All Forum Posts by: Karah Collins

@Ethan Martin

Seconding Penfed. Up to 80% LTV on investment properties. However, I believe the HELOC is only offered if you own 3 properties or less in your name.

@Tara Sullivan

New York

@Nick C.

It’s so funny when someone repeats back what you’ve said and it sounds ridiculous. I recognize how crazy that whole explanation sounded now when analyzing with clearer eyes. As they say, can’t make sense of nonsense.

I think the lesson out of this is to insist on at least some strategies to minimize my own risk. The good thing about off market deals is that the contracts can be negotiated with ease. Thanks for your thoughts!

@Tara Sullivan

Thank you for your thoughts on this. I always believed that a good contractor could see the state of disrepair and give an estimate. I totally agree with paying for walkthroughs! When I think about it from my own perspective, I value my own time and only want to work with contractors who value theirs.

I think between that and an inspection which would expose any capex items needing repair, I could get a a ballpark figure.

Hi all! Would love to hear your perspectives on this.

I am thinking of taking a deal from a wholesaler and this would be my first wholesale deal in addition to first time using hard money.

I’ve only viewed the property via photos and when I asked whether I could coordinate a contractor walkthrough to get his estimate on repair costs, was told this could be difficult because the current owner had been burned by a wholesaler before.

Part of the wholesale contract has a provision for a full inspection. While this is good to establish a scope of work, it does not establish the price of said work. IMO the repair estimate of a wholesaler without a construction background could deviate significantly from the actual cost.

What would you all do?

@Keith R Henry

Fannie Mae Homestyle Reno loan is an example of this FYI.

@Keith R Henry

I'm in the process of buying an REO.

Though the home needs some love it is by no means uninhabitable. However by virtue of it being an REO my lender recommended a conventional reno loan due to the concerns you mentioned about liveability.

Part of the loan allows you to get a contractor estimate for big ticket items that would bring the home to a habitable condition. You can finance the cost of these items into the loan. Would suggest this for large repairs/CapEx items and then weighing the advantage of addressing the small repairs outside of the loan. As you know, contractors are expensive and you can wind up getting quoted hundreds of dollars for things like changing cabinet handles.

This loan definitely is not the quickest to close and will require more paperwork/a reputable contractor who has licenses and doesn’t mind getting paid by the escrow account in draws.

I'm curious as to whether anyone else has any solution to this REO issue other than hard money.

@Laura Sullivan

May I ask how this situation worked out? Currently looking into getting a natural gas line in Ulster County and they are also giving me smoke and mirrors in regards to timeline.

I will be closing while the weather is above freezing so hopefully this doesn’t hold the process up too much. Were you able to stay within 9k? I’m being quoted something similar and was surprised at first.

From what I gathered from the rebate page, if you use one of their approved contractors they will give you a rebate for up to $4500 for digging the line.

Do any of you using FB Marketplace have any apprehension about potential future tenants being able to contact you via social media?

I know that some landlords here prefer to remain anonymous and go strictly through a PM. Even if one plans to self manage, the ability of tenants to easily contact me on social media brings me a bit of anxiety.

@Brian Ellis

Also in reference to 401k. It’s traditionally “bad form” to pull from retirement accounts but imo this assumes the economy is in great shape and that you’re missing out on market gains while utilizing the cash elsewhere.

If you can set a tight timeline to pay the $$$ back, I say why not. To my knowledge (which could be wrong), you will be paying the loan back with pretax dollars and will only be double taxed on the interest. If you pay back the loan super quickly, this dollar amount is usually a couple hundred dollars max depending on your tax bracket.

I definitely did something similar to you very recently, and while I would not shout it from the rooftops as best practice, I feel good about my decision and feel I was well informed when making it.