All Forum Posts by: Jamie Warcken

Thank you for all the responses! It feels much better to take rent increases on a case by case basis. I'm not raising anyone's rents this year because these are trying times, but next year I'll base increases on how much each property's taxes and insurance increase so I can still cash flow, but not take advantage. 

I have always kept rents the same with renewals, but with insurance and taxes increasing, I'm going to start adding automatic annual increases to my leases. What is a fair increase that will keep me and my guests happy (and in place as long as possible)?

My first thought was an automatic 2% increase every year, rounded to the nearest $10 for a 12-month lease, with 5% increase to go month to month. But when I put that on paper it feels gross and greedy, as inflation and annual raises are around 3%. 

How much do you automatically increase *your* rents every year? 

We are nearly finished renovating a rental property in Oklahoma, and have started rehabbing our primary home in Tucson, AZ. My husband was recently transferred to SLC, UT, and we're updating to potentially rent or sell. Or maybe we stay and he commutes. The trouble is, we're almost out of cash to complete our primary rehab! 

My feeble mind is having trouble figuring out the best way to pay for it all. We have five doors on three properties in OK, all purchased as BRRRRs, starting in 2022. But because of rising interest rates, none of the BRRRRs have made financial sense so far. One would've netted us ~$15k, another only ~$1k, and the third is the triplex currently being renovated. 

The interest rate on the triplex is 7.5%, but because I took out a construction loan to help offset renovation costs, my lender says the ARV was already baked in, and a refinance would not make sense on that property either. I suppose that requires a second (or third or fourth) opinion, but if he's right, where can I pull cash from to both complete our primary home, and refill the RE emergency fund I'm currently depleting?

My only idea so far is to cash out the contributions we've made to our Roth IRAs, and pull the amount of qualified medical expenses from our HSAs (total ~$80k). Side note: My husband and I are currently funemployed (we both have seasonal jobs) until October, so not sure if we could qualify for traditional re/financing options at this time. Thoughts?

We are looking for all new kitchen cabinets. This is not a "dream kitchen" remodel; we're thinking of turning our primary into a rental and don't need anything spectacular. Can anyone recommend a reasonable company in Tucson to build new cabinets for us? Thanks!

@Kevin Sobilo @Jon A. OMG such great points. THANK YOU. We will be taking the cash at close!

@Kevin Sobilo, @Caroline Gerardo Sorry, I should've mentioned the buy down is refundable, so when it's time we can use whatever buy down cash is left to pay for the refinance. I had never heard of that, but we've never bought a house with rates this high. We have our own cash in reserves, and are putting 3.5% down specifically so we can use our reserves to improve the property. Does a refundable buy down change anything, or should we still take the cash at close? Thank you so much for your replies!

We are under contract for a primary SFH for $455k (asking $480k) with 6% concessions, or $27,300. We are using FHA with 3.5% down, or $15,925. Current interest rate is 6.75% and a 3/2/1 buy down costs $19,929. This is a move-in ready "worst house in the best neighborhood" situation, and the wall-to-wall carpeting is positively oozing with potential. We would not make any reno moves until we've lived there months, or maybe years, to figure out exactly what we'd like to do with it. Trying to work out the numbers with regards to our plans for the house. Of course we'd want to wait until after we renovate to refinance. Would it be in our best interest to take the buy down and save on the monthly payments, or take the extra cash at closing which we would just sit on until we figure out our renovation plan? Thaaaaank youuuuu and Happy New Year!