All Forum Posts by: Joshua Goldberg

Yes, closing costs are super high for this area. My understanding was that the 60k offered by the FHA-lending bank was straight cash that the bank was offering as an incentive, which as I mentioned above, would cover the vast majority of closing costs. Will triple check with the bank.

Thanks for the reply, Francis. I should clarify that this will be an owner-occupied home. The bank that offered the FHA loan with the 60k rebate made clear that this would cover almost the entire amount of the closing cost. Comps seem to suggest that a refi at 80% LTV is doable, but the sample size is not huge. My thought is, even if I refi at >80% LTV, at least PMI will go away when I eventually go north of 20% equity, whereas MIP never goes away with the FHA loan. Appreciate your comments!

I just had a bid accepted for a 2 unit (zoned for 3) detached home in the Bronx, NY. There is a significant amount of work that needs to be done, including the conversion to 3 units. I'm looking for a good strategy to buy with a relatively low cash outlay, do the renovations and increase equity, and then refinance so that I'm not stuck with paying MIP.

The purchase price is around $850k, and I'm looking to put around $200k into the renovation. If I were able to put 3% instead of 20-25% down on the $850, that would obviously be a big benefit, especially if I planned to refi immediately after the renovation, so as not to pay MIP for an extended period of time. An added benefit to the FHA mortgage is that one bank offered to essentially cover all of closing costs, around 60k.

Is this a solid strategy?  Am I missing anything here?  Thanks in advance for your responses!

Thanks for the response, @Jerry Padilla!

Hello all,

Long time lurker, here.

I'm looking to purchase an owner-occupied (me+and the gf) tri or 4-plex in the San Diego area, and I am hoping to do multiple deals in the next year or two. I'm pretty bullish on the rental market here.

Now the question is, how do I want to finance these projects.. I'm weighing different 1,2 combinations of FHA, Conventional, and ARM. My question is - would it be prudent to finance a triplex/4plex with and FHA loan, and then use an ARM for the next?

I was thinking that, for the first few years, the rental income from the 2nd place could be diverted to build enough equity in the 1st to refi out of FHA. My thinking is, the ARM on the 2nd place would keep payments to a minimum for the first few years, and I'll always have the option to refi out of that later down the line (if and when payments go up)..

What are the flaws in my thinking??

Thanks for your help!

And thanks again for your response @Mehran K.

@Paul Timmins thanks for your response! I've been tearing through the BP resources and I'm really impressed with how fundamental yet comprehensive these guides and tutorials are. Looking forward to my first San Diego Investment Club meeting this Thursday in Del Mar, San Diego. If anyone reading this post is also attending, I would love to meet up and chat afterwards!

Arghh I'm posting on my phone and I'm not sure how to tag other people in my post!

Thanks for your reply @mehran kamari. I have a bit of reno/rehab experience - the landlord of my old frat house in college had me help out with repairs around the house (being a frat house, there were many). That experience got me excited about rehab projects as well as buy/hold strategies.

I hope to pick up a small single family unit in my neighborhood with some money I have saved up. My first choice would be to flip it, but if I cannot sell, I would be happy to rent (from my own experience, I've noticed the rental market is HOT in my area and others in the SD metro area).

As I've heard many times before, ROI is made and lost in the buying process. With that in mind, I'm keeping my eyes open on the internet and on the streets to find the right place.

Hi,

My name is Josh. I recently moved to San Diego, CA and I wanted to reach out to any and all real estate investors in the area to build my network. I am looking to break into the industry by building relationships and possibly obtaining an apprenticeship/internship with an established RE investor. Please PM me if you have any advice for a newbie like myself, or if you would like to grab coffee and discuss the market in the North Park/University Heights area.

Thanks!