All Forum Posts by: Kaydn Jensen

Hey BP,

I recently purchased my first rental, a house hack duplex. I have great renters and was able to buy the house with cash. Now I'm ready to pull out my equity and I hope to move onto a BRRRR. Before I dive in I'm attempting to get my ducks in a row.

I have a question about the refinance stage of the BRRRR strategy. I'm familiar with traditional loans and the income thresholds as well as credit requirements. In a BRRRR refinance, does the lender typically approve the loan based on the rental income or is it still based on the borrowers personal income? My concern being that I am a full time college student and don't have a lot of income is that I won't be able to support two liens on my current duplex and another property.

Thanks in advance for any advice and information you have on refinancing! 

Guys, thanks for the advice, I've read up a lot on the options but what I really wanted was a perspective of an investor because most of the info outside of BP is based on conventional home owners using Refi's to save money and HELOCS to do home repairs. I like the idea of a fixed rate HELOC I will look more into that option!

Hey BP, Thanks to BiggerPockets I have recently made my first purchase. It’s a duplex where according to my numbers I will be able to live for free if the home is on a regular 30 year mortgage. I already have a great renter and things are going well. Here’s my situation and where I hope I can get advice from some of the smarter and more experienced people than me on here. I was fortunate enough to be able to pay cash for the home and now I am looking to free my cash up to move on to another rental. Would you recommend taking out a HELOC or doing a Cash Out Refi on the property? My estimate is that I paid more or less 90 cents on the dollar for the property so I got a small discount on the property and have some additional equity there. I appreciate your advice In advance!

Thanks everyone for your replies. The videos and other resources here are great to understand how to initially analyze a deal but this gives me a better idea of how to plan for expenses long term. I like the advice to make repairs in years where tax liability is higher. That’s something I hadn’t thought of. Thanks again!

Hey BP, 

I had a question on saving for expenses. I understand from the podcast and reading how important it is to account and save for Vacancy, Repairs, and CapEx Expenditures in Buy and Hold Rentals. The BP calculators suggest saving a percentage of the monthly rent for these future costs. My question is if there ever comes a time when the savings are compiled enough to where it's no longer necessary to take out this percentage of rent any longer. I understand this might be relative to the property and market but is there a limit where you feel comfortable with no longer taking the savings out during the life of the rental? Thanks for the responses in advance!

That’s excellent advice, thank you! I just finished reading David Greene’s book on out of state real estate investing that was all about building a team to be your eyes and ears so that’s definitely the plan. I’ve been told to read Jay Scott’s book about 4 times now so I think that’s gotta he my next step! Thanks again!

Great that helps a lot. Thanks for your input!

Hey BP, I wanted to reach out and pick the BP brain on the BRRRR strategy. I understand the basics (or at least I think I do). Buy an undervalued propert, rehab it, force some appreciation and then refinance for 75 to 80 % LTV after more or less a 6 month seasoning period. Here’s my question, for someone who doesn’t have a good eye for rehab costs or for someone who is investing out of state, how can I get a good idea of what I can expect in rehab costs? Do most people have a few contractors provide estimates before ever closing on the property or before even making an official offer? What I’m really wondering is how you can be sure the price you offer will be profitable until you can understand the scope of work needed and be able to put that into the overall calculation? I would appreciate tips on this and understanding the step by step process to a successful BRRRR! Thanks BP!

Hey Everyone, I’m no expert when it comes to anything like this but I’ve heard of a strategy in which someone will get a credit card that has zero interest for an extended period of time, let’s say a year, and has a very high credit limit, 20000 to 30000 dollars worth. They then use the credit card to pay down that portion of their mortgage. Then throughout the year they make the zero interest payments on the lump sum they paid down while they continue to pay the monthly mortgage payments. To me this makes some sense because while someone might not have an extra 20000 to pay down the principle on a mortgage, it’s more plausible to spread it out over the course of a year and pay the debt down during the no interest period on the card. I realize that this isn’t really scaleable on multiple properties but to pay off perhaps a first rental or a primary residence would this have any value or is it just another scam? I’d love to hear your opinions!

Hello, 

I wanted to get your opinion on REIPro vs List Source and any other data extraction sites you pros might recommend. I'd like to begin a direct mail marketing campaign for my first time and am trying to choose a good site to go through. 

Thanks!