All Forum Posts by: Garrett Tierney

@Jake Fugman Thank you so much for this advice. Full transparency, I may have been assuming my existing personal network would be sufficient to start out farming for a few leads. New agent stereotype fulfilled so far haha. I’ll identify a few additional lead generation strategies I believe I can have success with and see how well they align with various brokerages efforts to bring in leads. Great advice, thank you.

I will PM you to see if we can set up a time to have a short chat this week! 

Thanks @Timothy White. Your feedback helps validate my priorities as I continue discussions with brokerages this week. Hoping to find that "fit" early on, as you mention, so I can focus on the work and begin helping clients right off that bat.

Thanks @Mark Ainley, EXP is on my list so I will reach out. Love the podcast, keep up the great work!

I'm located in the SW Suburbs of Chicago, and would like to primarily serve DuPage, Cook, Will, Kane, Kendall, and Grundy counties. I passed my exams yesterday and am looking for some advice from agents who have gone through the process of selecting a sponsoring brokerage to join. I have a list of contacts that have been referred to me through my network at several different brokerages of varying size and structure. I plan on having conversations with each of them regarding their experience and plans for bringing on a new broker. 

How many brokerages did you meet with before making a decision, and what were the key determining factors that influenced your decision?

As several other have mentioned, it is possible to BRRRR a property purchased with an FHA loan, however, you need to find a deal well below market with plenty of value add opportunity in order to get that 20-25% equity piece that lenders would require in order to refinance out of the FHA into a conventional loan. Difficult to execute, but not impossible. Good luck!

Can my cash to close amount be withdrawn from my rental checking account? This account receives all of my rental income, and my mortgage and other property-related expenses are withdrawn from this account. It is entirely separate from my security deposit holdings. Are there any tax or legal ramifications to avoid by paying closing costs out of the rental checking? The property being refinanced is the same property that the account is used for.

@Beary Bowles with the 203k you need to occupy within 60 days of closing. I did the minimum on my unit so that I just had a decent place to sleep and eat, I was working full time and gone from my house most of the day anyway, and moved in there about 2 weeks after closing. Then went to town renovating the other three units, and got them finished and rented and then just took my time over the last few months remaining on my 1-year occupancy period to renovate my unit to be rental-ready. Once my year occupancy passed, I moved out and rented that apartment about a month later.

@Dean C. to answer your other question, half of the material cost for the approved scope of work is released at closing to the contractor to order materials to get started. From there, the contractor can complete work and request a draw if they need payment. Let's say they completed approximately 25% of the scope or work, they would submit a draw request, the 203k consultant would come to inspect the work, sign off on the request, and a check is overnighted directly to the contractor.

@Dean C. I'm actually not familiar with the VA renovation loan, but if it mimics the features of a normal VA loan ($0 down, no PMI) then it's likely another GREAT tool to build equity by buying a fixer upper and forcing that value with a renovation using bank funds lumped into your mortgage with...$0 down! I just went and did some quick reading on this type of loan and it was mentioned throughout that it can be VERY difficult to find a lender, unfortunately. In theory, this would be a great loan program to offer our veterans and service members, however, it just does not appear to be widely available. Then again, in real estate, if it were easy to do then everyone would be doing it! This could be a great opportunity if you are willing to make enough calls to find a lender who will offer a VA renovation loan, and let's just face it, it feels great to pull off something that everyone says you can't or you won't be able to find. I did find that HomeBridge (https://www.homebridge.com/det...) does claim to offer a VA Renovation loan on their website so that wouldn't be a bad place to start and see what it would take to qualify.

@Jennifer Hoover thank you! I wouldn't say I loved the program haha, but I fully understand the bank's need to protect themselves during the renovation process and achieving the ARV that the loan is reliant upon, especially with a first time buyer. The most difficult piece of the process was for sure the renovation. If you are going to take on a 203k, I implore you to do your research and find a reputable contractor who has experience working on these previously. I won't blame my contractor for the length of the renovation but the lack of experience between myself and he led to a significant amount of delay and frustration. Again, despite the tedious process of tracking progress on the scope of work and paying out draws based upon the amount of work completed, it taught me a ton about how to protect all parties, communicate, and work through snags with contractors in the face of adversity. Luckily, I had a great resource, and the bank requires a certified 203k consultant to inspect the work, make sure it is quality work according to HUD standards and issue the draw payments to the contractor. I would never disagree with anyone that there are ALOT of hoops to jump through with the 203k, however, it is very unique in its ability to force equity for very little out of pocket, and with protections in place for newbies that allow for a lot of hard-knock learning and wealth building in the process! Thanks for your response, I appreciate you taking the time to leave your thoughts.