to owner occupy the property, and would either have to purchase a property with an empty tenant, or one where a lease is going to end soon.  Which is why knowing when the leases end is important to me.

How would a current owner handle a Vacancy contingency?  Wouldn't they still have to honor the current leases?  They wouldn't be able to just evict them because they are selling the property, unless that's stated in the leases.

Also, doesn't the rent have to be on your taxes for two years before you can use it for financing?  Can I use the current residents in a property I'm looking at to help qualify for that property?

Thanks!!

@Kim Meredith Hampton

Thanks for the advice.  I will keep looking for answers.  I have rental comps for the area, but am looking for the current rent amounts on the current leases.  When I put everything into the BiggerPockets Calculators, I want to be able to figure out what my current rent income would be if I had to keep the current tenants.

Who would typically request this information?  Since I'm working through a realtor, would they be the one to reach out to the current owner?

And that's great to know about Cash for Keys.  What do you typically pay for for Cash for Keys?  Is there a general rule, like 2 months rent or something like that?

Thanks!!

Hey everyone!

I've been looking at a few multi-tenant properties in my area, and have a few quick questions.  Most of the ones that I've looked at have existing tenants.  When doing the calculations in the BiggerPockets Tools, it's hard to properly estimate what the current rents are.  For example, if a tenant has had a lease for the last year, their rent may be lower than the average for that area.

So, would I be able to request current rent/lease length information from the current owner? I know that getting the current leases / estoppel usually falls under due diligence after the property is already purchased. But what If I want to know this information before even offering on the property? Also, I want to make sure that I'll be able to move into the property when I purchase it (Owner occupied requirement for FHA Loans).

Also, can I offer Cash for Keys if the tenant is currently in a lease?  I know that Cash for Keys is typically to get a problem tenant out rather than going the eviction route.  What if I just want them to leave for a different reason, like to rehab the unit or raise the rent?

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

-Emily

@Jim D.  Yeah all of the lenders I spoke with were personal recommendations from family and friends.  They helped them get into their homes.  So I'm with you on the idea that they were focused on a particular mindset.  I want to thank you again for your recommendation!  I appreciate it!

@Corby Goade Thanks for the advice!  I've gotten a few recommendations from some other Bigger Pockets members, which is going to help me out a TON!  I feel confident that the contacts I've gathered here will make a huge difference!

@Amy Kendall Thanks for taking the time to respond!  I'm glad to know my plan isn't just crazy, haha.

So last year I made a little over 48,000 in gross income and have a $2 raise coming up in July.  So far, none of the lenders that I've talked to have pulled my credit, as they only seem to want to look at conventional mortgages for single family homes.  I'd rather wait until I at least have a lender who is on my side before we start pulling credit reports.  Also I would love your lender contacts!  That would be an immense help to me!

Thanks so much!!

Hi BP!

First Post!

So I've been working hard the last month to learn all I can, and speak with lenders / agents and figure out a business plan. I'm at a point where I could use a little advice.

Just a little info on my current situation/plan. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah, and am currently renting an apartment, with a lease that ends in September. I would ideally like to owner occupy a 2-4 plex at the end of my lease. I just paid off my old car, which dropped my credit score from a 710 to a 680 (it was the longest history on my credit). I am currently sitting at a 25/33 DTI and am looking to get an FHA to owner occupy the property. I have about 10k in cash to put towards a down payment.

Now, I've spoken to 3 lenders this week to try and figure out how much I can actually get a loan for. I've tried to be very clear on what I want to do, but haven't been able to get a clear answer. I want to know what my range is so I can start looking at properties.

I've tried to keep what I say consise, like "I am currently looking for an FHA loan to owner occupy a multi-tenant property. I have a 680 credit score, but just recently paid off my car. I'm currently at a 25/33 DTI, but we can go over it if you'd like. I'm just trying to find out what range I can qualify for so I can begin looking at property."

Every single time they re-direct and start talking about getting me into a single family home with a conventional mortgage. Of the 3 that I've spoken to, none have even began to talk about my plan with me. They immediately diflect and try to push me into a single family. They've told me that it's too risky because I don't have landlord experience, but that can't be the only thing. If that's the case, where do you start? You gotta start somewhere, right?

So, Am I just talking to the wrong lenders? They've all been personal recommendations from family and friends. Is this plan just crazy? I've read blog posts and forum posts about "house hacking" working for other people. Could it just be that this is my first property and I don't have any landlord experience? I'm more than happy to pay for a property management company. Is there a lender here on BP that could just give me a rough estimate of how much I can qualify for?

I just feel a little lost at the moment, and would really appreciate your input.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this!!

-Emily from SLC.