All Forum Posts by: Jobee Vincent Buenaventura

Hey all,

I’m not sure if it’s because of COVID or the current housing market in general in NJ/NY, but I am having such a tough time getting this to work. I purchased my first property, a two-family back in September 2020.

First, my loan officer told me as of early April, Fannie Mae and such has been cutting back in adopting cash-out refinance loans from lenders by a large percentage, making refinancing second home/investment properties much harder. So I inquired about a personal refinance and live in the property for a year before buying another primary residence.

Second, I was told that I cannot get 80% LTV unless I go for an FHA loan on a 2-family property. So that PMI will definitely make an impact on my net profit. And if I go conventional, it'll max out at 75% LTV in which the cash-out isn't significant enough.

And third, I just learned this today: In order for me to be able to qualify for a FHA cash-out refi, I have to own the property for at least a year, meaning no longer the 6-month "seasoning period" if going FHA.

Is there any other options that I can do? I feel like I’ve got a brick wall..

As a new investor doing the BRRRR strategy, I purchased a 2-family with a personal mortgage 20% down in September. I've done some renovations to it and have a 2nd unit currently vacant.

I plan to cash-out refi when it’s fully rented out but will this new cap on the government purchasing loans hinder my success for the refinance (as an investment property)?

I spoke with a mortgage originator and he mentioned that Fannie/Freddie also added more costs to second/investment properties as well which might make it more difficult.

Would it be better to refinance this property as a primary still since I can, on paper, live in the second unit?

Source reference:

http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/community/969950.aspx

@Johnathan Boyle sorry, I’m not sure what you mean by full doc or low doc. I’m going through everything the first time so I’m unfamiliar with this part of the process.

@Jason Shackleton yes this is a 2-family that I am planning to have both units rented out. Paying a mortgage of 2063 and I’m projecting $600/mo in profit of rent from both units, but we’ll see once I get a tenant in. Houses in my area have been rising at an alarming rate the past several months so I’m hoping to gain some bonus equity from it.

Hey everyone! New investor here in Bergen County NJ and I got a quick BRRRR question: When is the right time to do a cash-out refinance on a property?

Details: I bought a 2-family with 1 tenant on the 1st unit in September. I did some repairs and moderate renovations for the second unit and it’s currently vacant. Should I refinance before or after I get the second tenant?

And Anyone know of any good banks or lenders in my area that are familiar with these sort of things? Thanks all!

@William S.

Hey William! Good day to you, sir.

I just bought my first 2-fam rental in northern NJ for 390k at 20% down 6 months ago. I spent about $12k renovated the floors, walls, kitchen appliances and bathroom. I have one tenant and expect a second one soon. Fully rented out I project a $500/mo net profit. plan to have it appraised for higher afterwards to do a cash out refinance. I’m not sure how this step works and I am seeking advice.

Let’s say it appraised for $450k and I still owe $300k left. How do I calculate how much money I get back to buy another property? Thanks.

@Daniel Gonzalez is there any site that has some sort of cash-out refinance calculator that I can plug my numbers in? Or is it something I won’t know unless it actually happens.

@Brent Kiger according to my RE agent, comps on the low-end have properties that aren’t updated run around $360k. Higher end properties with major renovations go for $550k in the same neighborhood. Each unit is around 800sq ft so I can’t really add a bed or bath, but maybe perhaps updating the appliances and bathrooms will be worth it?

Hey All!

I know your time is valuable so I’ll cut to the chase. I’m investing locally in northern NJ so homes are very expensive, but it’s a market I’m most familiar with. In September I bought a 4bed 2bath multi-family for $390k, and I put 20% down (~$78k). Seller paid closing costs. It appraised for $420k while still under contract. Projected net profit comes to about $500/mo fully rented out.

I spent about $10,000 on relatively light renovations for the walls, floors, and windows (60% contracted, 40% sweat equity). I’m planning to have the second unit ready for tenants by spring. I inherited tenants on the first floor unit and they are great people.

My worry is that I actually won’t have enough equity in the property to recoup most of my capital back to buy the next one anytime soon. I believe I was way too excited thinking that I could be getting a 2-fam at a $30,000 discount. But in reality $390k is only about 93% of the appraised value of $420k (before my upgrades).

What do you guys think are my options at this point? Is refinancing still possible after 5 months? Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone. New landlord here of just under a week with a 2 family home. Inherited seemingly good tenants on the first floor unit and the second floor is vacant for now. I’m in the middle of the process with my realtor in setting up lease agreements and landlord-tenant forms... Been busy at my main employed job this week.. which is my excuse for the delays.

One complaint the current tenants told me is that neither of the units have access to the basement, which is where all the utilities are. They said that they had to wait hours some days for the previous landlord to come by and do something as simple as flipping a breaker switch.

Of course since I’m new to all this, my initial thought was that it was rather cruel. Meanwhile, my girlfriend’s cousins are currently renting a single family and they have access to every livable square foot of the house.

My question is to you all is: Why, or why not, to give tenants access to the utilities?

Thanks in advance!