All Forum Posts by: Jade Pickenheim

Wasn't sure which category to post this in, but we're looking for advice on whether these two electrical bids are for the same work, as we aren't very familiar with the terminology or anything.  Any feedback appreciated, thanks.

Thanks all. Turns out the gas line to the fireplace is old and disconnected. We thought we'd try it if it were as simple as uncapping the line, but since it's not, we probably won't pursue it at this time.

We recently bought a duplex to live in one unit and rent the other. Our unit has a fireplace whose vent to chimney has been sealed, but it has a pipe coming up from the floor that is capped. We assume that's a gas line, but could it be something else? We are wanting to put a gas fireplace in this spot if it is a gas line. Does anyone know what our next steps would be to getting a gas fireplace here? Especially regarding safety? Any and all input appreciated, thank you!

@Andrew Postell @Chris Mason @Twana Rasoul Thank you all for your input. If it helps to give a little more info:

1) Excellent credit (750+), no collections ever, have never paid a bill late ever

2) Bad income currently, so we have a cosigner with $100k/yr income and excellent credit (750+)

3) 15% down, no assistance

4) 30-year conventional loan

5) Cosigner owns a primary residence but no real estate owned otherwise

Hi BP, and thank you for existing.

We're very close to contracting on our first investment property, a duplex in which one unit we'd live, and rent out the other.

We've been talking with a lender, a family friend, for a while, and she today quoted a 4.5% interest rate on a 30-year conventional loan for this property. The prevailing rate seems lower - is the higher rate because it's a multi-unit, and/or an investment property? She did say rates for a multi-unit are higher, and rates for conventional higher than FHA, but I wanted to hear some other feedback. Does this sound right?

Any and all input greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

Hello everyone! I've only discovered this community fairly recently, but I am so impressed. I love the wealth of information and the collaborative vibe.

I'm a real estate agent in Pittsburgh, PA who wants to, with my partner and our baby girl, move into a multi-unit building within the next year or two as our first foray into RE investing. Our first problem, though, is that we don't know how we'll buy it. The income from his job is pretty variable (he's a server working on getting his RE license) and so is mine. I've also not been working as much lately because I'm our baby's primary care provider.

We are accumulating cash all the time as we're both excellent savers of the money we do bring in. We both have very good to excellent credit scores. But, from the few talks I've had with lender friends, income is the biggest determinant regarding getting a loan, and neither of ours is great, and as I said, it's variable.

So, decent savings + great credit + low and variable income. After searching the forums and reading some similar threads, we're vaguely familiar with hard money loans and some other creative finance techniques. But I wanted to get some more personal feedback. What are our options?

Thank you all!