All Forum Posts by: Heather Skowronsky

@William Richard Arens Hi there!  So from my reading - you say the home is worth approx $700k per the tax assessment.  If they only owe $375k then there is no reason/way they could even short sell.  Short selling means that they owe more to the lender/bank than the property is worth and they are asking the lender for permission to sell it for below the amount they owe.  In my opinion it is in their best interest to sell this property and make a very nice profit, especially given their financial situation currently.  I don't know all of the specifics of what they owe but it looks to  me that they could easily walk away with $250,000-$275,000 cash in pocket after fees.  Even if they priced it for a quick sale, it would sell quickly in the market we have right now.  The lack of inventory is astounding and they would stand to make a nice profit still.

But to your question about them even being able to sell it to you.   Yes they can sell it to you if it's not a short sale, nothing prohibits them from selling it to you for any amount of money (below what an appraisal would be).  But if it was an actual short sale, the bank would not allow them to sell it to you at all.  They will have to sign an "arms length" transaction form that states that the buyer is not related to the seller in any way.

And about using the income to help you qualify, that will depend on your lender. Most lenders allow a percentage of the rental income you will receive to off set your debt to income ratio.  Usually it's 70% of the monthly rental amount.  You will have to provide the lender a signed lease prior to closing to show you will be earning this money.

So ultimately it seems like a better situation for your parents to just put the property on the market, take the money and run.  

Hi @Wilhelm J. Lieto be sure to speak with your lender about this. You can use the money from your HELOC as a down payment on an investment property - no problem. However when you try to refinance the investment property (cash out refinance) you are only able to take out a maximum of 80% of the fair market value of the home - so that would also have to account for the existing mortgage amount you owe on the property. So using Nova's market numbers, lets say you find a townhouse for $300,000. You have to put at least 20% down (25% down gets you a much better rate though, so you'd most likely want to do 25% down) =$60,000 down payment. Loan amount = $240,000. The market value of the home would have to be about $385,000 or higher to be able to recoup your $60,000 downpayment/repay your HELOC.

So you would have to find an off market deal for sure.  Anything and everything on the market now is selling (going under contract) within days, sometimes hours.

Our monthly meet up will be at 9am at the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty office in Gainesville.  I'll give an update on the real estate market in our immediate area and then we will have a "round table" discussion about different investing strategies and experiences.  

I'm an investor and Realtor in Northern Virginia :)

I plan on speaking about investing for appreciation in our market and I'd love any input anyone has to offer!

Hi all! I'll be hosting the February meeting at my Gainesville office.  I am working on getting more details from a commercial lender that may be advantageous to the group for potential financing for deals.  I'll present what I find at the meeting.  I'll also go over some great book recommendations for beginners.  We'll have an open Q&A and networking as well.  Hope to see you there!

1. Prince William County meet up
2. Loudoun County meet up
3. Manassas, VA meet up
4. Bristow, Va meet up
5. Gainesville, VA meet up
6. Haymarket, VA meet up
7. Ashburn, VA meet up
8. Aldie, VA meet up
9. Chantilly, VA meet up

@Calvin Kwon and @Brian Beck I am not a section 8 expert by any means but I do know that the amount listed on the HUD site is the maximum - so there is no guarantee that you will be able to get that price. You'd still also have to compete with other homes on the market. Yes it is based on number of bedrooms. I listened to the same episode that you did with regard to getting much higher rents from section 8 tenants. I do not know how he does it. I looked up the rates in DC and they were no where near what he said he was getting for his properties. I believe him, I just don't know how to "work" the system to do that. I'd recommend speaking with a property management company that is well versed in Section 8. I can recommend a company if you need help, just shoot me a message. :)

@Calvin Kwon it will be fairly easy to obtain Section 8 tenants for the home but not for $2100.  You do have to get the home approved for Section 8 tenants as well which will take some time so you'll need to account for that vacancy period as well.  Your closing costs are going to be at least 3% of the sale price, probably closer to 4% so you'll want to adjust those numbers.  I have a property management company that I can recommend in the area if you would like to speak to them.  Best of luck!

@Account Closed looking forward to seeing you there!  

Hi all!  I'm back to hosting a monthly meet up and am moving locations to make it more convenient for the Loudoun County folks that want to attend.  This first meeting of 2020 will be simply a networking meeting but I'll also be available to answer any questions anyone has about the market, etc.  I look forward to seeing you all there!  

1. Prince William County meet up
2. Loudoun County meet up
3. Manassas, VA meet up
4. Bristow, Va meet up
5. Gainesville, VA meet up
6. Haymarket, VA meet up
7. Ashburn, VA meet up
8. Aldie, VA meet up
9. Chantilly, VA meet up