All Forum Posts by: Andrew Whicker

Everything was taken care of and I am re-financing the house soon (will be about 7 months after first mortgage payment). With the rehab and house prices going up, I'm hoping to remove the rest of my down payment (10% left to remove my PMI). My credit score is back up again. Looks like I could save around $100 - $125 / month.

A small lesson learned, for those who didn't know (I didn't):

With a given amount of CC debt, it is better for the debt to be on a card with a higher limit than a lower limit for your credit score. 

I don't ever carry debt, but the house rehab (and other unrelated life things) gave a month or two of carrying debt.  The report showed a flag since I accumulated debt on the card with the lower limit (but with points).  I guess the credit score companies are basically saying that you are in 'more' debt because you are closer to the limit.  I would have scored better had I been using my other CC with a higher limit.

It doubt it made much of a difference, probably only a few points.  Anyway, lesson learned.  

Talk to the city.. you have a due diligence period even after they accept.  

I have a non-conforming duplex (mother in law), but I'm not trying to change anything and my long term plan so far is to get to be a AirBnb type vacation rental with regular tenants short term.  I can't add any meters, so utilities will always be a bit of a pain.

Would your taxes go up significantly when the tax assessor looks at the property?

I talked with the local govt here and basically got the same answer as above: "they don't have time to care about your property"  

However, I have a friend who bought a triplex that was zoned for a duplex and something about construction permits being 'open (?)' when she closed caused the city to figure out the deal.  She had to add a door and keep it unlocked to satisfy the city.  As you can imagine, the door separates two units and if you keep it locked you create a triplex.

It's your due diligence period, I'd call the city and get a feel for how much they care.  I'd also ask about tax increases.  Seems like a 3/3 vs a 6/5 would be different, maybe a lot.

You can also ask the city if the property is non-conforming, but legal (grandfather) or non-conforming and illegal.  I don't think you need to give the address, but the area it is in and the year the house was modified.  If you don't want to ask, you can find this info in the zoning codes that your local city publishes.

Thanks for the feedback.

I ended up going through Sears after trying to find reputable discount warehouses.  I paid $249 (in store pickup) for a 30" electric stovetop with the two year warranty ($30).  

Stay away from the following websites:

- WDCappliances.com (bad reviews)

- Kenstons.com (Scam)

is $300 for a new electric stove top (free shipping) a good price?

I'm finding other refurbished stuff, but not in my location...

I've called all the used appliance places around me and none have stock (including Habitat for Humanity Restore).  I've also looked on Craiglist / KSL and can't find anything.

Thoughts?

I don't know how to change my title that says 'multifamily investor'  I think when I first signed up I chose what I wanted to invest in and now it looks like I'm someone that knows what they're talking about.

I did buy a mother in law and I'm converting it to a duplex, but I still don't know what I'm talking about.  So maybe make the title thing easier to understand and change.

The @ thing works pretty well, could be better.

This site has helped a lot.  Sometimes I feel like I'm just reading someone brag about themselves, otherwise all good.  

I appreciate all the help I've received.

Cheers

The gas and electric companies here won't add an extra meter if the zoning isn't multifamily. 

Maybe look for a mother in law with separate washer and dryer hookups.

Duplexes are in c areas because of zoning.  Where I live, all the duplexes and triplexes are in one area together.  Nice areas don't want multi units.  

Hi,

I'm actually going the route of standard tenant rental.  Sorry, I don't have any idea about zoning vs Airbnb..

The capital cost up front was just too high for me right now so I didn't pursue any research.

Hi,

This is kind of an embarrassing post, but I need to know how to take care of this and I thought this community would be best.

I have a low credit score because I had a medical bill that I didn't know about until we applied for a mortgage.  By then it was too late to get rid of the ding.  I paid the bill right away.

So, as I understand it, there are the following parties involved:

- Hospital

- Collection Agency

- Credit Score company

So, my loan broker worked with me to try to get the credit score back up before we got the mortgage, but we didn't get the score back up in time.  So my MI is higher than it would be if I had my old credit score, which was pretty good (mid 700's). 

I can ReFi in 6 months.  I closed on the house on Dec 12th.

From what I understand, either the hospital or the collection agency put in a request to remove my credit score reduction.  Also from what I understand, this will happen eventually, but the actual amount of time is unknown.  

My question:

How do I follow up?  How can I be sure that in 6 months my credit is back to pre-medical bill status?  The collection agency told me that this particular hospital always puts in a request to remove the credit reduction.  

Who do I contact?  The hospital?  Anyone in particular at the hospital?  Once they put the request in, then who do I call to follow up?

Thanks for putting up with the potentially dumb questions.  

Andy

Update 1/5/15

Since the last post we've done the following:

- Started removing laminate flooring (decking underneath)

- Sanded cabinets

- Patched a few drywall holes in the basement

- Painted stove range and hood

- Removed laminate backsplash

Photos:

The paint for the range and the hood was Rustoleum High Heat (Home Depot).  I started at 220 / 240 grit and moved down to 400 grit.  

To remove the laminate we used a Sawzall with a putty knife like attachment.  This worked really well.  We scored the laminate using a circular saw because there are two layers of laminate and a box cutter wasn't doing it.  I bought a floor scraper but that didn't do anything.  I wouldn't even bother.

Videos:

#4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TcredIUEnk

#5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HznnrmOA1I

Costs:

I'll spend some time soon and get these broken down.  I need better categories than I picked before.

Cheers!

I wasn't thinking of financial cost, but time and effort.  Your experience shows otherwise, so who am I to argue?

Glad it works.