All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Bailey

 I've been approved for up to $279,000 but I'm having trouble finding a viable property for my budget. I know the area pretty well and where I need to buy in to have consistent tenants and I'm just not quite at the budget needed. 

• I found a property for a $180,000 that was in the desired area but needed serious renovations and I am not experienced in that. How can I build significant renovations into a loan ... or will I most likely just need straight up cash and not be doable? 
• Some of the homes that would be perfect to rent out are about $20,000 over my budget of what I qualified for. What are my options to reach that point? 
• In relation to Question 1, It's looking like my best option is going to have to find a property that needs some renovations,  but not a ton, and buy it significantly below budget and then renovate? Does that sound about right? 
  
  Thanks for your help in advance. 
  

Hi there!  I have a few questions.

I've found a few cheap properties that I would have seriously considered flipping had I been ready. I kinda like to practice before the time comes to actually buy. As evidence of my rookieness - how does the buying process work exactly? Can I have a loan ready to go and then go look for houses so I can present an offer quickly? Would this be pre-qualifying? Or do I find a house then go get apply for the loan?  I'm pretty sure I know the answer but wanted to see what the community says.

Further, if the home is 70k and needs about 30k in repairs - do I get a loan for 100k or do the repairs have to come out of pocket? Would a bank approve a loan above the purchase price?

Finally, would I benefit from using a realtor that specializes in investment properties or will I be okay using analysis based off advice on here + various books to determine whether to flip (or buy + hold) a home.  


Thank's everyone in advance.

@Amine E. Looks awesome! I would love to do something like this one day. Some noob questions for you:

1. Did you have previous experience rehabbing? Seems like you know what you're doing.

2. Do you decide what tiles/counter/cabinets to get or do you have someone else help? 

3. What was the neighborhood like that you bought the house in? 

@Mike D'Arrigo 

Interesting. So does it really just come down to talking to multiple lenders, explaining the situation and see if they can work with me? 

Never heard of that idea of 80% 1st and 15% 2nd. What are the downfalls? Looks like the extra interest you'd be paying is tax deductible anyways. Seems like you'd almost always be in the green (as compared to paying PMI) doing it that way.

Thanks @Clay Manship 

That's pretty cool you did that so early. I wouldn't be against investing while still living at home either. Did you buy a smaller SFH first and rent it out?

Also, what kind of things are you battling? Just curious, will probably be some things I have to deal with. 

I'll take a look around at some lenders who work with FHA loans, etc. Thanks for the advice.

Thanks Nick,

The reason I'm stuck on FHA is the lower downpayment and I figured, easier approval of a loan. I assumed most mortgage lenders won't lend me money based on my short history of employment and low savings. I have an excellent credit score 750+ so that's not the issue. I figure the issue may be low savings and employment history.

Thanks for the heads up on the rent.

That's cool. Thanks for the tip - I'll look into doing something like that. Was that your first investment property? Was it just a SFH you purchased?

Hello!

I'm coming up on a year of my first year working after college. I make close to 60k and am also living at home. When I move out (hopefully by this time next year), I'd like to purchase an owner-occupied duplex/triplex and take advantage of an FHA loan. I've been doing my reading on landlording, rentals, etc. Since I'm living at home, I'm saving a ton of money and after paying down my student loans, I hope to have about 25k in savings to use towards a down payment/repair cash reserves by year's end.

Most duplex's & triplex's where I'd like to live go for about $250,000+ ... I worry I wouldn't qualify for an FHA loan that high. I read that it's possible to count current rent from a property towards your potential income? Does that mean potential rent from a property if it's been consistently rented out? 

Are there other options other than FHA loan that would make more sense for someone starting out? I live in Virginia if that helps.