All Forum Posts by: Jason Lin

@Jaron Walling Thank you for the info. I understand and am already mentally prepared that this wouldn't be easy especially living in California. I appreciate the response and think I am ready for the next step.

Thanks for the quick response...that's exactly the information I was looking for. Would it be best to use a convention 5% down loan rather than a FHA loan? From my understanding I do qualify for a conventional as I don't have any DTI ratio since my car is paid off and I don't rent as I still live at home and my credit score is 700+.

Back to the FHA loan, if I did use that would the rates be higher after I refinance to a conventional loan? I'm not sure how refinancing works as I never purchase any properties before.

Hi Biggerpockets member,

I had a quick question relating to the FHA loan and cash out refinance...

Lets say I wanted to purchase a duplex using the FHA loan. From my understanding you cannot get a FHA loan if the property is distressed ? What if the property was just outdated (kitchen and bathroom) and I was able to rehab it and get it up to date thus forcing equity. Would I be able to do a cash out refinance from that property? Do I need to wait a seasoning period for it? Do I need to hit a 20% equity before I can refinance?

@Doug Spence Thank you for the quick reply.

Hi my name is Jason and I'm just starting out my RE investing journey. I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos, listening to a lot of biggerpockets podcast, and reading books. Currently residing in CA and as everyone knows the housing prices here are insane compared to out of state. I've read multiple blogs / websites / youtube videos on how to determine which state is primed for investing and the general consensus is to look for:

Population Growth

Job Growth

Job Diversity (More than one major employer)

Average Rent Price

Average Home Price

Crime Rate

Cost of living

My question is, where do you guys pull these data points from? I've used sites like citydata, best places, and areavibes but a lot of these data are giving conflicting information and I am not sure how accurate these info are. Is there a more reliable website you guys use that has accurate info? Is there other steps I am missing when researching a certain state / area?