All Forum Posts by: Kathryn Houk

I’m in negotiation for an REO. The listing agent informed me up front that the furnace didn’t work. He didn’t know what was wrong with it, just that it wasn’t working. I asked my lender (conventional mortgage from a bank) if that was okay. He said as long as the furnace was fixed before closing it would be fine. In the counter offer from the REO bank they clarified that no work would be allowed on the house before closing and all lender issues would need to be handled with escrow. I went back to my lender to ask if escrow was acceptable and he said no, that they only use escrow for weather related issues. He also said that they had hard and fast rules against lending on a home where the furnace didn’t work. So now my lender is saying the furnace has to be fixed before closing and the REO bank saying I’m not allowed to fix anything prior to possession. Has anyone encountered this before and know a work around? We are planning on going back to the REO bank and asking if they will let us fix the furnace and also engaging other lenders to see if they will do escrow...

Thank you all for your insight! It sounds like I shouldn’t be too worried about it!

I’m evaluating a house hack in a nice, suburban neighborhood outside of Cleveland. Its rare to find multifamily properties in this area. It’s a duplex and the numbers seem good... the only hang up is that the duplex is right next to a graveyard. I’m trying to determine how much that will matter as I put together my analysis. The view from half of the houses windows is straight at the graveyard. My plan would be to plant some trees to obstruct the view. My question is, will this impact the price I’ll be able to charge for rent? Will it impact appreciation?

Does anyone have experience with a good, affordable property manager in Cleveland, OH? More specifically in Broadview Heights. I’m on the Board of my HOA and we aren’t thrilled with our current property management company. This would be for a 12 unit condo building.

I’m working through an analysis for turning my current primary residence (a 1400 sq ft condo) into my first rental property. I currently have a 15 year mortgage and significant equity. My plan is to refinance into a 30 year mortgage and get some of that equity out so I can use it to help fund a house hack. But I’m struggling to calculate cash on cash return for the condo. Do I factor in everything I put into it over the last 5 years? (Down payment, mortgage payments, renovations, maintenance, monthly HOA fee) It seems like this is incorrect... any help would be appreciated!