All Forum Posts by: Heidi Goehri

My lender was recently telling me about the new increased fees and limitations on conventional investment mortgages from Fannie Mae. See more info here:

https://themortgagereports.com/75059/new-investment-property-mortgage-fees-fannie-freddie

Has anyone experienced the new fees yet and if so, how large was the effect on your cash flow potential? Also, where can I find more info on other lending options? It sounds like there will eventually be a market for other lenders to buy these mortgages, but this article is predicting a gap in time between the new Fannie Mae restrictions and when new lenders become available.

Thanks for any insights!

@Don Spafford, yes it will be a STR in addition to a second home. We qualified for a second home loan since we would use the property part time in the winter during ski season. We'll AirBnb other parts of the year to fund our vacation home. :) In Montana, we would be looking purely for investment properties. As we learn more about the real estate process, I'm sure we'll be much more comfortable/adept to look into markets further away. It's been quite awhile since I've made a road trip to the Tetons, so my partner and I might have to look into doing that and add some REI stops along the way. Thanks for the tips!

@Dustin Allen, interesting! I'll definitely check into local regulations before I look further into this. Does the Nevada side of Tahoe have similar restrictions to CA? I lived in Incline Village for a year and miss the Tahoe area. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I hope you're loving the lake life! :)

@Don Spafford, the home is in Smelterville. It's 5 mins from Silver Mountain Resort and 30 mins from Lookout Ski Resort. Lookout is on the ID/MT border. We'll get the inspection report tomorrow and will move forward if there aren't any huge red flags. :)

I would love feedback on other investors' experiences with tiny homes. I am looking into some properties in the vicinity of a local ski resort and was wondering about creating additional income from adding a tiny home in addition to the current dwelling. What all regulations do I need to look into for this? Here are some of my questions: 

-I read that if the home is still on wheels, it is considered an RV. So I'd need to see if there are local regulations on being able to park RV's. Anything else I'm missing to look into? 

-If the home isn't on wheels, do I look into how to change a zoning to multifamily? Is the tiny home considered an ADU?

-If we ever find an empty lot and want to look into putting multiple tiny homes on it (resort workers need affordable housing) would we need to get it classified as an RV or mobile home park? Or multifamily if the homes aren't on wheels? 

Please let me know your thoughts and any other considerations I should look into. Trying to find creative/affordable ways to add some cash flow in this market. :)

@Tyler Warne Sorry for the delayed reply. We got an accepted offer on a home in Idaho, so I've been working on coordinating logistics for that. Our budget for an investment in a MT market is ~250K. If the inspection goes well this week on the Idaho home, we'd probably just be doing some research/reconnaissance during our Montana trip next week to see about the markets, neighborhoods, etc. If we close on the Idaho home, we'd probably wait until summer to look into another investment property in Montana. If you have any thoughts or suggestions of things for us to look into during our trip, we'd love any insights! Thanks!

@Brady Potts we are currently looking at single and multi family up to around 250K. In our area, we keep getting beat by cash offers. We actually saw some cheaper properties in Butte that we could buy with cash, but it’s hard to tell the condition from the pictures.

Are your friends seeing the influence from Bozeman overflow in the way of property sales, rentals, or just more out of state interest? My mom’s family is from Anaconda, so I’m very familiar with that town and have slight familiarity with Butte. I know there was a big hit after the mines/smelter closed, but we have an increase in the number of people who can with remote. So I’m thinking there might be more people moving to these areas as well?

@Cheyenne Welsh thanks! I really appreciate any info and insights. My mom’s family is all from Anaconda, so my knowledge is pretty limited to the areas near there. Helena is about the same distance though from Spokane, so I definitely want to learn more!!

@Kristin Whitaker if you have recommendations, I’d love them. Even if we don’t make it to Hamilton during this trip, I’ll keep it on my list!

(I originally posted this in the "Buying and Selling Real Estate" forum before I realized there was an actual Montana forum. Sorry for the duplicate, but hoping to find more local insights here! :) )

My partner and I live in Spokane, WA and are having a hard time finding great deals with the market around here. We're still actively looking, but we are also looking outside the box into other areas. Since my mom's side of the family is from Montana, I started looking at some areas over there and found what appear to be some great deals. If you have any insights into the current markets, I'd love to start building some connections and insider knowledge. We're going to drive over in a couple weeks during my spring break to check out some of the areas we've looked into. Here are our current thoughts:

-hard to find deals: Missoula, Bozeman, Kalispell/Whitefish

Areas we've seen that appear to have good deals we'd love more insight:

-Butte/Anaconda: Some homes we've seen here look like they would cash flow. What are current vacancy rates? Do people commute often between the two cities (or from Deer Lodge)? Are you seeing an increase in migration from bigger cities/states like we've seen in Spokane? Outside of mining, what other economic factors are there?

-Helena: I don't know a lot about Helena, but it's within driving distance of Spokane and appeared to have reasonably priced homes. Any/all insights are welcome!

-Great Falls: This one is a little far distance wise for a weekend commute to look at houses. But I work in the schools, so this might still be a viable location to drive over in the summer months.

I'm currently trying to get a couple houses or multi-families to start building a portfolio. I'd love to find some within driving distance of Spokane so I can be more involved as I learn about the investment process. I would definitely have a property manager deal with day to day details, but I want to be able to do some visits to the towns to get a feel for neighborhoods, etc.

Thanks for your help!