All Forum Posts by: Jordyn Matusevich

Oh yeah no one came that day as I was pretty livid. The owner left it up to his agent to let the tenants know the place was for sale and the agent thought she had left me a voicemail a few days prior. On second look she had the wrong phone number. So, she thought I was aware, but still wanted to get in an hour's notice. Now they are going through a text service to set up the showings. Easier, and I can confirm or deny them. I have notes all over the place as well.

Was it illegal for the landlord to come in without any notice at all to take pictures or do they just have to knock and if I'm not home they can come in? I guess that would be in the lease too. I briefly looked at it this morning but I dont think it said 24 hours. Just wondering... felt a bit violated especially when the pics went up and we weren't even asked so we could make our bed.

@Nancy L. Well we haven't been super motivated to be extra tidy considering how our landlord has treated us as of late. We were never told the house was for sale.

A few weeks ago the water dept came to our door threatening to turn the water off (owner pays). Apparently the tenants of the upstairs unit left their toilet running for a long time, causing the bill to skyrocket and the owner also just hadn't paid the bill. Anyway this was apparently the straw that broke the camel's back and he decided he didn't want to be a landlord anymore so he calls me and says dont worry we paid the bill, and by the way can an appraiser come into the apartment tomorrow?

I said yes and of course got worried as we have lived there for 4 years and have started house hunting but haven't found the one yet. What if we don't find a place and a new owner wants to occupy our place - is what crossed my mind. He said don't worry this is just to find out what it appraises for, I have a # in my head and if it doesn't meet that then I wont list it. I asked him to please please let me know what he decides. The appraiser comes the following day.

8 days go by and we come with no notice from our landlord and we come home to a for sale sign in our window. Then two days later the listing comes out with pictures of our place and all of our stuff. Still nothing. The following day I am inundated by calls and texts from their agent saying they want to show the house in an hour. At first was shocked and didn't respond right away and they said if I didn't answer they would just assume it was ok to come in. My landlord texted some apologies and said that he thought I knew he was listing it since he asked to come in with an appraiser. NO - you told me you were looking for a number and you'd let me know. We've been very good tenants - only calling when an appliance breaks and have paid on time or before rent is due every month. He could've had the decency to call me before - or even on the day he was just texting me. 

So, needless to say I am not thrilled with them. Needed to vent! :) 

Thank you Nancy! I may take you up on that! We are still considering it but with less urgency as a few personal things are going on right now. It is definitely not fun to have all these people in our house for showings every day... thinking I should get some $ off my rent for being flexible with these agents. Anyone think that is realistic? I'm assuming not. The landlord has agreed (via text) to let us be month to month on our lease once it is up in May. 

Thank you Troy!!!

Jesse - My primary goal originally was just to purchase a SFH for $250k-$300k like most people we know and just live in that and start a family. Trying to keep our mortgage not too much higher than our rent now but that is unlikely. We'd most likely have and increase of at least a few hundred dollars. However, I've always watched shows like "Income Property" and wished we could do that too. Getting others to pay part of my mortgage is very intriguing. The goal would be to live in this house (other unit) if we purchase it, for the next 3-5 years. If we didn't purchase it we'd just leave eventually when we found the right house or possibly seek out some other investment MF property to live in and rent out.

I haven't talked to the landlords yet but there are 5 showings scheduled for tomorrow. I do know that there is some water damage in the house as it has showed up in our walls. There is a small backward that unit 1 (our current residence) has and if we bought that I'd want to convert it into a parking spot. Parking is very scarce and if we have a kid I do not want to be searching for spots far away. So that is another issue and something that would need some cash. 

 I'm getting mixed messages on the numbers so i'm a bit confused as to if it is a good idea or not. 

Who would be the first person to contact? My realtor, their realtor, the landlords or my mortgage broker?

Thank you everyone for their advice! I do not want to do an FHA loan because the PMI never goes away. Is it true that if you purchase a duplex you must put 15% down?

It seems like most of you do not think this is the best idea. Before this opportunity came about we were planning on buying a house and moving out of this rental anyway and our ceiling was 300k but thought we could stretch it a bit for a good deal/to stay where we are with the upgrade of moving to the other, bigger nicer unit/and have the supplemental income for not so much work. Wishful thinking?

There is a possibility we could get the house for less - it just went on the market. Perhaps if it doesn't sell for a bit we'd have some wiggle room. 

I used a different mortgage calculator that includes tax, PMI, etc and got the following numbers - a higher monthly payment.

Thanks all!

Loan Information

Monthly Payment Information

hi all,

I'm new here and seeking some advice. My husband and I, both 33 without kids yet, have lived in a rental unit of a house with one other rental unit for the last 4 years. The owner has just put the house up for sale and we are considering purchasing the house to live in the other, larger unit upstairs and rent out the unit we currently live in, managing it ourselves. The house is for sale for $320,000. We've paid $1230 for rent since we moved in so we think that it could rent for higher especially with some upgrades and repairs. The other unit rents for $1300 but has a lot more space (extra half bath and extra bedroom). I think the owner could've gotten more.  

We haven't met with our realtor or mortgage broker about it yet but if we put $25k down and got a conventional loan of $295k our payment would be roughly 1800/month (using a mortgage calculator). This would be over 5% down which is what we've been told we would need. 

Thinking with the 50% rule (I learned about here today) and we rented the unit for 1300, we would basically be able to pay our new mortgage with the added income for about what we currently pay for rent now, while upgrading to the bigger unit. $1300/2=$650. Payment of $1800-650=$1150, which is $80 less than what we pay for rent now. 

Does this sound correct? What am I missing? Taxes are about $4500/year but I assume we'd be able to depreciate half and that isn't reflected in the mortgage calculator so maybe we'd be making more. 

We are in a popular area of Philadelphia that inhabits mostly young professionals and college students so there are a ton of renters. Eventually we would plan to move and rent out both units. 

I appreciate any advice or help as to what else I need in my calculations and if this sounds like a good plan. 

Thank you in advance!

Jordyn