All Forum Posts by: Heather Luu

We have less than 100K left in entitlement per our last lender but just trying to figure out financing options and how to best go around for our situation. I will look into this more! I feel like we're at a good spot as far as saving for our next deal but just moving cautiously as we're still new to real estate investing! Thank you so much for your response.

Hey everyone!

I'm a rookie to real estate investing and I wanted to get some advice on our two properties that we own in Clarksville, TN. We are a military family and we're trying to figure out how to scale our portfolio/buy our next house. We're at the point where we are about to exceed the VA loan entitlement and wanted to see what's the best route for us. Given the information below what would you do if you were us? We also are trying to refinance or utilize the VA IRRRL on our second house. Which one is the better option?

Cash in hand: we have between $50-60K

First House:

4 bedroom, 2 ½ bath, 2080 sqft

Bought in 2021

Interest rate: 2.625%

Loan amount: $322,245

Term: 30 year

Mortgage payment: $1,720.28 (we pay bi-weekly)

Balance on Loan: $293,284.01

Renting: $2,375.00

Summary of this house:

This particular house was hit in the tornado in 2023 and we basically redid the entire house (new drywall, kitchen, appliances, floors, fence, roof, etc). I recently approved our new tenants who are moving at the beginning of April. We did have some issues with our Contractor as they stopped midway of the project and took $45,000 from us and I'm still in the process of fighting their insurance for the work they did but messed up on / addressing the unpaid work. I also have reported them to the BBB and the TN Insurance Board. This house is located close to base but not in a good school district, neighborhood is decent and tons of construction (shops) around our area.

Second House

4 bedroom, 2 ½ bath, 2180 sqft

Bought in 2023

Interest rate: 6.625%

Loan amount: $418,261.00

Term: 30 year

Mortgage payment $2,993.92 (pay once a month)

Balance on Loan: $414,087.83

Renting $2,450.00

Summary of this house:

Recently bought this house and lived in it for a year. I just rented it this past week. My fiance and I did some cosmetic upgrades to the master bathroom (new mirrors, fixtures and updated paint), installed two fans in our two guest bedrooms, updated paint in two of the guest bedrooms and replaced the stairs and upstairs flooring from carpet to laminate flooring. This house is located a bit further from base and a bit closer to Nashville, in a great school district and neighborhood is great! 

Please let me know if I'm missing anything above. My initial thought (if needed) is to do a heloc on our first property to keep our rate. For our second house, I'm not sure if doing a VA IRRRL would be a better option now than waiting to refinance if/when interest rates drop or a combination of both (if possible). We are in it for the long run so trying to see what the best option is. We recently moved to GA and are renting since we only have to be here for 6-8 months. After that, we would be stationed in another place for the next 2-3 years which at that point, I would like to buy and fix up as we're living there. Thank you in advance!

Thank you for response! My only hesitant with that was if they make a copy and regain our home in the future. How often would you change the door locks in between tenants? I worked in property management in a apartment complex and our maintenance team switched out the locks every time a tenant moved out. 

Hi, my husband and I are getting ready to move out of the state due to a military move. We own two homes here in TN and are getting ready to rent them out. For those who manage your properties out of state, what door locks would you recommend? On our first house we have a standard key and have an extra key onsite in a lockbox in case for any maintenance and lockouts. For our second home, we installed a Yale lock that has a physical key and a keypad. With the Yale lock, I can see who goes in and out of the house and when our tenants leave, we can always change the codes from a far. Any inputs and advice on this? With the Yale lock, would you give a physical copy to the tenants or just a code and keep the physical key in a lockbox onsite in case of any emergencies? I only plan to manage these two from out of state until we're able to refinance our second home as we're losing money on this particular house for rent as we bought this home last year. 

 Hi Matthew, my property is literally two exits away from where I live so it is local? No where did I say I invested in a property out of state. Whether I had bought my investment property locally versus out of state, that isnt the issue as people invest out of state for all kinds of reasoning. Im originally from DC area so buying a investment property there isnt as friendly as buying it in TN for an example. It's not a common thing that people go through when a tornado hits your house unexpectantly and having to do a total renovation. We all start from somewhere and you learn and grow from your mistakes. So yes, this is my first time having a contractor leave towards the final stage of a project as other work that I've done are minimal like fence repairs, deck replacements, sink repairs, hvac etc. I've been doing this since 2021 and this tornado is a big project for me that I've havent experienced before. If you have any tips for me that's greatly appreciative but if you dont, then no need to bash someone who's asking for help. I know real estate is no easy job and never said or expected things to be rainbows and sunshine. 

 Will do! I recently called their insurance and within 30 minutes later we got a response from him :')  "We are swamped with this new massive storm. But can get the project completed for you. Give me til Friday to get things situated. I will call Thursday or Friday to discuss rest of work and cost."  Hopefully, he'll hold his end of the bargain and actually gives us a call for the remainder of the work but will definitely do this if we dont hear from him. I appreciate your input, Bruce! Im so glad I got helpful tips on here. 

 Hi Bruce! Yes, this is a licensed contractor. I have his business license and insurance copy. Im just unsure what to do with that. Im looking in my folder with all the stuff they gave me and there's nothing in particular that states what happens with "Non Performance." I'll do some research today about how to go after their Bond.

 Thank you for your time and your response, Rachel! It looks like I do have their license and insurance. Im just unsure what to do with it specifically.

 One more thing, is this something I need to tell my insurance company?

 Hey JD, thank you for your response! Definitely a lesson learned. I will file the complaint