All Forum Posts by: John McConnell

@Brandon Hall

 Sounds good.  I just wasn't sure it it was tied to a married partner or anyone living in the house (mainly direct family).  Thanks for the quick response!

Wow! this is some great information.  I love learning something new everyday. Based on the discussion I am guessing the capital gains tax would be only waived to 250K for a single owner vs. 500K for a married couple?  Does this only apply to married people or can co-signers be included in this tax advantage?  Say I want to put my mom or sister on the mortgage/title.  Would they then be able to get the tax break as well?  Thanks for all of this!

I recently moved to NH and am checking out the Multi Fam Market here.  I did a search online and ended up finding an agent here.  They are all over here.  As far as Edwardsville is concerned, I grew up around the area (STL, Fairview, Ofallon, St. Charles, Alton, Salem) and I would be surprised that there are not more turnovers in that area for multis.  Being a pretty big college town im sure there are a lot...  guess finding them and then finding ones that are up for sale is another issue.  I was going to say if your looking outside of e-ville fairview and ofallon would be great places to look but you stated you were trying to stay within 10 miles. I did a quick search and only found 1 (http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/617-619-Garfield-Ave_Edwardsville_IL_62025_M81838-09560?row=1).  Sometimes you have to tweak the search keywords in order to find what your looking for.  But you may have to branch out if that is an option to some of the surrounding cities.

Welcome @Charan K.! I am new on here as well.  Jumped right in week 2 and joined the Pro Team!  Looking for my first investment property.  Buy and Hold is my strategy while I decide if my W2 (Active Army) job is worth sticking around after my retirement eligibility time comes around or just staying in and collecting my normal income and doing real estate concurrently.  The advantages of still being able to easily attain traditional financing because of the W2 job (which pays well) sound like a good idea.  AND any years past 20 add to the retirement calculator percentage.  Pretty much a win win. Still have 5-6 years to decide.  Love to continue to follow your's and others stories of investing! :-)

Great info.  Trying to house hack as well. Figuring out financing and a couple other things.  Is the duplex going to cashflow right from the start?  Will you be putting money in as a renter as well in order to offset? Do you already have reserves ready for repairs and costs once you move in?

Great info.  Still in and still bank with USAA for the last dozen or so years.  Pre approval for home loans through USAA is amazingly fast.  Rates are ok.  I actually get better car rates through Service Federal (NH Based bank).  I just had them do a refi on my  moms car for an amazing rate.  Also if you are interested in doing any overseas investment Service Credit union is one of the only banks I have seen that has a direct payment method for European banks.  USAA insurance is hands down one of the best for price and service.  Thanks for the post!

Sorry. didn't mean to be confusing.  I am actually still waiting to get some more details.  But other than mentioning the basement thing... Im pretty much asking what the topic is about..  and I guess I have answered my own question that I really have to see the data before making any assumptions about anything.

Good to know.  I was just thinking and trying to figure out what to do with this thing and I wasn't sure if that type of "duplex" was legal or normal or whatnot.  I asked him to bring me the paperwork on the house so I can crunch the numbers to see if it is worth buying and holding or maybe even flipping.  Either way the basement needs to be finished in order for it to sell (supposedly).  Also need to find out what he is wanting out of the property.  If it is something I could hold I would think about it if the price was right but I am guessing it is not going to be.  As far as flipping I need to gather the info about the comps there and see what it is listing for now as opposed to what a finished basement would bring the price to.  I have the newbie itch and everything looks like a potential deal.  I know that if the numbers dont add up there is no need in even worrying about it though.  I guess the bottom line is trying to figure out how to fix this guys dilemma as well as learn something in the process.  If I made a couple bucks on the deal or broke even that would also be ok.

Such an amazing post here. I'm still brand new but this is where I would like to get to as an intermediate long term goal. I know every market is different but this is why BP works so well. You are always plugged in to all the markets and can see the differences and how things can actually be transposed in multiple markets. Thanks for this post!!!

I have a friend who currently has a home in Atlanta. He is moving up to the New England area and is trying to get rid of his home. He would like to rent it out but is unsure about how that would work and sounds like he would rather not have the headache at all. Most of the prospective buyers don't like the home because he has an unfinished basement. The basement is pretty much a separate apartment with its own kitchen. So I asked the question can the basement be sealed off and separate from the top, is it above ground basement, etc. it sounds like it could potentially be split into a duplex ... I know most people are like don't ever try to rent out the basement. I haven't seen the hard data on the house as of yet. I told him to bring me the data so I could look over it and see what the best plan of action is. What would you do in my shoes? Would you try to take over the mortgage? Refi? Leave it alone? Fix and flip? Convert to over under duplex?