All Forum Posts by: John Schnyderite

right..i didn't plan on the short sale route. though I wouldn't need to buy another house in the forseeable future, I don't think my future wife and I want to start our marriage with ruined credit ;)

I'm hoping Steve or someone else with experience in claiming a rental loss has insight on how long you need to rent to be able to claim it on a home that was purchased as primary residence.

I'd be in the red in regards to rental income so I don't necessarily want to rent or hold too long.

Wayne,

I have not turned it into a rental yet.

We are still residing there and looking at home we qualify for even with the existing home on the books. What do you suggest?

I'm curious on this as well.. I bought a primary residence and am underwater but looking to get something bigger for my fiancee and I. When I did my taxes this past year, I asked my accountant and he gave the impression that a year would be enough to rent to write it off. We didn't really discuss it in detail, so I wouldn't go off this, but if you could post what you find, that'd be great

I have bamboo..while I prefer it over carpet, I wouldn't get it again. It doesn't seem as hard as many claim. If using in a kitchen, i would worry about tenants not cleaning up spills or a dishwasher leak too. You could be re-laying a floor or at least pulling a few boards up if tenants aren't careful.

When buying a home as an investment, how much weight due you put into things reaching end of life expectancy if they still work.

If you know the furnace *should* kick in the next year or two, or the roof will probably need to be re-done in the next 5 years, do you deduct the full amount of your expected repair in your offer? a percentage of it?

I have heard owner occupants are preferred for reo's but I know cash is king.

When a bank looks at a conventional vs cash scenario, how close is close enough for cash to win out, even when at a lower price?

For example, 335k conventional vs 290k cash. Is 30, 40, or 50k less acceptable for a guaranteed deal with all other things equal?

and yes michael. i bought the condo on my own years ago...now my fiancee and I applying together make enough to get a 340K loan, even with the condo payment.

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yes..the property is in hillsborough. prices in my complex are hard to judge. the only sales of my unit type in the past 1.5 years have been short sales at well under value. There is one unit listed now but it is overpriced and hasn't generated enough interest to sell.

I personally could see both prices and interest rates moving upward next year....it'll likely take 2-3 years to get my enough equity to break even.

my taxes went up almost 30% just 2 years ago. I shouldn't see a drastic bump there in the forseeable future and may even be able to lower it through appeal. My condo fees seem to go up $10/mo each year on average.

Let me preface this by saying I'm not really an investor but find some very valuable info on this site.

I purchased a condo in 2009 which last lost some value in the past few years. My fiancee and I are looking to get ourselves into a larger home while the interest rates are still low.

If we were to sell and buy now, I'd be looking at 7-12K (factoring in commission fees, etc) at closing to get my existing home off the books which has me considering renting it out.

The rental scenario doesn't look much better however. I'd lose around $200/mo when factoring in mortgage payment plus association fees. When year end taxes come, I should probably be able to recoup that money in the property taxes I'm paying and depreciation.

Am I correct that if I rent my home for a year or so and sell, I'll be able to recover some of my loss as an investment loss over the course of several years?

In my 4 years there, I've put in new floors, redone the bathroom, replaced furnace/AC so besides the kitchen being a little outdated and the water heater being 2/3 through its life cycle, I don't anticipate any major issues.

From an investment perspective, do you cut the cord on a property like this or do I have better options?

The amount I'm willing to offer on a fannie mae REO is at 85% of asking right now and they countered, but I'm not willing to move higher.

I've read conflicting things about them taking offers at 8, 10, even 15% off asking price. This home is nearing the 60 day mark -- do they generally start taking bigger discounts after 60 days? 90?

Even if they drop the price again, I would probably be around 87-90% of asking.