All Forum Posts by: Joshua Easters

@Account Closed Great, thanks for the info! Sounds like that worked out well.

Thank you @Jorge Quintero and @Account Closed! Bill, I worded that section of my initial question incorrectly. I meant second home in the sense that it will be the second home I own, but I will be claiming it as my primary residence. Thanks for the tips. My primary concern was in utilizing the HELOC for down payment, but it sounds like that will probably work. I was also working under the assumption that I would need 20% down, and was worried about utilizing the full $35k HELOC and adding $25k from savings on top of that, but if lower down payment financing is a viable option even while still holding another mortgage, it sounds like that would be the way to go.

I have put a large percentage of income into my 401k the last few years for the tax advantage, so I can use that account to show a reserve fund, but wanted to stay away from touching that money as far as the purchase of the home goes.

I appreciate all of the info!

Hi Everyone,

I am going to be in the market for a home in Tampa, FL early 2018. I own a home in Ruskin, FL that I am currently renting out. I owe $40k on the home in Ruskin with a mortgage payment of $700. After buying the Ruskin home for $56k, I put $20k into it, and currently rent it to long-term renters at $1,300 monthly. I recently had it appraised by a bank, and the appraisal came out at $160k.

My current annual income is at around $115,000. I have a $450/month car payment, minimal credit card debt, and a high credit score. I also have an untapped $35k HELOC on the rental house ready to use if needed. This could potentially be expanded given the appraised value of the home. I currently rent a home in the neighborhood I want to buy in, and when my lease is up in April, I would like to purchase a primary residence in that area.

My main objective is to purchase my primary residence without needing to sell the Ruskin house, which has become a nice passive income generator. Does anyone have any insight on what difficulty I might have in securing financing due to the fact I will be purchasing as second home (thought it will be my primary residence)? I could use the $35k HELOC on a down payment, but I am not sure what implications that might have in the financing process as well. I could potentially add between $5k and $10k to the down payment from savings, but would want to limit that as much as possible. I am looking at homes in the $250k to $350k range.

Any insight you might have as I approach this goal in 2018 would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much!

@Adrian Smude @Gavin Welch @Account Closed

Thanks so much for the info!

Hi Bigger Pockets Community,

I am looking for any wisdom you all might have for someone starting down the path of real estate investing.

I currently own one rental house that I bought when the Tampa market was extremely low. It is a historic house that I did a full reno on, and now have about $140,000 in equity on that property. It currently rents with a positive cash flow, and I have been channeling all of the profits from the rents into principal pay down on the property.

Additionally, a couple years ago I purchased 2 off-market lots outright by direct mail. I am selling those at just over double what I paid for them, and am set to close this week. They are paying $10k down and I am owner financing the balance over 4 years.

I am looking to reinvest some of those profits, and I would like to add some type of buy/hold rental property this year, either SFR or multi-family. I am currently looking most seriously at the Lakeland market as it seems to be a bit easier to get into that the Tampa/St. Pete markets are at the moment. Additionally, Lakeland seems to be an excellent place to own rentals due to the 2 college campuses that are in town.

I am interested to know if anyone has any input or preference on Central Florida markets right now for buy and hold rents. From a financial perspective, would you recommend that I go ahead and cash out the home equity in my existing rental property, or try for a place that will work with conventional financing? My long term goal is to build a solid portfolio of buy and hold rentals. Any wisdom you all can give as far as what to look out for, or any information specific to the Central Florida markets would be much appreciated.

Thank you all so much!

Josh

@Dave Foster @Bill Exeter @Christopher Phillips

Great! Thank you all for the information! You guys have been very helpful. :-)

@Christopher Phillips

Got it, thank you!

Hi Everyone!

A few years ago, I purchased 2 vacant lots outright for a total of $24,000. I am now selling them and set to close this week at a sale price of $50,000. I would like to reinvest that money into a rental this year to avoid capital gains, but am curious as to how that should be structured. If I buy a rental, I am going to set up an LLC and run the purchase and business aspect through that. If the LLC buys the rental, how could I properly use the gains from the lots which I owned personally to buy through the LLC to qualify as 1031?

Thank you!