All Forum Posts by: Jacob D Adamczak

If I understand correctly, you are leasing the system and you get billed monthly for the cost of the panels, and the panels eliminate an electricity bill.  The cost of the lease should be lower than what you would have originally paid for electricity each month.  Therefore, SolarCity kind of becomes the new utility and since the fee should be lower, I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to pass that on or why they would question a lower cost of electricity

@Mike Zahniser If I go the FHA route, with the higher borrowing amount and mortgage insurance, is it still reasonable to expect to pay near 0 or should I evaluate as if I paid a 20% down payment for a conventional loan?

@Frank Wong  Thanks for the suggestions, this seems like its a little tricky to get an accurate number until you've done it several times.  How do you find the data for sold units in the area for the past 3 years? I am looking at the property on realtor.com right now and don't see where you can find past sales, I only see what is currently for sale.

I am looking to house hack a duplex or triplex and was sent a property to evaluate to see if I was interested.  It is a duplex in a neighborhood of primarily single family homes.  For this reason, it had more bedrooms and was priced much higher than the homes in that immediate neighborhood. I was curious as to the best way of pulling comps using a site like realtor.com or Zillow.  Also, if I cant find many duplexes in the area, how can I account for this, should I use duplexes in a farther out area or look for a similar size house with similar numbers of beds and baths? Thanks for the help!

What Kind of property are you looking for?

@Brian Ploszay  Why would the cost of the panels not pay off? New York has great incentives for solar and solar production is better in NYC than it is closer to the great lakes in Western New York where there is greater cloud cover because if being south of the lakes.

@Dan Maciejewski  That's what Im working on now, trying to run numbers and figuring out how much insurance, mortgage, taxes, maintenance, etc costs will be and what is market rent in my target area.  I'm still figuring all that out before I could really be confident with my numbers but I think that will come with time and experience.

Thanks for that and putting it in perspective.  I am okay with committing to the right agent, it just seemed like I was signing on with this agent before I knew more than their name, which I was making sure I was okay in not signing right away before I met with other agents or was confident I found the right one.

@John Semanchuk  That's what I was wondering, Just making sure I would have the ability to terminate if it didn't work.   Signing an 8mo contract would be a little daunting if it didn't work out.  I also would've wanted to get to know the agent before I signed, just making sure it was okay to talk to other agents before I made the commitment, I wouldn't want to waste their time either.

@Kerry Mertz Thanks for the input, I agree that that seems like the best way to go- no pressure to buy something that doesn't fit what Im looking for and have patience with the different process investors go through.  The numbers are the most important part! If I found an agent like you described, I would be set!

@Justin Smith  That makes sense, I understand the premise of signing on in order for them to be confident its worthwhile putting in the time and work.  I was unsure if I could break our agreement if it didn't work out so thank you for clarifying on that.  I also was just taken back because I did not know anything about the agent before being asked to sign, I wasn't ready to make the commitment before I knew if she was the right agent and at that point I didn't know much about her and her experience to make that decision.  Im glad I listened to your advice to not sign until Im confident I found the right one.

Nothing wrong with that assumption, I would be going the FHA route to avoid a large down payment because I don't have a large down payment saved up yet. That is what I had heard that the market is hot for those type of properties. I guess it is one of those things where I will have to be patient and learn the area and comp prices well enough to be confident when the right property comes up. Thanks for all the help!