All Forum Posts by: Jason Richards

Thank you @Brandon Rush and @Ryan Luby. I will get to those meet-ups!

My name is Jason Richards from Hamden, CT. I have been a chiropractor for 18 years and am looking to get into buy and hold real estate investing that can support me in retirement. I am a father of 3 boys and happily married for over 25 years. I would like to invest in small commercial apartments buildings (5+ units) in the New Haven County area. I have spent the last 2+ years learning about investing and figured I need to jump in and start! I'm looking for experienced investors in this area who can help me through the process.

Thanks!

My name is Jason Richards from Hamden, CT. I have been a chiropractor for 18 years and am looking to get into buy and hold real estate investing that can support me in retirement. I am a father of 3 boys and happily married for over 25 years. I would like to invest in small commercial apartments buildings (5+ units) in the New Haven County area. I have spent the last 2+ years learning about investing and figured I need to jump in and start! I'm looking for experienced investors in this area who can help me through the process.

Thanks!

Welcome @Mayne .Williams!

I'm in Hamden and have been keeping my eyes on New Haven and the surrounding area. I would also like to get into multifamily buy and hold but prices in New Haven are quite high, so I have been looking in the valley (ie. Shelton, Naugutuck, Oxford, Waterbury). I have not purchased any investment properties, yet, due to lack of time (self-employed with 2 non-real estate businesses, one of which is new) and just plain cold feet. However, I have been analyzing deals and getting ready to jump in.

-Jason

@James Marjerrison Thanks James. Will do!

I am a US resident and have found a property in PEI, Canada to purchase as a vacation rental. This is my first real estate purchase in Canada and I don't know what to expect. Can anyone help me figure things out? I cannot even seem to find a property valuation from the municipality and/or county online (the listing has at least one obvious error). Here are some areas of help that I need:

1. What kind of conditions I should put in the purchase agreement. I am making an offer site unseen. Of course I want it subject to property inspection, well & septic inspection and financing. Am I missing anything?

2. Is there any standard place to find property valuations for that province? I need to get reliable property information like the year it was built, sq footage, etc.

3. I bank with TD Bank in the US and was thinking to start with them (since they are a Canadian bank) to open a Canadian bank account and apply for a mortgage. I read that most banks want 35% down for a foreign investor. Anyone know of a bank that may do less?

Thanks in advance for any help that I can get!

For an FHA loan you can have a non-occupant co-signer (like a parent) with a stable work history, then you personally wouldn't have to have the 2 years history. It's a great program to use for your situation. However, with all the old houses in the New Haven area some may not qualify--make sure your realtor knows you will be going FHA. I live in Hamden, but have not house hacked so I cannot give you insight to that. However, I can bring up some things to consider. In New Haven you will always have college students around to rent (maybe not this next year, though due to the coronavirus). Southern Hamden and West Haven are also good towns. Make sure you know the taxes--they can kill a deal quickly because they can be very high. New Haven's are the worst of the three towns just mentioned. If you're planning on house hacking with multiple roommates, make sure the area is zoned for it. The town of Hamden cracked down on landlords several years back that had "multiple families" in one house that wasn't zoned for it. Each renter, if not related to another, is considered a separate family.  That was at the time Quinnipiac University was growing rapidly and Hamden residents started renting out their homes to students.
I wish you well with the rest of your studies and in the pursuit of a good house hack!

@Sin Hang Lai Thanks for the advice and lead. I realize that it is a very difficult weekend to ask about it. I am looking for around $300k and a 6-12 month term. I’m not sure how long the contractor will need—obviously the shorter the better.  I get his estimate tomorrow along with the time frame. Not sure about the rest of the terms since I have never done this before.  I have some other leads to follow up with in the next several days and will see what they offer, if anything. 

@Jason Arcuri It looks more and more like this will be a flip and not owner occupied, so Sachem Capitol might just pan out. Thanks for allowing me to use your name. I definitely will!

Any idea how quickly private money can be secured for the purchase of a home on auction.com for an unknown person like me?  I figure the odds are very slim, but I'll post this anyway so that I can learn.

My current home is under contract and set to close in October, but a great house came up on the MLS that my wife and I liked (for owner occupancy), and we were prepared to make an offer. It turned out to be an REO and up for auction on auction.com, with cash purchase only. Sadly, we don't have the cash. My plan was to find some private funding for the purchase and the rehab (it needs some work like a new kitchen and 2 new bathrooms as well as cosmetics) and then do a conventional cash out refinance to pay back the private lender. Another strategy would be to sell it if the refi wouldn't work for some reason. I have done due diligence on the property and have a rough estimate on rehab costs and a good idea of the ARV. While I have never done any flips before, I have bought a couple of houses in the past, worked for several years as a residential mortgage underwriter, studied real estate strategies for the past 8 months, listened to over 200 Bigger Pockets podcasts, and currently own my own chirorpactic business for the past 15+ years. I feel like I have a good sense of the process and what I am getting into. The house is in my current neighborhood (New Haven county, Connecticut), which I am intimately familiar with. I feel like it is a good solid investment and will be a nice home once rehabbed. The auction is next week, so time is of the essence. Is it even possible for an unknown like me to get private money that quickly? Any information, help, suggestions, encouragement, etc. would be appreciated!

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions. I will plan on vacating. Are the buyers typically there with the inspector?