All Forum Posts by: Glen Sonnenberg

Last month we got a first full month bill with the bi-directional meter installed. Because we're generating power during the daytime, I switched to a billing plan where they charge $0.20 per kWh from Noon-7pm on weekdays and $0.06 per kWh any other time. Because of this we are averaging about $0.07 per kWh which is a reduction from ~$0.12 on the level-billing plan. In addition, the whole electric bill was $41 for the month and only $9 of that was actual electricity. The rest was fees and taxes. We banked just shy of 200 kWh of peak time power for future use. I'm sure that will be consumed this coming Summer. Last year's bills peaked at around $450 so I'm hoping for a dramatic drop. We'll see... I'm accelerating the payoff of the loan I took out to install the panels. The monthly payment is ~$200 and I should have the 20 year lease paid off 7-8 years, maybe sooner if I can afford it. So far I'm happy with them and they look pretty nice.

All,

My wife and I have a rental property in NW Las Vegas which I have been renting to my sister and her family. We purchased the house (4br/2.5ba) in 2010 as a short-sale for $142k (25% down on a 15-year fixed at 4%). We did the 15-year mortgage to pay it off quicker rather than cash-flow. Anyway, after renting it for 3+ years, they are now considering leaving the area. Because it was my sister, our expenses have been reduced in terms of property management and other costs. If they move I'm sure these costs will go up as we live in California. We current have the rent at $1250 a month. It's possible that could go up a bit but I'm not sure. I got a recent estimate of its value at just under $200k.

So, given the above, we're trying to decide if we should simply continue renting the property out or perhaps sell it and invest the profits in another area. Anyone have any thoughts on the current and future prospects for rental properties in Las Vegas? We probably don't have to make a decision until this Summer but I'd appreciate hearing opinions.

Glen

I had an interesting experience with a seller (bank owned) and Homepath. We found a house on Homepath's website which was perfect for a student rental in Phoenix. My agent and I thought that the bank's asking price was about 20k too high. So, after negotiating we decided to meet in the middle (10k higher than our offer). The funny thing was that we (my agent, my lender and I) knew that the appraisal would probably be a problem. Of course, the appraisal comes in at less than our original offer (like 8k). So I went back to the bank and said we'd "overpay" for the property (based on our original offer vs appraisal) and use Homepath financing so that the appraisal wouldn't be a problem but at our original offer. They agreed. :) Of course I had to switch lenders because the one I was working with didn't do Homepath loans but it wasn't that big a deal since I already had my documentation ready.

Just as an update, after going through the initial screening process (which took a while given our properties), I heard back from Wells Fargo. They shared a couple details while explaining why I wasn't going to get it. :) First, the initial sales person was wrong and for our property in Vegas they would only do 60% LTV. Not a surprise based on my previous contact with them but annoying that I was told differently by the initial screener. Second, if you have more than 4 mortgages they said they wouldn't do a home equity on investment properties. I didn't think this would matter for a HELOC but apparently it does. Lastly, although it wasn't a problem for us, the minimum credit score for HELOC's on investment properties is 740. I may shop around and try and find another bank/lender who will do the loan and post an update later. We'll see.

Glen

I'm curious about whether anyone has had any experience with simply selling the debt after getting a judgement. I'm not sure what debt collection agencies would pay for this type of debt. Anyone ever done this?

Reading the fine print of the link you referred to, that is an example of the interest rate for an owner-occupied home. It doesn't say anywhere in that section that non-owner occupied homes are not eligible for a line of credit. I was extremely clear to the person I was talking with that this was an investment property and that it would be the collateral for the loan. In the past, when I've spoken with Wells, the limiting factor was LTV (based on location) and not whether or not it was owner-occupied although it wouldn't surprise me if the rate was higher as it was for my investment property mortgages. We'll see what the actual underwriter says when they call me back. Whether or not it's called a "HELOC" or some other line of credit is irrelevant.

I'm in the process of applying for a HELOC on a rental in Vegas. I'm doing it through Wells Fargo as they hold the mortgage for it also. Last year when I tried they told me that they were only lending up to 60% LTV for rental/investment properties in Vegas. However, this time they said their guidelines have changed and they are now going up to 85% (same as owner occupied). Not sure if that's accurate since I was speaking to the guy who just takes down the initial information but we'll see. Didn't you get something from the bank(s) that turned you down explaining their decision? Sounds like factors other than equity are contributing to your denial.

Just a minor note, if you loan your son $30k and they can't pay you back, if you write it off as a bad debt for tax purposes then I believe your son would have to declare the $30k as income and pay taxes on it. The special exemption for mortgage forgiveness just expired and was not renewed I believe.

It's a student rental house where my son lives and rents out two of the rooms. It's convenient to just charge them a flat rate for rent with the utilities included. The thing I liked about it is that it "learns" when people are around and their preferences for cooling (its in Phoenix so heating isn't much of an issue). I thought about a programmable one which would be cheaper but I don't want to lock it and can't monitor/set it remotely. I'll check out the Honeywell option. Thanks!

All,

I'm considering getting one of these for a rental we have where we cover the utilities. Not sure if they are worth the $250 but it seems like it would allow me to track the settings along with enforce limits. Anyone have any experience with them?

Glen