Two youngsters want to rent my 1-bedroom furnished apartment. They have little income, but one says her parents are supporting her while she's in college. So I asked if the parents would co-sign.
The parents said Yes, but they are French citizens living in France. I assume they do not have SS#s. If I rent to the kids and they default, and the parents also default, is there any real downside for the parents?
I know I can take the kids to court, and maybe put an unlawful detainer on their credit reports. But would I have any leverage to make the parents pay? Thanks.
Choose your battles wisely in this situation.
I'm in Manhattan where this is very common for international students and most landlords won't bother unless you have a guarantor who lives in New York State (few are open to guarantors living in the tri-state). If this doesn't work, they'll accept third-party guarantors like Rhino or Insurent. Worst case scenario, they have the tenant pay the full year lease in cash in advance, at the very minimum 3 months upfront (on top of the deposit and 1st month).
You're the landlord in this situation so it's your decision to make but it's going to be extremely difficult getting people across the world to pay back rent for their child should the situation go south at all. You will have very little leverage and the cost/time the whole process will take you should make you at least reconsider. It would be a hard no for me personally.
Good luck on your decision.
I am looking to sell a condo in battery park, Manhattan but have to option to hold off the sale by a year or two in case it is not a good time to sell. Any opinions from anyone who has recently sold / looking to sell in Manhattan / Battery Park?
A year or two in this market is a lifetime. Think about how drastically the market has moved this last year.
Right now is the best time to sell in Manhattan. The market has shifted into a hot seller's market the last few months and sales activity is sky high right now.
What's the approximate value of the home? I ask because the luxury market ($4M+) is the hottest it's ever been in NYC. If your property falls into that category it's a no brainer. If it's significantly less than that and if your generating solid income from rent, it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to hold. But if selling for top dollar is your priority, definitely list now.
Hello
I just became a real estate agent a week ago in Houston Texas. I am still learning and would like to know what strategies did you implement to get your career started as soon as possible? Any suggestion on where to get potential buyers/sellers? Any networking strategies?
Any feedback will help a lot
Thank in advance
Hey Alvaro,
I won't tell you what I did to get started because I wouldn't recommend it but I can tell you what I would do differently if I were starting today.
First, create a business plan. This sounds so simplistic but it's so often overlooked. Don't just "wing" it. Have a plan in place that you can put into action daily to obtain your goals.
Second, join a team (if your office has one). I didn't when I started because I was stubborn and money hungry so I learned the hard way by trial and error, which eventually took a lot longer than if I joined a team from the start. When you decide you're ready to do your own business you can go on your own.
Third, KNOW YOUR MARKET! This might be the most important thing you can do. Learn everything there is to know about the market you're working in, real estate related and non-real estate related. Know the inventory, know sales prices, know what just went under contract, know what recently expired, know recent sales, know the best place for a burger, know where the nearest mall is, etc etc etc. Pick a neighborhood/town/city to lock in on (farming) and absorb as much knowledge as you can. No matter how new you are, if you know your market like the back of your hand you will gain people's trust as a neighborhood expert.
Fourth, aggressively pursue getting listings. That doesn't mean to neglect marketing to buyers but listings will keep you in this game for the long haul. By having listings, you're also marketing to buyers in different ways so it's really a win/win situation for your business. You'll also have a lot more control of your time.
In addition to those 4, focus on getting new business daily. I'm big on cold calling (haven't been able to in 1+ year in NY), social media, my farming campaign, and professional networking. Find the method that works best for you and use it daily to get new business. I wish I followed these steps when I got started. The good thing about these forums is we can share with others how to avoid the mistakes we made.
Good luck to you!
Yes, there is a reciprocity agreement, at least among most states. But that doesn't mean you can get licensed in New York and automatically be licensed in the other 49 states. You have to go through state-specific training and testing and licensing. An agent licensed in California has to attend a Wyoming Law class, which is 3 days long and about $400. Then they have to pass the test which will cost $130. Then they have to apply for their license and meet all the other requirements. For you to do that as an individual in all 50 states would take years to complete, not to mention the financial burden. And if you are living in New York, what good would your license do you in Alaska, or Montana, or Arizona? You would not know the market, you would not have a presence.
there are large companies that have licensed individuals in every state, but they do it by establishing a national business presence and then expanding into those states by hiring agents that are licensed in that state. It sounds to me like you want to fly to Mars but you haven't even demonstrated the ability to fly from New York to New Jersey.
1. I am not looking to "fly to mars". It actually sounds to me like you don't know the answers to my questions. Please don't come on here to tell me what I can and can't do. This is the issue with a lot of people like you on here, you think you know everything about RE and are better than others.
2. I asked if you need a broker license in order to legally operate in other states. Yes, I can put up a job posting for a RE agent in let's say, Montana, but what I asked and you didn't answer was, "don't I need a broker's license in that state".
3. Obviously I won't be opening up a company and hiring agents in all 50 states overnight. I am asking what's possible and feasible.
4. You mentioned having a company presence in every state that I want to operate. You didn't even answer my question regarding that.
If you don't have the knowledge or experience to answer my questions, please don't bother. There are plenty of posts you can reply to on here, feel free to waste their time and not mine. Thank you.
For starters, you need to fix your attitude. You can't come on a public forum, ask a question (& IMO a dumb one), then be a jerkoff when people try to answer your question.
Now it's my turn. Is it possible to get a license in 50 states? I guess so. But who would ever want to do that? Real estate is local. Even if you want to do business nationally, there's other ways to do that without having to invest so much money/time/energy.
Out of curiousity, why wouldn't you just network with agents in the states you're interested in and split commissions with them? They can be your feet on the ground. Some agents will only want to give you a referral fee for that but depending on the value you're bringing to the table, you can try negotiating to a 50/50 split instead.
So yes it is possible. But it would be extremely time consuming and cost you tons of money (I'm talking just to get all the licenses, we're not even talking about continuing education). I've honestly never even heard of someone attempting to get licensed in every state. Good luck!
I see you're going to make a ton of fruitful connections on here... keep it up.
1) I bothered replying because when I see you giving attitude to someone like Nathan, who has more REI experience in his pinky than you have in your entire body, I feel the need to tell you to check yourself when YOU'RE the one asking the question.
2-3) Lmao.
4) Hmm... I don't know, I'll take a wild shot and guess they're probably representing the BROKERAGE? I mean for someone with your attitude, are these really the questions you're asking?
A "one-stop shop" who's asking if he needs a real estate license in all 50 states. Then asking what company is the other agent representing? LOL! Can't make this stuff up. Yeah man, you got this!
Good luck.
Yes, there is a reciprocity agreement, at least among most states. But that doesn't mean you can get licensed in New York and automatically be licensed in the other 49 states. You have to go through state-specific training and testing and licensing. An agent licensed in California has to attend a Wyoming Law class, which is 3 days long and about $400. Then they have to pass the test which will cost $130. Then they have to apply for their license and meet all the other requirements. For you to do that as an individual in all 50 states would take years to complete, not to mention the financial burden. And if you are living in New York, what good would your license do you in Alaska, or Montana, or Arizona? You would not know the market, you would not have a presence.
there are large companies that have licensed individuals in every state, but they do it by establishing a national business presence and then expanding into those states by hiring agents that are licensed in that state. It sounds to me like you want to fly to Mars but you haven't even demonstrated the ability to fly from New York to New Jersey.
1. I am not looking to "fly to mars". It actually sounds to me like you don't know the answers to my questions. Please don't come on here to tell me what I can and can't do. This is the issue with a lot of people like you on here, you think you know everything about RE and are better than others.
2. I asked if you need a broker license in order to legally operate in other states. Yes, I can put up a job posting for a RE agent in let's say, Montana, but what I asked and you didn't answer was, "don't I need a broker's license in that state".
3. Obviously I won't be opening up a company and hiring agents in all 50 states overnight. I am asking what's possible and feasible.
4. You mentioned having a company presence in every state that I want to operate. You didn't even answer my question regarding that.
If you don't have the knowledge or experience to answer my questions, please don't bother. There are plenty of posts you can reply to on here, feel free to waste their time and not mine. Thank you.
For starters, you need to fix your attitude. You can't come on a public forum, ask a question, then be a jerkoff when people try to answer your question.
Now it's my turn. Is it possible to get a license in 50 states? I guess so. But who would ever want to do that? Real estate is local. Even if you want to do business nationally, there's other ways to do that without having to invest so much money/time/energy.
Out of curiosity, why wouldn't you just network with agents in the states you're interested in and split commissions with them? They can be your feet on the ground. Some agents will only want to give you a referral fee for that but depending on the value you're bringing to the table, you can try negotiating to a 50/50 split instead.
So yes it is possible. But it would be extremely time consuming and cost you tons of money (I'm talking just to get all the licenses, we're not even talking about continuing education). I've honestly never even heard of someone attempting to get licensed in every state. Good luck!
@Francois G. What legal ways are there around the moratorium? If you sign someone up for a month to month lease, give them notice to leave because they stopped paying or damaged the property and they don't leave, what options do you have? You have to evict them at that point and are right back where we all started, sitting on our hands while tenants live for free at someone else's expense.
A month-to-month lease doesn't allow non-payment to happen, which is what the moratorium is targeted at. A tenant can break a lease many different ways (it's your responsibility to detail everything in the lease) other than non-payment. In your lease I would hope intentionally damaging your property would be grounds for termination. You don't think there has been any evictions since the pandemic started?
I see you're also from NY, I won't speak on upstate but in the city there are many who are disgustingly abusing the moratorium. I'm not denying it's a mess but the original point I was making is that it shouldn't deter someone from investing in rentals. If you properly screen your tenants, thoroughly explain what constitutes breaking the lease, stay on top of your local laws, and keep up with your duties as a landlord, you will do just fine with or without a moratorium in place.
@Julie DeWolfe Arroyo
Or you can just make any new lease month-to-month? This eviction moratorium is a nightmare for those who already had tenants in place during Covid. There’s plenty of legal ways around it for new tenants.
Quick aside to @Francois G.
Lenders regularly use education in a related field as part of (even all of) a 2 year work history.
It's most straightforward when the degree directly relates to the job: recent med school grad who's signed a contract with a hospital, engineer with a job at an engineering firm, accountant, RN, etc. But even in fuzzier cases this can work just fine: marketing and communications degree who is going into a customer service or sales position, for example.
Back in the day, I was a philosophy major... I'd probably not gotten too far using my degree to show a two year history of experience in, well, anything. :)
But most semi-professional degrees with a related(ish) field work just fine.
And the DTI issues everybody raises are real... but not insurmountable. Once @Jimmy Lieu is paid via wages/W2. I'm working on a file right now for a guy who makes less. He's got a very low housing expense (super-low front DTI) and is buying a rental property so the rents are largely offsetting the PITI. Even his modest income keeps his DTI where it needs to be.
I've even done a few loans for clients with zero income who had no primary housing expense (living with a partner/family), but are financing a cash-flow positive rental property and have little/no other debt. Fannie/Freddie rules for rental income recently tightened a little for scenarios like this, but they still doable if the borrower's situation checks the right boxes.
Fun conversation... thanks everybody!
Thanks for clarifying that Julee. I've never had a client use any college experience to substitute tax returns so I was under the impression this wasn't even a thing. Glad to hear it is!
Hello BP community,
I recently just road-tripped from Portland, Oregon to Columbus, Ohio to start building my real estate portfolio here. However, I've just come across a huge hurdle. I received my job letter and it's a 33K annual salary but it's a 1099.
I am a recent college graduate so I was hoping to use my prior college experience to fulfill the two years of work experience. However, after talking to a lender, I was told this applies only to W2 positions, not 1099s. With a 1099, I absolutely need 2 years of work experience.
I have over 6 figures in investment assets right now (cryptocurrency) and over 40K in fiat. I have the cash and assets to do a 20% down payment without issue. I am hopefully looking to do a HomePossible or 20% down payment.
Are there any lenders who can provide me a pre-approval with my situation? Or what would you recommend me to do? Or should I try to find a local credit union? Would love to get some advice and insight on what to do.
If there are any Cbus investors out there, I'd love to get your recommendations especially
Hey Jimmy,
This is an issue I've dealt with many times since the pandemic. I've had multiple clients on the house hunt that have had their income/tax returns change for multiple different reasons. Here's my 2 cents...
1) Commercial loans and a JV/private lender might be beneficial if you can get a good rate. These are usually higher rates than a typical conventional loan but might be a good solution to your situation.
2) You might currently see historical low interest rates but lenders tighten up on their lending qualifications during difficult times like this (pandemic, recession, economic hardship, etc). In other words, if you had trouble qualifying prior to the pandemic, it's going to be even tougher after.
3) You CAN get conventional financing without 2 years of tax returns under the right situations. For example, if you only have 1 year of tax returns but post-closing you have $200k sitting in the bank, 780 credit score, 15% DTI ratio, etc., you may very possibly still qualify. Every other screening method would have to be practically spotless but it's very much possible.
4) Not to be a debbie downer, but $33K/yr on paper isn't much when it comes to obtaining financing. But you said you have other assets which will go a long with that income.
It's difficult but it's possible. Feel free to DM me if you have any additional questions. Best of luck!
Great reply. So I think my current plan will be waiting for my employer to switch over from the 1099 to a W2. I don't have two years of work experience so I'm planning on using my college major to fulfill the 2 years job experience. I am an applied economics and business major (and my job will be at a realtor brokerage). Meanwhile I'm waiting to get switched to a W2, I think I might try looking into seller financing instead. Would you say this is a good idea? I'm ideally looking to (at most) pay 3-4% interest rate a year and would be looking to do a 20% down.
And yes, $33k/yr isn't a lot. However, per month, that would be around $2.75k. If I keep my DTI under 50%, does that mean I can afford a monthly mortgage of $1.375k?
I have over 6 figures in crypto investment assets that generate me over $2k USD passive income a month. Would this be usable at all?
I might be reading your first few sentences out of context, but please be clear that a lender will NOT substitute your college credits as work experience. If you're saying that you're going to use your college degree to get a job that you will work for 2 years to get the experience, ok. But I've never heard of any lender using college credits to substitute the 2 years of tax returns. And yes, seller financing is a great idea especially if the seller isn't in a time crunch.
Your DTI should be significantly lower than 50%. Lenders like to see it lower than 33%. I can't really answer the "can you afford" question because I'm not a lender but DTI is simply a tool lenders use to calculate if you can afford to pay back the loan. I'm not familiar with crypto but I've yet to have a client use crypto as a form of assets or use crypto as a form of payment so I'm not the best person to answer that question. I would research a local mortgage broker to see what advice he gives you on that.
Hello BP community,
I recently just road-tripped from Portland, Oregon to Columbus, Ohio to start building my real estate portfolio here. However, I've just come across a huge hurdle. I received my job letter and it's a 33K annual salary but it's a 1099.
I am a recent college graduate so I was hoping to use my prior college experience to fulfill the two years of work experience. However, after talking to a lender, I was told this applies only to W2 positions, not 1099s. With a 1099, I absolutely need 2 years of work experience.
I have over 6 figures in investment assets right now (cryptocurrency) and over 40K in fiat. I have the cash and assets to do a 20% down payment without issue. I am hopefully looking to do a HomePossible or 20% down payment.
Are there any lenders who can provide me a pre-approval with my situation? Or what would you recommend me to do? Or should I try to find a local credit union? Would love to get some advice and insight on what to do.
If there are any Cbus investors out there, I'd love to get your recommendations especially
Hey Jimmy,
This is an issue I've dealt with many times since the pandemic. I've had multiple clients on the house hunt that have had their income/tax returns change for multiple different reasons. Here's my 2 cents...
1) Commercial loans and a JV/private lender might be beneficial if you can get a good rate. These are usually higher rates than a typical conventional loan but might be a good solution to your situation.
2) You might currently see historical low interest rates but lenders tighten up on their lending qualifications during difficult times like this (pandemic, recession, economic hardship, etc). In other words, if you had trouble qualifying prior to the pandemic, it's going to be even tougher after.
3) You CAN get conventional financing without 2 years of tax returns under the right situations. For example, if you only have 1 year of tax returns but post-closing you have $200k sitting in the bank, 780 credit score, 15% DTI ratio, etc., you may very possibly still qualify. Every other screening method would have to be practically spotless but it's very much possible.
4) Not to be a debbie downer, but $33K/yr on paper isn't much when it comes to obtaining financing. But you said you have other assets which will go a long with that income.
It's difficult but it's possible. Feel free to DM me if you have any additional questions. Best of luck!