All Forum Posts by: Josh Edelson

What about property management? How do you find a short-term property manager and how do you know you can trust them?

I’d say it depends on what the builder requires to hold the property for you. Do you have to pay a deposit to hold the property? What happens if rates go up 1% and you no longer want the property? Do you lose your deposit? Are you willing to to take this risk? 

If you can get your deposit back and or it’s an inconsequential amount, I say go for it. If they require like $10k down and you can’t get it back, I’d prob skip. Really depends on the builders’ stipulations. 

@Basit Siddiqi - I believe she's doing it for free. She better! And yeah, California is annoying in all their requirements. Eventually, once I can make real estate investing my main source of income, I'll probably move to a better tax state. 

@Ned Carey - Thanks for the Rec! I'll reach out and see what they say. 

Hi All!

My tax accountant sucks! She forgot to include ALL my management expenses ($32k in expenses) and now I'm making her do an amended return on my 2019 taxes. This is my second accountant in two years. She's fired!

Looking for recommendations for a solid tax accountant. I live in California, am a full-time photographer with 11 cash flow properties in the states of CA, MO, IN & SC. Please only recommend if it's someone you're currently using! Thanks!

- Josh

Good point. I guess I could start that 3 month clock now. 

Hello All!

I want to buy positive cash flow properties with 20% down, but can't qualify for conventional loans because my loans (9) are all in forbearance for another 6 months. 

I'm doing this to save up a bunch of money - effectively like a free cash-out refi. (At the end, I'll do a loan mod and stick the outstanding balances on the backs of the loans as an interest-free balloon payment)

That said, I'm missing out on TONS of opportunities to buy because I can't qualify for a conventional loan. The industry standard is that you must have all loans current and need to have made at least 3 consecutive payments on each loan you've exited forbearance on before you can qualify for conventional loans. 

Does anyone have any alternative financing suggestions? I'm looking to buy like 3-4 positive cash flow SFRs with 20% down (so 80% loans on each), but can't get a loan until I release all my forbearances! Super frustrating as I'm stockpiling money but can't spend it. 

If I buy cash, I could blow my loan on one property then wait 6 months and refi. it, but would much prefer to buy like 3-4 with 20% down if I could get a loan with a decent rate!

REPLY: Banks will not give you a loan while you are in forbearance. You'll have to wait until you are out of forbearance and have made at least 3 on-time payments of your mortgage AFTER exiting forbearance. You also will have to pay back ALL the money you've not had to pay them only when you sell, refi, or complete the loan payment. Basically it has to all be paid back, but it will only be once the entire loan is paid off. 

On a big-picture level, the entire pandemic/cares act situation has allowed for a massive equalization of prices. California, specifically San Francisco, has been incredibly inflated for a very long time whereas places in Tennessee and Texas have been undervalued for a very long time. 

This entire situation is allowing for some balancing of prices across the entire country. 

Are you not familiar with the cares act and how forbearances work? You don’t have to pay your mortgage interest taxes or insurance (if you have impounds) for the duration of the forbearance. At the end, you can do a loan modification putting the entire amount unpaid at the back of the loan as an interest free payment to be made once the loan is paid off. Effectively, it functions as a free cash/out refi. 

It does. I haven’t applied for a new loan yet. That’s the point. Do I have to wait until after I exit forbearance to get a new loan?