All Forum Posts by: Jack Srimani

Thanks Scott for the nice advise. I appreciate it. I have the gut feeling too that there is a deferred maintainence for this property. So good inspection is very important.

Hi,
I am looking into a investment property for rental purpose. This is a four unit property. Three units are occupied. The fourth unit is not as this side of the building has a roof leak. The roof is twenty five years old. In order to get the forth unit rented a part of the roof needs to be fixed. This will cost about six thousand dollars. Also carpet needs to be replaced and the unit needs to be painted. The asking price is 90000. However the seller is motivated and is open to negotiation. Renters pay their own utility. Now currently the rents are 550, 550 and 450. The unoccupied unit can fetch 550. The building is 110 years old. Now I do not want to buy this and spend nearly eight grands from my pocket to get rents from the forth unit. Also I am very much aware that in four to five years other side of the roof need replacement which is probably another six to eight thousand dollars. I would like to buy such that the nine thousand dollars needed for renovation of the fourth unit will be incorporated in the purchase price. Is there any way to do that. I appreciate the feedback.
Thanks.
PS: Also what should be the maximum price you would settle for this kind of investment.

Hi David,
Yes I was successful in obtaining approval of loan for the property for twenty five thousand dollar. The terms I got was fifteen years at 3.5 percent with twenty five percent down. The closing fees was around twenty eight hundred dollars. Unfortunately the duplex I thought I got never materialized as somebody else placed a offer one day before my bank got me the approval. It was extremely good deal which somehow I missed for one day. However as per advise of good folks in this forum I realized that for 'little guy' like me small banks do care for our business. Large banks have fifty thousand minimum sell price of a property for them to loan money. Fortunately after calling a medium sized bank (I found fifty thousand dollar property sell price restriction) I called a small bank and they asked for valid documents to run through the automated system. It took two working days to return the approval letter. However during this time I missed the deal. In any event the experience was very positive with the approach I was asked to take in this forum. Good luck if you have the same kind of problem. Thanks

Thanks everybody for the input. Thanks Bryan for answering my question.

Thanks Scott and Bryan for the nice advises. I will be able to borrow some money for renovation. However that is my last recourse. I will be more happy if I can borrow from bank rather than someone. For another duplex I was looking for at a chep price the bank has preapproved that house for fifteen year with twenty percent down. However in order to flip I do not need fifteen year loan. So for buying a distressed house what term of loan is needed. Also according to Bryan if a bank loans for renovating the house for flip then how does the bank know how much the renovation cost will be. Do they base on a contractor's estimate or something else. I would like to know this point.
Scott I am reading stuff from your website. It is awesome. It is helping me understand a lot of things before my first dive in a flip.

HiHi,
I just checked out a property. This is a bank REO SFH. I am pre approved for the loan to buy this house. However after the purchase it will take around 20k-30k to make renovation in order to sell this house at a profit. I would like to know for those who are flipping houses how does one get the money for renovation. Also I got preapproved for rental investment property. However, for flipping purpose what type of loan does one look for. Thanks.
Regards.

Thanks Mark and Jon for the nice and realistic advise. I appreciate it. Jon, is 12 % cash on cash any good or I should try for much higher cash on cash property. Not sure here. This will be my first SFH.

Hi,
I am planning to buy a single family home. This is a two bedroom and 1 bath home with detached garage. The rent around the area is 600-650. What should the price I can settle for most to get cash flow. The seller currently has marked it for 40000 and lot of things are redone. I would appreciate any advise. Are the rules different for SFH. Thanks.

Thanks Scott so much for the nice recommendation. It is of so much help. With all the answers I got from various members I now have some wise path to take.

Thanks Ralph for sharing your experience. So are you saying that I must do inspection thoroughly to find all the defects. Once you find so much of issue can one decide to walk away from the contract without the forfeiture of the earnest money.