All Forum Posts by: Kevin Luttrell

Hey Dylan, I'm a mortgage banker. For Conventional financing, your mortgage banker/officer will run your file through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac's automated underwriting system. Those findings determine whether or not the appraisal can be waived, so it's not up to the individual lenders. Any lender can have a policy where they always require an appraisal no matter what (this would be called an "overlay", since they have an additional requirement beyond what's required by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac), but generally speaking if one lender can offer an appraisal waiver any other lender could too. Ask you broker about this. 

Another thought is that the 15-20 day turn time seems quite unrealistic. Maybe in a slow market that would be feasible, but with how low rates are right now and how busy it is in the industry, I would expect at least 30 days for closing regardless of what your loan officer says. Especially for a broker, since you're dealing with a middle-man which naturally makes the process longer as opposed to working with a direct lender. 

Last piece of advice is to ask the lender you're currently working with if they can renegotiate the pricing. Usually when a lender locks in your pricing, it can't be changed. However when there is a large swing in interest rates (like we've seen in the last month) sometimes lenders are willing to "float down" your rate to keep your business. Not always, but you can ask. 

Thanks Josh, really appreciate the advice. Guess I'll just have to dive in on the out-of-state approach and accept the additional risks. 

Hi All,

I'm just starting my real estate investment journey. I don't have too much experience yet, but I've been a mortgage banker for some time so I have a decent base knowledge. 

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on investing in southern California (I'm in Orange County). The rent/price ratios are terrible and so far it seems like even if I can find the perfect BRRRR deal, the rent will barely cover the PITI (at least for SFR). So right now I'm trying to search for 3-4 units in LA and Orange county, but does anyone have any other areas they would suggest I search in? I'm really willing to look anywhere in SoCal.

Also, any advice on long-distance investing would be great as well. I'm beginning to think that would be my best option and I'm searching around the country for good areas to buy in. I feel comfortable finding a good realtor and property management company in an out-of-state area, but I'm definitely nervous about buying a fixer-upper and trusting a local contractor to rehab it. Anyone have experience with this? Any advice? 

Thanks in advance for your help!!