All Forum Posts by: Ron Frost

Who are the best lenders out there for re-financing investment properties?

I would like to take advantage of the current low rates, and would like to refinance a rental condo in FL.

Yes, the value has dropped a little, LTV is around 87%....not too concerned with that, if need be, I can put cash down at closing to bring it to the 80%. Current mortgage on this property is a 30-yr at 6.5%.

Just refinanced my primary home this week. Credit score is above 800. Got a 3.75% interest rate for a 15-year fixed rate. Problem free re-fi, but my broker cannot do mortgages in FL.

Is Quicken Loans a decent lender? Or should I be looking for a Credit Union that is local to the property?

Who are the best lenders out there for re-financing investment properties?

I would like to take advantage of the current low rates, and would like to refinance a rental condo in FL.

Yes, the value has dropped a little, LTV is around 87%....not too concerned with that, if need be, I can put cash down at closing to bring it to the 80%. Current mortgage on this property is a 30-yr at 6.5%.

Just refinanced my primary home this week. Credit score is above 800. Got a 3.75% interest rate for a 15-year fixed rate. Problem free re-fi, but my broker cannot do mortgages in FL.

Is Quicken Loans a decent lender? Or should I be looking for a Credit Union that is local to the property?

(Just realized this is posted in wrong forum - sorry, please feel free to delete)

I'm looking to refinance at least one, possibly both of my properties. One property is in Alabama (my private residence) and another is located in Florida (second home).

My regular (and I say 'regular' mortgage broker, because he has already did two for me in Alabama and never steered me wrong) broker can do my Alabama home. He can offer, at today's rate, a 30-year fixed streamline refinance at 4.625% with all costs rolled into the loan balance. Current LTV on that home is about 58%. The current rate on this home is 5.75%. I've made a few advance payments towards the principle and therefore, because of that loan being opened in 2002, it would be paid off in 2027 instead of 2032. He says it's best to wait a little longer, as he's sure they will drop another .25, most likely .50% in the future. So I'll probably go with this (and still pay the same monthly payment I'm making now) and pay the loan off even earlier. This also gives me the flexibility that, should I ever run into financial troubles, I could always drop to a lower monthly payment without any hassle.

However his company is not licensed to do any mortgages in Florida and cannot help me out much there. I'm looking to see if I can find a lender that will refinance the second home, seeing as how that home (just purchased in Sept '08) has a 6.5% rate. That, at the time, was best rate I could get for a second home/condo. Had it been in Alabama, my broker said he could easily get me a 5% refinance right now.

Thanks to the both of you for the input.

Yes, Wheatie...you pretty much nailed the numbers on the head...my monthly expenses (P&I, taxes, insurance, HOA/maintenance fees) will be just under $900. And 'speculation' is the more appropriate term to use. Although that amount won't really pose any great financial burden for us if we don't rent it out, we plan on doing so.

Before choosing this particular piece of property, I did some calling around to various rental management agencies to see what the proposed rate would be in that area for a 1BR/1BA if they were to do this service for us. I was told that the $750-850 range would get quick responses. I don't know if this is comparable to other areas in Florida, but that is supposedly the rate in this specific area (Holiday Isle) of Destin for long-term rentals. Worst case scenario, I don't rent it out at all (or only 6 months out of the year) for whatever reason, but would save the approx. $1000/wk that we spend on vacation rentals in that area when we use it ourselves for 3-4 wks out of the year minimum. That and the tax savings associated with having it as an investment home.

Luckily, my wife is very good with finances, otherwise we would not be able to afford such a venture. No car payments, primary residence is half paid off (and PITI runs less than $700/month on it) and CC's are paid off every month. As alluded to in the first post, I regret not having done other things such as when we first moved to AL 8 yrs ago....you could buy (buildable) lake-front property for under $30k. Now, you might be able to find something under 50K, but only a "recreational lot", not one where you can build on. A buildable lot on the water will easily set you back 80-90K.now. Waterfront is not dropping in price and I'm hoping the beach access property will be similar.

New investor here, just starting out. The wife and I had been thinking about this for a while now, buying either a lakefront property, or beach-area property as an investment. We're not looking so much to make a short-term profit from the renting of it, but more of a long-term objective (hoping the property values will eventually hit their values of 1-2 years ago in the next 5-8 years).

So, we bought a small condo in Destin, FL. It's within 150-200 yards of the beach, fully furnished and in nice condition. I know, some of you will probably say it was a big mistake, but I'm tired of kicking myself in the rear for not jumping on other opportunities which time has shown would have been super deals.

The unit is on the second floor of a 2 story building, the building being only 16 units total. $110K ended up being final price, other units in same building were selling in the 180-210k range in 2006/2007. HOA fee is reasonable, as well as the tax. Financed 80%, before-tax cash flow will be negative. Rental income, if we do rent it out, will probably only be in the area of 800/month, short-term rentals are not allowed by the HOA.

Now that you all know what I have done, what advice and/or wisdom might you all be able to impart upon me?