All Forum Posts by: Jacob D.

My section 8 tenant sent written notice last month that they would be out today. They haven't moved out yet, and she hasn't made it clear when she will be fully out. What am I allowed to do in this case?

- Can I just go by tomorrow to change the locks?

- Should I reach out to their case worker?

- Can I walk into the apartment, and if they aren't there (but haven't moved yet) can I move their stuff into the basement?

I'm going to try the nice guy approach, and see what the deal is. They gave notice, and I confirmed with their housing worker that they signed a lease on a new apartment. 

Thanks for reading, and any help is appreciated

I'm looking for opinions / guidance on whether or not this is possible - from a city regulations stand point:

The second floor of a 2 family has an attic space with stair access from the 2nd floor apartment. The attic space is really open and has 8 feet high ceilings (the roof).  The problem is, the pitch of the roof prevents the entire space from being livable. I want to do one of two things:

1. Change the pitch of the entire roof, making the attic space useable (which adds ~800 sqft)
2. Add dormers to the ATTIC (not the second floor which already has dormers)

For 2. I'm guessing to add dormers to the attic, it will have to be built ON TOP of the other dormer that exists on the second floor. The below pictures are from both sides of the roof:

Any idea about how much it would cost to raise the roof or add more doormers for the attic space?

I'm not trying to make a new apartment in the attic, I'm simply trying to add a bedroom or two in the attic (although it would be even better to add an apartment). 

I understand a HELOC will appear on your credit, but does it affect your credit USAGE? For instance when I setup a HELOC, they pull my credit and that impacts my score. If I already have 100k available in credit (from credit cards alone) and my current usage is 0%, will the HELOC INCREASE my "available credit" to 100k + HELOC amount? If I draw my entire HELOC balance, will it increase my usage (which will then hurt my credit score)?

@Brian G. @Jody Sperling Thank you for your responses. I do have a quick follow up:

When a bank is looking at your financials (bank statements and etc), and 50% of the downpayment is coming from a HELOC - what will they say when I don't have enough cash to cover the down payment in my account?

I'd like to setup a HELOC on my house and purchase another multi-family.

1. Once the HELOC is setup, do I need to draw the funds into my bank account (for the down payment), or can it stay as credit until I purchase the house? Basically, can I directly write a check from my HELOC to fund the down payment at closing or will it need to be seasoned in my bank account?

2. If I have a 10 year interest only HELOC, will my lender add in the principal payments when calculating DTI?

3. My 3 family has been rented out for a year and I already filed taxes, will my lender use the full rent from my lease or some risk-adjusted percentage of rents (like 75%)?

4. I've read that DTI for investment properties must be under 43%. With my next purchase it will be about 38-40%. Given this, is it possible to find a bank that will let me put down 15 or 20% - 30 year fixed right now?