All Forum Posts by: Joe P.

Thanks Harry, I may do that. I appreciate having some local insight. I'll never turn down a good slice of pizza especially after a long ride. :)

@Kyle Wells he works for Greentree...I think they can write loans in any state, but the point is he's in NJ, and it's an actual mortgage company.

@Alex Forest good points -- sadly, in this town, single families are worth the same as duplexes. It's great for investors because this is a "2% rule" town, but still very blue-collar and not a lot of influx of investors (other than a core group that we all know each other and try to work together).

I don't think its worth trying for the cash out refi, AND I am finishing up a BRRRR eligible for cash out refinance on December 16th (six months plus one day, but who's counting?) and I don't want this to affect that. I may tap into the equity if it is ever there on this duplex, but I see that coming down the line.

As I mentioned, I asked him twice - once over the phone and then to confirm over text. I think the rates might be "that low", not to mention my credit score/past history might factor in?

That is correct. I reminded him I did not live in it and it was purely investment. It's possible he could be wrong and forgot to add that in. But I did ask. Twice.

If you want me to pass along his details I'm happy to. He has taken care of my primary residence refinance, got me to the table on my current duplex, and I plan to use him to cash-out refi my BRRRR in January when my six months is up.

Correct, this is purely investment. I reminded him of that and he said the rate is correct. I also only provided my actual P+I information in the numbers provided, so its strictly a decision to be made based on that (since taxes, insurance, and all other expenses I set aside for remain unchanged).

Usually the fees on this will probably be in the 3k-4k range, so I'm just trying to decide if its worth it to pay that off in a few years, or even cut down the years to 20. I don't see a reason to sell in the near future, unless someone offers me double what I paid. Which, you never know, could happen in a few years with the influx of money :D

That's where I'm at - it's almost silly to not and shave off almost HALF of the rate. Really my goal is cash flow - I want to scale as much as possible, and having more cash flow improves that position. A paid off property is wonderful, but chances are I'm going to continue to use Fannie/Freddie until they tell me I can't anymore, and then I'll start to look at paying down the mortgages more closely. The 20 year is very advantageous for two reasons -- I only increase my monthly payment a bit, but I shave off multiple years of payments AND typically the equity I'll build on that will be faster. If my property appreciates a bit, I could look to lend off that equity and again, increase my scale.

Thanks for your input, you might have talked me into it. :)

Hi all -- looking for your opinions on this. I have a duplex in NJ and my mortgage loan is a 30 year, 5.625% rate, 77,175 initial balance, opened August 2018. It's now down to about ~75,000. My principal and interest payment is $444 per month.

The rate alone, and the rates I've been quoted today (3.25% - 3.50%) make me think I should refinance  just to cut the interest down. My lender says with all fees wrapped in, I could refinance with approximately 82,000 loan, also 30 years, at that rate (he says he always quotes high, so maybe between 80,000 and 82,000). At that mortgage loan and rate, I'd be at $359-$368 per month.

I could also do a 20-year loan, which would be $470, which is advantageous as well.

The property cash flows decently well (approximately $250 per month), so looking for your opinions:

• Should I refinance to a new 30 year and reduce my P+I by $80-$90 per month?
• Should I refinance to a new 20 year and increase my P+I by $26 per month, and shave 8.5 years off my loan?
• Should I stand pat and do nothing because my loan is too small to be worth doing it?

Hi all -- I've been looking at my next property being a shore rental, possibly STR or even a duplex to rent out one or both units. Keansburg keeps coming across as an affordable town with a beach (but no "boardwalk" in the sense of AC or Seaside) -- and I'm wondering what are local opinions of the town? Is it a place where a family may want a quieter beach getaway (has a water park I see), or is it more of annual rentals with no real "shore summer" vibe?

Congrats @Zach Gring. One thing I'll tell you is unless you're going through the property with a fine tooth comb, be prepared for a good six months of issues popping up. Make sure your reserves are high enough to handle whatever your tenants find and need fixing/replacement. Within the first year on my duplex, I replaced one water heater, fixed a backed up sewage line, fixed the same pipe when it literally fell to the ground during a massive rain storm, pumped the basement out 3 times, added a new checkvalve, bought new fridge and new oven, and had to have the heater serviced twice. And that is just the first few months.

Point is...these can be either items of operation, or items of pain. If you know (and are honest with yourself, as well not being so hard on yourself), you can quickly act to get someone in to solve these issues quickly.  And then its fixed.

I'd recommend having 5k-10k in reserves just for the first few months and your first year to be relatively break-even, if not costing you a few bucks. That's OK - you're stabilizing the property, which makes Y2 so much better.

Good luck!

I just spoke to my mortgage guy at Greentree yesterday; I'm planning on starting in December. He said they're doing them up to 70% LTV as of right now. Didn't mention any specific guidelines/issues.