All Forum Posts by: James F.

@Jeff S. I have friends who own a couple vacation rentals and manage several more in Lincoln City (Olivia Beach specifically). My understanding from talking to them is that only certain areas of the Oregon coast (Olivia Beach being one of them) make it easy to have a vacation rental without getting in trouble with HOAs, so that's something to consider. 

Their rentals seem to be doing incredibly well though, that area is definitely on my short list of places where I'd consider a vacation rental property in Oregon.

@Aaron Holderman @Craig Curelop Some areas north of Denver still present good opportunities at semi-reasonable prices. So far, I've had good luck in Greeley (with Craig's help) and Severance. I'm also really bullish on Colorado Springs because of all the military bases, likely incoming Space Command, and value (compared to Denver metro). You need to be looking beyond Zillow, get on good terms with a broker or two, but you can definitely still find values in Colorado.

If you can build a good team out of state, the money does go a lot farther though. I just purchased a single-family in Alabama that (total price) cost less than just the down payment I put on a property here in Colorado. 

@Haishan Peiris I've seen lenders who are willing to title directly to a LLC as long as you will add a personal guarantee on the loan. How you feel about that is up to you, in my case I wasn't worried about being able to pay the loan and I wanted the legal shelter of the LLC, so it was worth it.

One super important thing that I rarely see discussed when this question comes up is this: If you do form a LLC and take the property in that entity (whether directly or by quitclaim deed shenanigans), make sure you legitimately treat your LLC's operations as separate from your own personal financial operations. If you don't jump through the LLC hoops, like annual meetings, separate bank account, etc., you likely aren't actually affording yourself any protection at all. If you don't run the LLC as a separate entity, it's not hard for lawyers to "pierce the corporate veil" and come after you personally. This is especially true if your LLC is a single member LLC. Food for thought.

@Michael C. like @Bill S. I also bank with FirstBank for my Colorado deals, they're been great for a purchase that was a little outside the box of what a traditional lender was willing to consider. They also let me take Title directly in an LLC instead of dealing with quit-claim/deed shenanigans after the fact.

Colorado Springs has more military bases, including an incoming service headquarters, than just about anywhere else in the US, which makes it a market with an incredibly stable job base and likely growth potential despite all the current uncertainty. On top of that, it's a beautiful and desirable area to live which is still relatively affordable compared to the Denver metro. Hard to beat the combination of factors that Colorado Springs has going for it!

@Grace Wang @Craig Curelop could probably recommend someone, finding properties for room-by-room is one of his specialties.

@Anthony DeMichael @Landon Moore I've also interfaced with Ron Saulnier during a deal, he was great. Very responsive and knowledgeable.

Like many have mentioned, lenders are not allowed to report "negative" or "overdue" on your credit report, but putting a comment that says "forbearance" in your credit history is still game, from what multiple mortgage originators have personally told me.

I just completed two refinances and am working on a new property loan, and in all three applications it definitely asked if any of my loans were in forbearance and required an attestation that I was not currently and did not intend to be in forbearance on any of them to the best of my knowledge.

If you need forbearance to avoid disaster, by all means use it. But if you are just going to use it to stack up some extra cash-cushion, be aware that it will likely have a long term impacts on your ability to obtain future financing.

@Jason M. Like @Chris Lopez said, 2% and 50% will keep you out of just about everything in this market. "OK" deals are usually above .6 on the 1% test, if you find anything that legitimately looks like it is over .8 on the 1%, you should probably jump on it fast because it will absolutely not last long.

Also, while I like the interface on some websites (like loopnet) a lot more than the RE Matrix/MLS, usually by the time I spot a good deal on Loopnet/Zillow/etc. it has already been on MLS for days and is under contract. So if you're not working with a realtor to get MLS access, you probably should be.

@Jason M., I've had good luck so far with Jason Billingsley, CFA over at Denver Tax Advisor. He's done my taxes for the past few years and, since I've started getting more into investment real estate, has been a great help answering all of my tax planning and investment related questions. As for legal work, I'm working with Nick Klimas over at Klimas Law. Great experience so far.