All Forum Posts by: Justin Phillips

@Kitty Horeis I'm a big fan of Helocs, because you're not signing yourself up for 30 more years of higher, interest-first payments on day one. Helocs also allow your funds to be much more dynamic, as your money is always working for you. My wife and I have a very specialized 1st position Heloc on our property that's tied to a zero-balance-sweep checking account. All of our normal banking deposits/savings sit on our balance, saving us a great deal of interest. Whenever an opportunity arises, we simply write a check or ACH transfer out and put that equity to work. Being designed to sit in 1st position, it has the staying power more similar to that of a traditional mortgage. I always recommend it to anyone who's good with their money, it's been an awesome tool for us. 

@Jon Licht You bet, I'll shoot you a message now. 

@Account Closed A Heloc is a great way to access equity without paying for it day 1, and increasing your long-term flexibility. My wife and I opted to ReFi our previous primary into a very specialized 1st position Heloc before we turned it into a rental. This allowed us to have access to equity, without paying for it day 1 when we didn't have our next deal line up. Our Heloc is tied to a zero balance sweep checking account, so all our idle deposits and savings sit on our balance, where they save us a nice chunk of interest until we deploy that equity. It's been a great financial tool to have in our tool belt. Best of luck, and congrats on getting into the game! 

I'm a big proponent of 1st position Helocs, which is much different than a 2nd lien Heloc sitting in 1st position. Being designed to sit in first position, they have the staying power more similar to that of a traditional mortgage. Which means when the credit market tightens, it won't be frozen or converted to an amortized loan. 
My wife and I have our investment property up in Temecula on a very specialized 1st position Heloc that's tied to zero balance sweep checking account. It allows us to park idle checking/savings funds on our balance, where they save us a great deal of interest. Whenever an investment opportunity arises, we simply write a check and put that equity to use. It's been a great tool for us, I always recommend it to anyone who qualifies! 

@Danielle Jackson Raises a great point. That's why I went with a very specialized 1st position Heloc on my property. It carries the staying power of that more similar to a conventional mortgage, and I don't pay for access to equity until I'm actually ready to use it. The one I have is tied to a zero balance sweep checking account, so in the meantime I can park savings and idle banking funds on my balance, saving me a ton of interest cost. When the deals are aplenty, I'll simply start writing checks from my line. 
Best of luck, you're definitely on the right track! 

My wife and I faced the same sell/keep dilemma. We decided that keeping the property as a cash flowing rental, while retaining access to equity was the best of both worlds. We ReFi'd into a very specialized 1st position Heloc that's tied to a zero balance sweep checking account. It allows us to have access to equity, but we won't pay for it until we deploy it. Additionally with that zero balance sweep checking account, we let all of our savings and idle banking funds sit on the balance, which saves us a ton of interest. 
So far it's been a great move, and we're looking to start writing checks from our line to purchase additional properties here soon. Best of luck! 

@Chris Wilson Typically 2 years of income history (taxes) are needed in order for income to be considered. 
As far as the your other assets, you can find lenders who will allow asset depletion. Asset Depletion is basically where they give you credit for liquid assets, divided out as income. So if you have $200k in stocks and otherwise, they'd divide that over 10 years, and give you credit for an extra $1666/month in income. That can be a great means of boosting that income for DTI for max qualification.

If you can ReFi and drop PMI, that's a win. Sounds like you bought right!
I have a very specialized 1st position Heloc on my property that's tied to a zero balance sweep checking account. It's very conducive for REI because I have access to my equity, but only pay for it when I need it. I'm able to have all my regular deposits/banking dollars sit on my balance and work for me until I'm ready to put them to work.

@Greg Reese It really depends on your plan for the Corona House. Will it make a solid, cash flowing rental? 
My wife and I were in a similar predicament when we moved from Temecula to Phoenix. We decided that retaining access to our equity, while cashflowing the property as a rental was the best of both worlds. We ReFi'd into a very specialized 1st position Heloc that's tied to a zero balance sweep checking account. That sweep account lets every dollar we have work for us, while maximizing flexibility. Going forward we'll finance deals ourselves, recycling our line over the 30 year term. 
That only works if the property is a strong rental though. Best of luck! 

@Nathan Gesner I hope you got those listings ;)