All Forum Posts by: Steven Griffith

@Chad Ha

False. That is probably their individual company policy. They may require it so they don't waste their time showing you homes, only to lose the commission of you going direct to the buyer or using a different agent. Not a law.

@Jeremiah Goodpaster

Hi Jeremiah,

No, the house I closed on is an investment property, so Non-Owner Occupied. I would expect the rate on an owner occupied to be even lower. If you're looking at refinancing an Owner Occupied House, I would expect you to find rates in the low 3's. Just taking a quick look, PenFed is advertising 3.25% on a 30yr fixed convening loan refinancing in an owner occupied home. Lowrates .com, which is run by Sun West Mortgage, is also advertising low 3s refinancing on owner occupied.

@Wendy Smith

Echoing what others have said, I just closed on an investment property 1 week ago: 20% down, 3.625% 30yr Conventional Loan. The lower down payment is probably why you're north of 5%. If, when you put 20% down your not before 4%, then shop around. I just bought in NC, but I think my lender may lend in GA too. If interested, send me a message and I'll pass on their name and contact information.

Sorry - I see someone else has already clarified - 5% down for a conventional. Maybe it's worth you talking to the tenant and offering some cash if they are willing to move out early? Is it that good of deal?

I appreciate (although think it's weird) that the current owner is friends with the tenant and may not want to offer them money to leave early, but any reason you can't call them up and offer? Especially in the current environment, the tenant may rather have the extra cash and leave 4 months early.

@Mei Ling Schulz

I think I remember reading on a different forum here on BP that Conventional Loans could be had for as little as 10% down, with PMI. Of course, this was pre-COVID.... might be worth talking with a mortgage broker to clarify if she/he knows of any options. Again, just something I read - I have no personal experience with that. A phone call to a broker is free!

@Maryann L.

Can you share how the homeowner got your name? Did you market to them, and if so, how? Direct mail, posted signs on street, etc?

@Keith A.

I agree with everything said previously. Was the fence on your property, or theirs?

If it were me, and they tried to take me to small claims court or anything similar, I would probably talk with a lawyer and discuss the possibility of counter-suing them, ESPECIALLY if they try to take you to court and if the fence was on your property. I don't know what Texas law says, and again I am not a lawyer and encourage you to seek real legal advice, but it sounds like they destroyed a fence on your property. Regardless of what they replaced it with, you can't just willy-nilly destroy a neighboring physical structure.

So, as someone else said, just tell them No Thank You and then take it from there. Maybe chat with the other neighbors to get their insight as well.

 Hi Adam,

You don't need to do anything special - PenFed specifically offers HELOCs on Non-Owner Occupied Homes, including rentals. I know this because I closed on my HELOC back in April and am using that to fund a purchase of which I'm closing on Tuesday. I've seen several people post that "you can't get a HELOC on a rental". Respectfully, I believe most of these posts are from people who have called 2-3 banks and been told no, so they assume you can't do it. Or their contact at a bank told them it can't be done and they assumed it to be Gospel truth. I challenged someone about this very topic on a different forum, and she admitted that she had only asked 1 bank and they told her no, so she assumed it was no everywhere.

This is not true...just because it's hard to find doesn't mean it doesn't exist.  There are several previous posts on BP forums where people are asking this same question.  Off the top of my head, I remember that both PenFed and TDBank offer HELOCs on rental properties.  I think Huntington bank might have as well, but I can't remember.

Bottom line - I've used PenFed to get a HELOC on my rental property. Yes, HELOCs on rentals are hard to find, but several banks can offer this. You just have to find them and be persistent.

I'll be honest - I think you're dead wrong about San Antonio's economic growth being "nowhere near Austin".  I'm not quite sure where you came up with that, given that San Antonio is more than 50% larger than Austin and has consistently ranked among the top cities in terms of population growth for the past 10 years.  This year alone, San Antonio is the 2nd fastest growing city in the US in terms of population.

Business Facilities puts out an annual report ranking the top metros across the nation in terms of Economic Growth Potential, and San Antonio had been in the top 3 since at least 2016.  This year Austin is number 4 on the list, and Houston is number 6. Texas as a whole is growing!  I'll grant you that Austin is perhaps more well known and talked about, but keep in mind that San Antonio is much, much bigger than Austin and already has several large employers in place, as well as multiple Universities, professional sports teams, medical centers, scientific research facilities, multiple military bases (Randolph AFB, Lackland AFB, Ft Sam, etc) etc. Austin is growing, no doubt, and is getting some big name employers like Apple and Amazon, but SATX has it's own share of large, national employers.  

One other comment I'll make about the housing market in SATX is that home prices seem to be generally lower than Austin, although maybe that is just on the homes I search for. Yes, there are multifamily available in San Antonio, and yes they seem to come up fairly regularly, especially around the military bases. 

You've already mentioned one of the biggest negatives, although it applies to Texas as a whole: Property Taxes. They're really high, and in my analysis' usually kill cash flow on a lot of SFH deal. I think both San Antonio and Austin are great places to invest, if the numbers make sense, due to all the reasons above and because there seems to be great appreciation and demand. Good luck!

@Hi Sheri Blair,

I was actually surprised to hear that about TX not allowing HELOCs on rentals, especially considering that PenFed, the CU I mentioned above that I've used in both NC and VA, is based out of San Antonio, TX.

I just checked their website, and the only exception they list for Non-Owner Occupied HELOCs is that, in Texas, non-owner occupied CONDOS are limited to 75% LTV (other property types are 80%) whereas everywhere else is 80% LTV max, for Non-Owner Occupied anything. If you, or the OP, are looking for a HELOC on a rental, it may be worth a 5 min call to verify before ruling that avenue out. Just a suggestion!

If you've talked with them and they've confirmed there is a state law preventing HELOCs on rentals, please share! San Antonio is one of the places I'm currently looking for property, and this would be really good to know moving forward.