All Forum Posts by: Justin Phillip

great advice @shain . thank you!

@Terrell Garren

Great point. Thanks for the input !

@Justin Phillip

The only verification I have now is a cleared background check, credit check, and copy of ID.

@Anthony Wick

Thanks for your input. They’ll sign the lease and can pay the deposit via check or online transfer. They’re moving because of a job transfer. I think Skyping or Face timing then would be a good idea.

I’ve just completed the rehab on a property and started taking rental applications.

I’ve received an application via Zillow (with their credit/background check), and received what appears to be a very qualified application from someone out of state who is planning to move in next week.

I’ve never agreed to a lease in the past without meeting the tenant face to face, and naturally have concerns.

Am I being overly paranoid? Have any of you done this and what recommendations would you have?

Background check came back clear and the credit was acceptable. I was thinking of requiring a notary for the lease agreement (if I decide to accept them prior to meeting face to face.) They are very anxious to confirm the leasing ASAP to ensure they will get the house (in Austin,TX), and their “aggressiveness” has got me a little concerned.

*aggressive is not the right word. They’re just really on top of it and want to secure my rental.

@Jon Hinson , following up on this. Did you end up finding a lender to offer the fha construction loan?

Thanks everyone for your input. Next step is to find a competent and trusted CPA :)

Hi everyone, I’d like to run a question by our community:

I purchased a home 2 years ago with a FHA loan. About 15 months later, we bought another home with a primary mortgage and moved to that new home. The first house was converted into a STR (AirBnB).

I know that to qualify for the tax free gains with a primary home sale, I have to live in the property for 2 of the last 5 years.

In the near future, we are considering moving back to the first home to fulfill the 2 years and take advantage of that tax exemption.

My question, how do you indicate and prove your primary home? When we initially bought our first home, it became our homestead (TX) and we haven’t had a chance to change that yet (so it shows as our homestead for 2 years). If and when we move back to that first, what measures should we take to ensure and record that we are moving back to that home as our primary residence?

TLDR: how do the tax authorizes validate that the property you are claiming was indeed your primary for 2 of the last 5 years?

@Nicholas Covington @Daniel Kong . thanks for your feedback!! It’s new info to me and has been helpful. 

Hi everyone, I’m considering to use a hard money lender for the first time in a deal. Of course, the eventual plan is to refinance the home as soon as possible through a traditional mortgage, to reduce the excessive amount of costs with high interest rates from hml. The property itself does not need major work, and once it has been acquired through hml, I should be able to immediately start the refinancing process.

While I am leaning towards using hml, I have not counted out the option of paying the acquisition cost in cash myself. In further exploring this route though, the mortgage officer I’m working with mentioned that while they may be able to refi up to 90% (or maybe even all) of the balance I have borrowed from hml, if I instead choose to acquire the property with my own cash (no hml), then the max amount they are able to cash out (refi) to me is 75% of property value.

Can anyone explain to me why this is? It seems to me that regardless of whether I acquired the property with all of my own cash OR use hml, the [refinancing] traditional lender should be willing to lend me the same percentage of property value.

Thanks in advance for your advice and input!!