All Forum Posts by: Juan Nieto

Like Adam said, the association can make or break this. I have looked at many condos/townhouses that looked promising only to scrap the deal because of the association fees, quality or rules. 

Tony Fitzgerald.  Great local mortgage guy.  

srqfitz.com

If you are looking in the Sarasota area, look at Bradenton as well. Bradenton is a little less expensive. You can still find the occasional good deal. Right now distressed homes is your best shot. There is not much on the MLS that makes sense right now. If you dig enough, you can find a hidden gem.

I invest in rentals in Bradenton and am also a real estate agent.  I would echo Jaysen's comment.  The property is priced a little high, but $50k too high.  Unless you know something others don't that would cause the seller to accept an offer of 50k less.  Rent assumptions are a little high. You may be able to get it given the proximity to downtown, but I would assume a lower rent just to be cautious.

Thank you.  I guess that avenue is closed. 

I have been looking at mortgages for an investment property. I have not exhausted my options, but so far the market for these mortgages doesn't seem great. I have excellent credit, 800+ FICO. Best option I have heard so far was 5%, 20% down and 2 points. I will keep looking for other options, but as I started thinking, I recalled using a self-directed IRA to buy real estate. I have a pretty healthy IRA balance. I don't want to buy the real estate through my IRA, since my goal is to start building a portfolio to offset my current income and eventually do this full time. I was wondering, could I use a self-directed IRA to create a mortgage to myself to buy this property? Essentially, the IRA is investing in mortgages. I know there are certain arms length type restrictions. I figure I could charge myself a prime rate mortgage of between 3.635- 4%, pending prevailing market conditions. Even if I had to charge myself more, to satisfy any IRS requirements, I am okay with that since I would be paying the interest to myself. Would this hold water? Would I still be able to deduct mortgage interest since the IRA account is a separate entity from myself? I realize the big downside is if the market has a nice positive set of years, I would miss out on that in my IRA, but at the same time I am limiting my downside by essentially guaranteeing a 4% return. Also, this would only be a portion of my IRA, the rest would be invested in mutual funds.

I did $35k through Wells Fargo about 5 years ago.

We have a condo in Florida.  The neighbor next door is a chain smoker.  The smell carries over to our unit. is this an issue the association should address or do we?  Is their anything that can be done? 

Thank you so for your input.  Also, can the county utility who runs the water stick the unpaid bill on us as the owners?  Water was turned on in the tenants name.

How do you typically structure this offer?  I have a tenant I want to do this with, but I want to make sure I structure this proposal the best way possible.  My tenant is month to month.  I know I can do a 30 day notice, but I am sure she will not voluntarily move.  My cost to evict is about $750 between court and legal fees.  Thinking about this situation, if I were to give 30 day notice and they stop paying, they will make it go to court.  This means, I will be out two month rent plus the cost of eviction.  I figure that is my worst case is 2 months rent & eviction costs.  How much do you all typically offer with cash for keys.  I was thinking a few hundred, but given my worst case, offering one month rent + a few hundred bucks.   

A little background on the tenant.  She lost her job a while back.  I tried to evict, but she challenged it and caught up on rent.   She has been paying on time since, but I recently had some work done there and my handyman told me they don't have water.  Nothing to do with pipes, simply they have not paid their water bill for some time.   Also, from his assessment the place needs a lot of work.  They have not trashed it, but they do not care for the place and it is looking rough.   Also, we found out there are termites.  I would rather get them out tent the place and fix the place up. 

Thank you all in advance.

Juan