All Forum Posts by: Eric A.

John Hickey congrats on buying a cash cow. Sounds like there were some lean years but your persistence has paid off big time in terms of appreciation on both rents and home value. I'm trying to do something similar with FHA but the prices in BedStuy and bushwick have gotten away from me. Seems like the only neighborhoods where FHA is even a possibility is cypress hills / east New York or east Flatbush, among other further out areas I don't really want to live in. Any advice for me or lessons learned?

Great thread.  I'm interested in meeting such agents as well. 

@Lisandro Galvan sent you a message. I'd love to hear of a lender doing 5% down non-FHA jumbo loans on multi-families. Please get in touch with me. Thanks.

Damon Bodine I'm there this time. Gonna try not to lose any more organs before this one. Looking forward to it.

Originally posted by @Jordan Moser:

@Adam K.Thanks for the solid advice. 

Is it possible to get a conventional loan with a 10% downpayment in Brooklyn, or even Ridgewood, Queens?  What would you do with 40-60k of funds for a downpayment?

I recently spoke to a mortgage broker who told me she could get me into a conventional loan with 90 CLTV (80-10-10) with prices as high as $1mm (or more) on an owner-occupied multi family in the NYC area. No PMI either. PM me if you'd like her info. The challenge there is that with "only" 60k down, you'd be limited to a 600k property, and you haven't even paid closing costs yet. If I had 60k to use, I'd probably stick with FHA but just go to a less sexy area with less competition, that is ripe for appreciation (Ocean Hill, Cypress Hills, East Flatbush, etc.). Alternatively, if you don't need to live walking distance to a subway, you can find some decent properties in safe neighborhoods in Queens such as Middle Village, Glendale, Maspeth, Woodhaven.

Your only chance to "house hack" in the truest sense of the word is to purchase a 3- or 4-family (not 2) in further out areas such as Brownsville, ENY/Cypress Hills, and East Flatbush (the farthest reaches), Flatlands, and Maybe Canarsie. You'd be looking at a 1 hour + commute to midtown in all these areas and crime might still be an issue depending on the block. Then again, a rising tide raises all boats so I can see good appreciation in all these areas over the next 5 years as Brooklyn 'the brand' continues to go global.

Jordan Moser it's definitely true that in a multiple bid environment sellers don't want to deal with lowly FHA buyers. There's always a risk that the property won't appraise, and they want to know you can cover the difference in financing with a larger down payment. I'm facing the same issue. It's not impossible but you might have to settle for paying above ask, or searching in a less hot neighborhood. You're competing with cash buyers and people putting 20-40% down in the hot neighborhoods like bushwick, BedStuy, etc. so you have to differentiate yourself somehow. Shoot me a PM if you want to compare notes. I've been at this for several months at this point.

@Martin RogersYonkers is a suburban town with only a commuter rail, as opposed to subways.  How is it similar to Bushwick at all?  Are artists/hipsters moving there or just families?

Thanks Chris but a 4 family for 1.2 is impossible to find outside of warzone areas around here. I'm looking at 2 fams for about 1-1.2mm. FHA limit is 800k for a 2-fam which is not gonna cut it.

Calling all my NYC investors and househackers. Has anyone had success finding any banks/credit unions/alternative lenders that are willing to make high LTV loans (90-95 CLTV) on multi families with prices above $1mm in NYC? I've been pre-approved for FHA, but the loan limits are just too low for the areas I'm targeting. I'm willing to owner-occupy, and also willing to do a rehab loan. Rather than find a needle in a haystack, I'd love to hear who folks here are using for high LTV loans. Thanks!