All Forum Posts by: Juan Carlos Castillo

@Evan L. Hey Evan! I'm in the same spot just getting started, haven't even bought my first property.

I was looking into a duplex in the Progresso village area a couple of months ago for my first property but backed out due to some unpermitted work. You should definitely drive the area though it's amazing what's going on out there. I've got some development maps from the city of you're interested.

Some of you may have seen my previous posts but anyway I've been looking at buying my first property in South Florida (Fort Lauderdale Village Area) for $225k with current rentals at $2250, and a possibility of bumping it up $2500.

Since the beginning I've gone through tons of bumps along this search. I started looking September of last year and after finally finding something I liked, my loan was denied, the broker told me to wait until March so the late payments I had made in 2015 were erased from my record.

After starting the search back up in April, I go to put an offer on a property and same thing.

Last month she said I was finally approved for a loan and to start looking again. I found this duplex in a neighborhood thats without a doubt going to appreciate (my fraternity brother is in the city's development department and has sent me redevelopment maps of the area). But when I went to do the appraisal it turns out the house only has one water meter and isn't officially a duplex like it was listed.

The mortgage broker now says we will need to open up a door between the two units and remove the kitchen from the efficiency in order to be able to continue with the loan/closing.

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I'm quickly starting to lose hope on this search and feel extremely bad for my realtor who has stuck with me since September. He believes regardless of the situation it's a great deal and I should stick it out. My parents say I should back out, take the loss for appraisal and inspection, and put my savings towards the remaining balance on my student loans. And the mortgage broker says from her pov I am entitled to be refunded my inspection and appraisal costs.

I really want the property but am worried about having to practically renovate the efficiency/in-laws den and having to find new tenants (previously the tenants stated they both wanted to renew their lease).

What should I do?...

This will be my first property, it was listed in the MLS as a duplex and zoned in multifamily. The issue is when the bank went to the an appraisal, there is only one water meter in the property and they are saying it is technically has a use code for single family, most likely meaning that the efficiency addition to the home was done unpermitted.

My realtor is talking about telling the home owner to open what is currently a permanent door and removing items from the kitchen and having them redo the appraisal/application as a SFH. What are some precautions I should take moving forward? I really like the home and want to continue, but don't want to be hit later with some random building inspection that may find faulty/out of code work.

Following

@Tim McKelvey what's is an EMD? I am a little hot headed right now but thinking it may be wise to reach out to another lender. I really want this house and don't want it to come to the point where the day before closing I have not been approved or get denied right before.

Would it be wise to maybe have an Engineer/Contractor sign a letter explaining that both professions are similar and within the same industry? (Link to said letter)

It in fact is an FHA loan, and I actually put in my resignation today, with my last day at my current company being this Friday, so definitely less than 2 weeks.

When I said I would hold off for two weeks, thats what my mortgage broker recommended I do originally when I mentioned I had a couple of companies that wanted to interview me (2 weeks ago). Early last week I presented the interview, and received their offer last thursday, which needed to be accepted by friday and the offer letter specified I needed to start by the 13th.

My closing date is the 31st of May.

So I am trying to close on my first home, and have been getting a couple of offers of employment for the past couple of months that are significantly higher pay than what I am making right now. When I first started with my realtor I was making 52k, I told my mortgage broker that I was considering accepting an offer at another firm, and she told me to tell them to wait two weeks for the start date.

I managed to get the company to hold off for two weeks, but they served me an offer letter Thursday that expired Friday for 65k with a start date for the 13th of May. I signed and told my mortgage broker this morning and she had a fit. Her biggest concern is that I am moving from a construction project management position to an entry level engineer. I told her this is common for civil engineers, but can't seem to ease her mind.

Does she have a right to be concerned? Could I lose my deposit? After all I am still working in the construction industry and will be making more money.

@Ed Beder Actually, my realtor called me yesterday and recommended i increase the rents on the 3/2 by $350/mo! 

But said he does not recommend increasing rent on the efficiency. 

Personally, I really like the current tenants of the 3/2 from the conversation I had with her Saturday and would feel bad raising the rent as she takes such good care of the property but that's good money!

@Brian Garlington

Comps are varying a lot, from $200-$400 (the $200 was a shortsale, the next one up from that was $228)