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All Forum Posts by: Heeyeon Chung

Heeyeon Chung has started 10 posts and replied 42 times.

Quote from @Brad Jacobson:

Live in flips and/or any sort of house-hacking is absolutely the best way to get into real estate for starting investors.

Just be cautious when flipping right now because appraisals are typically higher than ARVs in today's declining market. The last three or four homes I've helped people buy or sell have all appraised for much higher than they were sold for.  These appraisals are coming off sales at 4-5% interest.  Appraisals in a few months will come off 6-7% interest rates and will make forced appreciation more difficult.

Good luck!


Thank you for pointing this out. I will be looking at the house today, so hopefully I can take down some notes on how to increase ARV. The house is listed lower than its assessed value so I am hopeful that this scenario would work out.

Quote from @Anthony L Amos Jr:
Quote from @Heeyeon Chung:

Hi BP!

I am curious to know if anyone has done cash-out refinance after live-in flip of their primary residence. I see many successful stories of live-in flips and selling them, but I want to know if cash-out refinance can be a viable option. 

I am eyeing on a property to use it as a primary residence, but it needs upgrades and improvements. My plan is to buy it with VA loan, upgrade it, get a new appraisal, and refinance it after taking cash out using VA cash-out refinance.

Please let me know what your thoughts are! Thank you! 

This is something I wish I would have done looking back. I have done multiple live-in flips and made great returns however I should have kept the properties. I should have done a cash out refi (rates were much better) and used the cash to purchase my next primary residence (lower down payment) and rented the previous property. Of course, you must be willing to move around a little. This can work for 2-4 Units as well and I would recommend it


Thank you so much! I don't think the house I am eyeing on would be something I can buy, flip, and rent out because of its size (6bd; > 5000 sqft). THe market I am in does not have a lot of renters for that size and price. 

I would most likely re-fi and use that cash to buy more investment properties. When my kids get older, I will consider selling it and buy a smaller primary and repeat this process again. 

I hope that this re-fi process is feasible.....fingers crossed 

Quote from @Leo R.:

@Heeyeon Chung it sounds like a decent plan to me, but as always, the devil's in the details.

As you probably know, rates are rising, and will likely continue to increase in the near term...what will rates be like when you go to refi this property? (nobody knows!), but if rates are much higher when you go to refi, it could make refi'ing less desirable, or even impossible....

Another variable to consider: values may flatten or even decrease in the foreseeable future (most markets have already seen big increases in inventory, days on market, and price reductions).  If there's a market downturn, and the comps for your refi appraisal are lower than the comps are today, that could make it more difficult for your property to appraise for the value you need for the refi, and might make refi'ing impossible (or less desirable)....   but, just like the issue of rates, nobody knows what the future will bring...

Do these hypothetical outcomes mean you shouldn't buy the house? Not necessarily--the house could still be a great opportunity, even if these outcomes occur...

The question is: what's the worst case scenario for you if you're not able to do your cashout refi?  ...if the worst case scenario is that you just keep living there, and you like living there (and you can afford living there), then that sounds pretty good...  But, if you absolutely need to refi in the future, then you could run into trouble if the aforementioned scenarios occur....  

In other words, it all depends on what your plans and goals are for the future, and how important refi'ing in the future is to you...

Other issues to consider:

-how much opportunity is there to force appreciation on this property? (some properties have a TON of potential where it's very easy to force appreciation by doing things like adding bathrooms/bedrooms, etc....other properties not so much...)....finding ways to force appreciation is one of my favorite things in real estate; I could write a book on this topic!

-how tolerant are you of living in a construction zone (at least for a while)? Some people have no problem living in a house where the floor is bare plywood because they're re-tiling, and there are tools and materials lying around everywhere....other people can't stand that stuff...  with a live-in flip, you'll encounter those types of issues....

-If you plan to do much of the work yourself, it's worth being honest with yourself about whether or not you enjoy that type of work (if you enjoy rehabbing houses, great!).

Would this be your first property, or have you had others?


Wow, thank you so much for your insightful post. It really made me ask each and every question. 

We currently have one primary home and five units (STR and LTR). We will be selling our current primary home and move to the one I am eyeing on.

We don't have to refi if the market and appraisal are not favorable. It is a house I would be happy to live long term. We were genuinely looking for a bigger primary house because I have a big family and kids are growing fast :) 

The only reason I was hoping to re-fi was to use that cash to buy more deals. We enjoy doing cosmetic improvements, so we are very excited. 

Thank you so much again! If you have any more insights, please feel free to share more! 

Hi BP!

I am curious to know if anyone has done cash-out refinance after live-in flip of their primary residence. I see many successful stories of live-in flips and selling them, but I want to know if cash-out refinance can be a viable option. 

I am eyeing on a property to use it as a primary residence, but it needs upgrades and improvements. My plan is to buy it with VA loan, upgrade it, get a new appraisal, and refinance it after taking cash out using VA cash-out refinance.

Please let me know what your thoughts are! Thank you! 

Post: Binghamton Rental Property

Heeyeon ChungPosted
  • Posts 42
  • Votes 21
Quote from @Stephanie Jacobson:
Quote from @Jason Maguire:

@Stephanie Jacobson once again you have failed to answer the questions again. This is why i talk about being biased, because you have no housing statistics or anything to back any of your claims up! Just your good ol' opinion. I bet in 2030 when they lose another 8% of their population, you'll say the economy is booming!

Seems that you legit got upset that i had asked you some iffy questions about your market.

& to answer your question, No one hurt me in Binghamton :) I had a great time being a degenerate out there the few times i visited. & also, as stated i am not an agent, lender, attorney, etc so i have nothing to gain in the Capital Region.

Wishing you the best in your career, Stephanie!

Yes, I can certainly tell you’re not a licensed professional in the business. Weird how this got so personal with you. There’s a reason I haven’t commented on your market- it’s because I have no blinking idea and demographics don’t tell the whole story. I have addressed twice now how the exact statistics you cited can be read differently and utilized as an advantage, if one adjusts their strategy. You conceded pretty quickly that the student market makes it a viable option… we probably should have left it there, eh?

Aaanyway, the whole point of this thread is to help others, and hopefully someone got something out of the back and forth. 

I am always looking for a property in Bing, hopefully 4 units or more! :) 

Post: Binghamton Rental Property

Heeyeon ChungPosted
  • Posts 42
  • Votes 21
Quote from @Jason Maguire:

I'd be careful with Binghamton- don't have the exact stats on me currently, but Binghamton is not a nice place & has been progressively getting worse over the years. I actually was just watching a video that said Binghamton was the worst place to live in NY. It's also kind of in the middle of nowhere and the only thing out there is SUNY Bing.

Please see the below link to Binghamton's crime stats. According to this site, Bing is only safer than 4% of U.S Cities. If you are looking for class A or B props, this is not the place.

Binghamton Crime Rates and Statistics - NeighborhoodScout

I'm from the Troy, Albany, Schenectady area & i think it adds a lot more value & there is a lot more opportunity in this area job wise & just in general more to do. There's also a wide variety of A-D properties, so you can find something depending on what exactly you are looking for.

I guess the main point i am trying to make, is don't just jump to the first spot with low prices because you are priced out of NYC, sometimes there's reasons as to why these towns are priced extremely low, so just some food for thought.

If you have any questions about the capital region area, let me know! I am not an agent, lawyer, or lender so have nothing to gain from giving any additional insight.

Hi Jason,
I am from the Capital region, too! Let's connect! 

I also have a 4-unit in Binghamton. I am so glad I invested in the area. I know some areas are unsafe, but I see a value in investing in Bing! 

Hi everyone,

I am considering to buy a property with hard money, rehab, and refinance it and run it as an Airbnb (Brrrnb). 
I currently have one successful airbnb in the area and has a great team for construction and management.  


I am curious to know how I should project my ARV for refinance. I searched both pending and sold properties within the last 12 months and calculated average sq/ft amount to project my ARV. Because this is my first time using hard money, I am afraid that I may not be able to project ARV correctly. Is appraisal becoming more and more conservative in the current market?

If you have any recent experience with ARV projection/ refinance and insights on how to raise ARV after rehab, I'd highly appreciate it.

Thank you so much! 

This is great! So far, I've noticed that Warren County (town people are so nice and prompt though!) has the most strict STR regulation out of the places you listed above. Each dwelling has to be 100 ft apart from each other. If not, you need to get a waiver from the neighbors and wait to go through the approval process.

I thought I was reading my post because of how similar we are...I have the money to invest, but do not have time to be a GP (especially with three little ones at home). 

I've been "studying" both MHP and SS, and to me, they are quite different when choosing a GP. 

MHP seems to have more on-site work for a GP; therefore, the success of a deal is highly dependent on the level of GP's competence. For SS, as long as the GP has a good management system and can present the data of the demands and supply of the area based on the market analysis, it becomes a good deal. Automation is possible in SS, but not in MHP. 

Post: Driving for Dollars Question

Heeyeon ChungPosted
  • Posts 42
  • Votes 21

After you identify them, how do you follow up? Cold calling?