All Forum Posts by: Harman N.

Hi all,

For those that live and/or invest in cold weather markets -- How (if at all) is rehabbing/construction activity, and investing more generally, possible during the snowy winter months in cold weather markets? Do things just come to a halt, or are there ways to work around the weather? 

- Harman

Hi all,

Is there anything that I as an owner can help do to facilitate a good appraised value? 

• What about cleaning the place inside and out? I know appraisals are supposed to be quantitative, but it's a human being doing it after all, a place that's put together will leave a better impression..
• What about pulling together some comps and showing them to the appraiser, and explaining why you think those are good comps? Would that be frowned upon or could it be helpful?
• What about telling the appraiser about the upgrades you've made, the scope and quality of the work that was done? 
• Anything else? 
  

Hi all,

Have you worked with a local bank or credit union that's flexible and investor friendly? Would love some recommendations / references. 

Cheers,

- Harman

@Max T. - I have about $700-800K equity in the property, and the cash-out refi would be for $250K or so

@Mike McCarthy - that would be an option for sure. But it's hard(er) to get HELOC for ~$500K. And also I have $250K of capex for additions to the same property so would be good to get that on a fixed rate, 30 year term, and tap the rest of the equity on a revolving basis for short-term BRRRRs on other properties.

Thanks all for the feedback!

Hi all,

When taking out a cash-out refi and HELOC on the same property, does the order in which you take them out matter? I'd like to get a cash-out refi on my primary residence given mortgage rates continue to be low, and a 90 LTV HELOC on the same property to be able to use as-needed for investments. I assume since the HELOC is in 2nd lien position it would be better to get the cash-out refi first since that would affect the LTV calculations for the HELOC. Otherwise it might cause some headaches with the HELOC lender..

Hey @Amit M.!

I'm building it from scratch. It's going to be about 465 square feet, will be a studio / junior 1 bedroom (will have a french door between living room and bedroom). 

Based on the preliminary plans a few months ago, I had a quote from a contractor for $210K. This included adding sprinklers in the ADU (which the fire department is asking for; $14K) and some concrete work to lower the slab foundation.

This also had an allowance to add a second water line ($12K) and a third electrical meter ($5K), both of which might or might not end up being needed.

Plus $6-8K for architect fees, $6K for structural engineering fees, and whatever the permits would end up costing ($8-10K I'm guessing?).

Now that the architectural and structural engineering plans are complete, but before submitting to the city for permits and shelling out the permit costs, I wanted to get more precise bids so I could make a go/no-go decision. 

- Harman

P.S. The completed plans now include some seismic retrofit work as well; figure if I'm going to shell out the capital might as well invest a little in peace of mind. 

Hi all,

I'm at the permitting stage of building an ADU in the garage of my duplex. Does anyone have contractor recommendations? I have 2 I'll be getting bids from, but would be good to have 1-2 more.

Cheers,

- Harman

Interesting read that aligns with the multi-generational trend of urbanization:

• "By 2100, academics estimate, 80% to 90% of the population will live in cities."
• "investors can be foreign as well as domestic. That means that “house prices in the cities thus not only reflect the local factors such as supply constraints, regulations and zoning, but also global trends.”"

Hi all,

I'm a new investor trying to get started with out of state investing. I want to begin making connections with out of state agents, lenders, property managers, etc should I use a personal gmail address? Or get a custom domain name, something like <FirstName>@<LastName>Properties.com?

It only takes a few minutes and costs a few bucks to get a G Suite account with a domain name, and would be more professional. I just don't want to come across as too hoighty-toighty given I'm a newbie. Or am I just over-thinking it?