All Forum Posts by: Sunny Suh

Wow thanks so much for verifying Vinnia!! 20%, may have to go the route of putting in 25%, really appreciate the response!

Hi BP Family,

So we're looking to buy our first out of state investment property in Indianapolis for 150k! Question is, going through a mortgage, they're claiming it is 3.5% with 2 points ($2,400) or 5%. Just asked another and it's the same. Is this really the best?? 

Loan Officer is fortunately responsive (initial person I got in touch with to start the process), Loan Processor although empathetic, is almost unreachable. Be open to picking up phone calls from random numbers because I happened to pick up and it was her. 

I started the process late June, home appraisal has been done 3 weeks ago and came back with conditions, and it's been almost 2 weeks since I have fixed what they requested to fix, also sent pictures and still no response. 

Loan Officer said there was no change in my status, I reached out to my loan processor's manager, over 4 emails and 2 voicemails, still waiting... 

Wow... memory lane.. 

Hey BP friends, it's been over 5 years. I am doing quite well with the home and with the renovations have hit the 1% rule. Based on the realtor.com and zillow.com estimates, I have also received over 200k+ in appreciation so the equity has been great.

Things I've learned beyond the lessons I've updated on:

-In hindsight, everyone has been saying "FHA loan, FHA loan" for the BRRRR strategy! Well, if I knew better, I would have just gotten a conventional loan and paid 10%, primarily because the whole refinancing I had to go through (you may a few thousand to refinance). If you have an FHA loan, you cannot simply take off the PMI once you hit 20% equity which my lawyer stated, but you have to move out of the FHA loan. If you have a conventional loan, you just need to get it re-appraised to have the PMI (which is actually called an MIP for a conventional loan but same concept) taken off.

I see everyone talking about leaning towards a HELOC but I will tread carefully and fully explore my options before getting this (I see "cash out refinance" and home equity loan are also options, leaning towards HELOC but will need to understand the advantages and disadvantages).

-They say your first home is never a home run, well mine was, and finding another great deal has actually paralyzed me from investing more as I used this as a baseline criteria to see if I can find another. 

Fortunately, with the equity built here, I can use that to invest in my next property, even during this COVID-19 pandemic. Looking at now investing out of state which is my next adventure, and again, Bigger Pockets pulls through and provides a lot of resources for this new journey. Have a good night everyone. 

Hey guys, so I'm actually thinking about doing a meetup this Friday at low fidelity, I'll be there at 7:30pm for anyone interested in talking about real estate. I'll also need to update this post. 

11/8/2017

 A lot has changed since January! Zillow has not given a funny estimate of 476k on my home, so not a bad investment at all.

I have worked with a realtor to find a tenant in March who has been paying, and had one$400 incident of pipes being clogged. 

Also had a small $150 problem turn into a $2900 problem. 

Overall was it worth it? Depends on when you ask me, but I've definitely learned a lot and stomached a lot of hits and still standing.

Overall, do I plan on buying another? Yes, put in an offer this past week for a condo but it fell through, I definitely want to scale back my next investment and willing to pay more. Good night!

I know the area but not the most experienced agent. I'm with Keller Williams JC and looking to buy a condo next, although I did buy a 2 family two years ago.

I can set you up with notifications if that is what you need, let me know and best of luck Amir!

Hi Michael,

Taxes are paid quarterly, so it might be a little more in the first 2 quarters and then less in the later two. 

Each municipality is different and calculate their taxes differently. Best would be to find the site like you did for Jersey City and look up the property. 

Taxes are supposed to be 100% of the market value, but reality is, certain homes aren't assessed for awhile, people make renovations without proper permits, assessors may assess at a higher amount, etc. 

Noob questions are fine, I'd recommend finding the right home, taxes do play a role but shouldn't be a major deterrence. You can always appeal your taxes (there is a freeze of 2 to 3 years, not too sure) but then full re-evaluations from a town/city can supercede that.

Hope this helps, if you find a property you can call a tax appeal lawyer to gain further insight.

Hey @James LaPosta,

Glad you enjoyed and hope you learned a thing or two!

Good deals aren't easy to find so keep at it, I had a meetup that grew exponentially in JC, maybe I'll start up a side one again. 

There are definitely a few folks I would appreciate meeting and sharing with, come by the nyc bigger pockets meetup, i tend to go to those. 

Julie!!! This is definitely tricky. 

Man, i talk to a few old folks around the neighborhood and they actually lowered their rent for good tenants because they used to be hard to come by. Also remember realtors talking about how agents wouldn't collect a broker fee for the heights because it wasn't easy to get people to move here. 

Anyway, I would look into seeing if you are receiving roughly the market rate like Andrew suggested, and then judge what you want to do. 

Are you good at negotiating? Maybe your tenants don't want ANY increase, but they'd be willing to chip in for a new fridge and oven so a concession of this sort can be some sort of middle ground?

Or maybe upgrade something to justify an increase?

2.5% for the first and second year rent sounds reasonable, good luck with whatever option you go with!

@Account Closed, have you moved into JC heights? if so, welcome and hope to meet someday.