All Forum Posts by: Kyle Deutschmann

@Alex Tabarini hey Alex, welcome to the Baltimore area, and yes depending on your financial situation you could likely borrow against one property to use towards buying another

@James Melby hey James, I also started out by house hacking using a low down payment conventional loan and think it’s a fantastic way to start. Ive found the same as @Sam Lewis - it’s hard to find a good multi family property but depending on where you look you might be able to find a single family with an in-law suite, basement with a separate entrance, or spare rooms that you could rent out.

@Sully Saez I have one, but I’m not a lawyer so I can’t say it’s 100% perfect. You could try reaching out to @Kirk Gore to see if he can help with drafting a lease

@Ugin Rapoport as others have said, the application for a conventional residential mortgage loan is going to look the same from lender to lender.

In terms of comparing lenders, other than ensuring the lender offers a competitive rate, I’d recommend finding a loan officer (along with a realtor) who owns investment properties themselves as they will generally understand a little better what you’re looking for and can provide useful advice as you analyze and close on your next property. Id also check out their reviews online - just because someones offering an 1/8th of a percent less might not be worth it if they’re going to close two weeks late and risk you losing your earnest money.

@Tea Russell welcome to BP! I’m also a UMD alum and have house hacked in both College Park and Baltimore and definitely recommend that strategy to get started. Best of luck!

@Mario Casarez hey Mario, Id agree with @Paul Welden - HomeStyle is a great renovation loan program (and is still available) to jumpstart your BRRR investing, but it really depends on a few factors to determine which loan option is best between Homestyle, 203k, hard money, etc.

For example, if you’re buying a single family property and are eligible for homestyle it’s generally a bit of an easier process than 203k and generally better rates than hard money, but there are always trade offs and certain situations may call for a different loan program. Id definitely recommend finding both a good agent and a good lender familiar with rehabs to help determine what loan option suits the situation best.

It's not impossible to get a conventional loan on an investment property (I have a client closing on one in like 2 weeks), but the new regulations have certainly made it a little more difficult and have caused a lot of lenders to increase rates/points on investment properties and second homes to reduce the volume they are originating. 

@Michael Hooper a lot of lenders were forced to tighten up/reduce the quantity of investment property loans they are funding due to restrictions from Fannie/Freddie (see article: https://www.housingwire.com/articles/fannie-mae-tightens-standards-on-investment-properties/). That being said, it’s not impossible to do a cash out refi on an investment property, but pricing on non owner occ loans has certainly increased a bit because of this

Hey Richmond, I've house hacked in both Nashville TN and now Baltimore MD. I'd say go where you can afford to buy your first home and where the numbers make sense, whether that's NoVA, Baltimore, or some place else. You also have to consider where you want to live since you are agreeing that you intend to live in the property for at least a year when getting an owner occupied mortgage. NoVA/the DC area is certainly a nice area that will likely continue to appreciate I would guess, but it's also not affordable for many people to live there. Baltimore has plenty of nice/safe neighborhoods (despite what you'd think if you just watch The Wire..) if you know where to look. And who knows, if the government or Elon Musk ever builds that high speed rail they were talking about at one point, that could make Baltimore even more attractive for those looking for affordable housing in this region since it's one of the cheapest cities to live on the East Coast. 

Residential real estate has gone up in most markets due to people looking for bigger homes, low interest rates, low inventory, etc; however, real estate (unlike the stock market) can go up in one area and down in another. Property values and rental rates are all based on supply and demand in the area.