All Forum Posts by: Jimmy Suszynski

Hello everyone,

If I use a personal loan to buy a property with cash, what happens when I go to refinance? It has a renter in place but selling at a great discount and all the numbers would even when inflating everything in order to err on the conservative side.

If the loan payments are factored into the refinance underwriting, there is no way that the DTI ratio will work out. The payments are just too high since it is amortized over a short term.

@Adam Ramsey

That is very true, and ashamedly not something I though of.

I guess I should look more into keeping it solely in my name so the “rent” (income) at least offsets the mortgage (debt).

My mom is getting older and a two-story home is less than ideal. She rents off of another family member and somehow I'm the one who fixes everything that goes wrong at the place. I installed new flooring in entire first floor, ran gas line for her dryer and bought paint. I don't mind doing these things, she's been more than great to me.

I found the perfect place, but it turned out to be a foreclosure and I don't have the cash to buy it outright. It definitely got the creative juices flowing, however, and I believe that I can help my mother out tremendously and create a HELOC for myself in the process. Since I don't have the cash and neither does she, if we can find the right property that meets all requirements for a good BRRRR deal, I'd like to have her use the FHA 203k loan with me as a co-borrower. Once the property is in good shape, cash-out refi or just take out a HELOC on the equity. I would put down 10% or more to be able to get out of the PMI.

Rather than make money off of my mother, I'd rather her just pay the mortgage/taxes/insurance. Servicing the loan and cheaper utilities would save her $150-200 per month and I would have access to a line of credit to help me out over the next couple of years.

Does this sound absurd?

Depends on the loan size. If you have that much saved and 6 months to improve your score you should be fine. If you already have a credit card in your name, go onto your profile and update your salary information. If you use it for a couple major purchases and have never had any missed payments, they will more than likely increase your limit. That will hit the "credit utilization" mentioned above.

If you don't have a card, get one and use it for everything. Pay it off immediately to avoid interest. If the issuer knows your salary and sees the activity they will raise the limit after just a couple of months.

Hello all,

I am currently using an FHA loan to house hack a duplex. I have access to the VA loan, which I plan to use for the next house I call home.

Has anyone had success in finding homes owned by folks on the verge of downsizing or moving into senior living facilities? It is very difficult to find properties that the VA will approve that also have room for improvements to get equity.

Ideally, I would like to find a house that hasn't been updated for 15-20 years (ugly), that could maybe use an additional bedroom and bathroom so that I can gain equity quickly. I'm aware this is hard to come by, however, I feel like senior-owned homes may be a good avenue.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Pittsburgh.

Purchase price: $157,000
Cash invested: $4,500

Duplex with two 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartments. Nice neighborhood with great access to 2 interstates and bus-way to get downtown in minutes.

First floor has long-term tenant (>10 years) paying below market. I rose the rent when I took ownership, made some repairs and plan to raise another 5% next year.

Mortgage/taxes/insurance are around $1,100 per month, rents will be at $1,800 per month after I move out.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I pay the same per month now as I did renting a small 11' X 11' room in a house with 4 other people. The FHA kept my out of pocket costs up front to under $5k which left more money for improvements and down payment for my next deal.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA Loan

How did you add value to the deal?

negotiating money from seller to cover repairs. We both got quotes from contractors and I have over 5 years of experience in residential construction. I can complete the repairs for less than half of what I got from the seller.

What was the outcome?

So far, I pay about $500/month total (what's left of mortgage/taxes/insurance, savings account for the house and then my utilities) which is exactly what I paid to rent a tiny room in a house with 4 people.

Based on similar apartments very close by, the unit I'm in should bring in $1,000 per month and the downstairs will do about $800 after my next increase.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Buying a house the week before Christmas and have a laundry list of improvements/repairs to make in the middle of Pittsburgh's winter kind of sucks. There is so much I want to do but working outside at my day job makes it difficult to find time to fix things at the house while the weather is so bad.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Beth Nichols for REMax 360 was such a big help. She put me in contact with great contractors and dug deep to find the listing for this place.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Pittsburgh.

Purchase price: $157,000
Cash invested: $4,500

Duplex with two 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartments. Nice neighborhood with great access to 2 interstates and bus-way to get downtown in minutes.

I plan to revamp the upstairs unit that I am currently living in to achieve $1,000/mo. rental income when I move out. Kitchen and bathroom need a bit of updating, bedrooms are complete.
First floor has long-term tenant (>10 years) paying below market. I rose the rent when I took ownership, made some repairs and plan to raise another 5% next year.

Mortgage/taxes/insurance are around $1,100 per month, rents will be at $1,850 per month after I move out.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I pay the same per month now as I did renting a small 11' X 11' room in a house with 4 other people. The FHA kept my out of pocket costs up front to under $5k which left more money for improvements and down payment for my next deal.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA Loan

How did you add value to the deal?

negotiating money from seller to cover repairs. We both got quotes from contractors and I have over 5 years of experience in residential construction. I can complete the repairs for less than half of what I got from the seller.

What was the outcome?

So far, I pay about $500/month total (what's left of mortgage/taxes/insurance, savings account for the house and then my utilities) which is exactly what I paid to rent a tiny room in a house with 4 people.

Based on similar apartments very close by, the unit I'm in should bring in $1,000 per month and the downstairs will do about $800 after my next increase.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Buying a house the week before Christmas and have a laundry list of improvements/repairs to make in the middle of Pittsburgh's winter kind of sucks. There is so much I want to do but working outside at my day job makes it difficult to find time to fix things at the house while the weather is so bad.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Beth Nichols for REMax 360 was such a big help. She put me in contact with great contractors and dug deep to find the listing for this place.

I am a 29 yr old living in the Pittsburgh area. I am interested in building a rental portfolio in creative ways since I just finished school and do not have a large bankroll to finance cash purchases (yet).

I have flipped two single-family houses with a partner in the past. I used those proceeds to get through school with no student loans. I am under contract on a duplex (2,1;2,1) that will be my residence for the time being. The rental income will cover the mortgage, I will be paying the taxes and building a working-capital account for the property (instead of paying rent).

I am intrigued by the BRRRR method and am looking hard into finding a way to get started there.