All Forum Posts by: Josh Castellanos

@Cesar Guevara Congrats Cesar! Looks like a successful flip.

@Jacky Hung hey Jacky, I was in a similar situation like you for both my rental properties (also located in CA) and saved so much by getting landlord policies (aka rental policies) with travelers I would totally recommend getting a quote from them.

@Bill Keeth Hey Bill, 2 of the properties I own are condos and I still am able to cash flow on both of my condo rentals which are located in Los Angeles county. It's all about crunching the numbers and analyzing the deal with all the expenses including the HOA dues (and sometime special assessments).

As one poster mentioned it's critical if you do own a a property with an HOA you are actively involved in showing up to the meetings to show you are an owner that actually cares. Trust me it goes a long way in your community for the very few owners that do attend the HOA meetings.

Best of luck!

@Nicholas Garcia Hi nick, rates are still on the low side of things and like Andrew mentioned you are most likely paying PMI on your current mortgage so now would be a good time to look into a refi pulling out some of the cash you want while eliminating the PMI you are currently paying now.

Happy to answer further questions or assist, send me a DM.

@Mary Lloyd No problem, feel free to reach out if you have any other questions pertaining to Home mortgages.

Take care!

@Yanliang Mo Both Long Beach and San Pedro have great potential just depends on the location.

Sam Pedro hangs in the balance of that redevelopment and people are banking off that when it gets completed which as you mentioned could be a while.

Downtown Long Beach has a lot more to offer in my opinion, from the beach, to the fine dining, to the night life. Sure you have your cons such as parking, issues with homeless but that kind of comes with the territory for any downtown.

I would recommend you drive to both to get a feel for the areas and see it for yourself. San Pedro and downtown Long Beach are less than 15 mins away from each other.

@Mary Lloyd this depends if you are going FHA or conventional. If FHA then credit score will play a factor on how much can be gifted, if you go Conventional (which sounds like that's how you are going with 15% down) then the whole down payment can be gifted.

Just ensure your funds are properly sourced and seasoned for 60 days as some lenders require to source and season gift funds from the donor.

@Mary Lloyd There are many variables when determining the post possible option.

How is your parents income / debt? That could play a huge factor as well where you would have to co sign assuming you have good income to go along with theirs.

If you do end up co signing for the loan make sure that they pay the mortgage out of their own bank account and it is in their name. If you ever purchase another property in the future you can have that mortgage omitted from your ratios as long as you are able to show 12 consecutive months that the mortgage is paid sole from your parent’s account.

@Gloria R Lowen Great to hear the project is back on track! Best of luck on the project Gloria.

By the way, I’m always looking for a trusty contractor to help with my projects. If you don’t mind are you able to send me some information on the new contractor you are using?

Thank you!

@Kendenn Rose Hey Kendenn, pleasure you meet you! There’s a local real estate meet up in the San Fernando Valley that meets every other Wednesday. We have a meet up this Wednesday in Sherman Oaks. If you are interested send me a DM.