All Forum Posts by: Johnson H.

Hey J, congrats on your successful east bay meet up! I'm glad you came out of the woodwork strong and I think you are more active on the forums than me these days. I hope to see you at the next San Francisco meet up.

Looks like we posted at the same time and I did not see your message. Thanks for the update. It might be better than I don't have the app for a little while as I am swamped at work! =)

Same here. App repeatedly crash. I deleted the app and could not find it on iTunes to reinstall.

Can't make it J. Out of town assignment. I'll have to catch up with you another time!

@Sarah Lam - Thanks for setting up this meeting! I may be able to make it.

@J. Martin - I can't vouch for you, sorry buddy! haha just kidding. You'll enjoy the meetup, great quality people attending without anyone pitching!

As of this time, you can only cash out refi a cash purchase within six months with a FannieMae product called delayed financing using 70% of purchase price. I spent the last three months trying to cash out refi until I found a large portfolio lender to refi with me with 65% LTV of appraised value. You will definitely need to find a local lender that is willing to work with you with the strategy you outlined.

I live in San Francisco but have been buying out of state. There are some areas for cash flow close to here such as Sacramento, Richmond, Fresno and Modesto. However, I saw more value in Phoenix a few years ago and now looking at Houston closely.

Sarah, you'll want to check the title report for the exact amount of property tax. With $210 a month, you're looking at 2.5% assessed at $100k, less than what you are paying for! I have seen property tax in the Houston area range from 2.5 to 3.6%. Agreed that 2000+ sq ft is large, but if its two stories, it should be okay. However, you will be paying more when you need your A/C replaced as you need a large one and if you ever need to repaint or redo the flooring it will cost more as well.

If you have good credit, your mortgage rates have declined and you maybe able to get 4.75% on a 30 year fixed investor loan these days. In addition, I would increase your closing costs to around 4% depending if you go negative points or not to cover some of your closing costs. Take a look at this article here.

http://www.zillow.com/mortgage-rates/buying-a-home/closing-costs/

Finally, if you do choose to buy, go find your own inspector and do not use one that the turnkey operator provided!

@Sarah Lam, I wont be able to make it this time around as I am working in San Jose and probably will be working late. Thanks for setting these up for all of us, I thought the last one was great!

@Sarah Lam

Look what you started! Pretty soon you'll be the guru at the next meetup!