All Forum Posts by: Jessica S.

Thanks for the clarification, that all makes sense.

I agree with @Steve Moody's advice.  If landlording has become a chore for them they might be willing to do a deal with you that is favorable for all parties.

A few things to consider:

1.  The 1% rule is basically impossible to achieve in Portland

2.  If the house is actually valued at $500k why would the owners want to sell it for $300k?

3.  You seem to think that the owners may not know the value of the house.  Are you hoping to take advantage of that?   Are the owners older folks?  Imagine if your parents owned a property that was worth $500k and someone convinced them to sell it for $300k, how would that make you feel?  

As I said, just some things to consider.

They didn't ask you for anything out of the ordinary.  If you don't want to divulge that information you may have to forgo getting a loan.

Hey Isaac,

I'm not totally up on current rates but 4.25 sounds about right.  (Investment properties have higher rates than owner-occupied, sadly) But 15k in closing costs?? WTF???

Here's what you need to do:  find another lender, doesn't matter who it is, show them lender #1's quote and tell them to beat it.  Then go back to Umpqua and do the same thing with them.  Go back and forth until you get them down as low as you can.  Then if you're really dedicated, find lender #3 and repeat.  It's painful and you will feel like an a$$hole, but it will save you a ton of money.

I used this strategy a couple months ago and ended up paying a total of $2,200 in closing costs, including $1,500 in pre-paid property tax which I was going to owe anyways.

So, yeah...

Andre, congratulations on all your recent achievements!

My husband and I have done live-in flips.  I really can't imagine doing it with young children, nevermind a small baby.  We weren't even comfortable having friends bring little kids over to visit since we were basically living in a construction site.

You will not have a functioning kitchen for weeks (maybe longer). And you'd better make sure you buy a house with more than one bathroom, or you'll be living without a bathroom for awhile, as well. (We left the toilet in place for as long as possible and showered at the gym.)

Personally, I think you should contribute as much as possible to your 401k, but I'm sure there are others on here who would disagree.

Good luck!

Locally, I really like Ericka Hedrick at Rose City Mortgage.

I've also worked with Jerry Padilla.  He's not local but he is a Bigger Pockets regular.  You can search the site to find his info.

I'm not a fan of pulling out equity for the most part, just because I don't like debt.  But it's a personal choice and many people would disagree.  

I really just wanted to suggest that if you do decide to do it you should shop around for a better rate because 4.125% is pretty high.  

Determining how much you'll need to cover living expenses is only one aspect of retirement planning.  Deciding how much savings you need is the other key component, and arguably more important Ideally, you'll want to have enough available to cover medical events, long term care etc.. And if you have a spouse and/or children you'll probably  also want to be able to leave them an inheritance.

When researching other, more traditional retirement models, it might be helpful to view rental income as a type of pension.  It's not really equivalent, but at least it will give you an idea of the financial foundation you need to build in order to retire comfortably.

 If you're not a big fan of the area then I don't think you should move there, do you?  Maybe it's better to keep looking.

Don't rush into the wrong purchase just because it's been two months.  Two months isn't very long to be looking in this market. Most people are looking for much longer than that.