All Forum Posts by: Lynn Maher

Thank you @James Ihssen! Very much appreciate the positive input!

@Andrey Y. I live in the suburbs of Chicago. My kids aren't at home but have needed assistance. It's been a difficult three years. The HELOC wasn't to add to the debt it was to replace the debt. As @Account Closed pointed out it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference, tax-wise. I work as a 1099 and get taxed heavily. Oh well. It is what it is. 

Thanks!

I'm not sure if my tags are working but I will try again. 

Thank you @Wilson Churchill I appreciate your advice. 

I guess I look like a moron here. And, I understand what you say @Daniel Chang but I am one of those people who does what they say they will. So, I will heed everyone's input and pay off some debt

Thank you

@

@Account Closed yes they are taking into consideration the mortgage even though it is not in my name. Should I even worry about that now? I will look into my credit report to see what they are seeing. But, you are right also in that I may not mean much by way of a tax credit. I had an appraisal done a couple months ago that showed a 120k equity on a 300k loan. But, that has not been the case at the other banks. I'm not even sure what it is but the LTV is not enough.

Thank you so much for your input.

Thank you everyone for your input. Yes, this is personal financial advice I was seeking 

@Allen Clark, hence the personal finance forum post :)

Thank you! Very helpful. I analyzed 11 properties just last night after watching the video. I've analyzed some before but this helped explain how to "read" the numbers. 

I'm off to look at properties!

Dawn, an inspiration!

And, I appreciate the insurance tidbit. I am looking at my first property and will need insurance.

Lynn

Hello! 

I recently had an appraisal completed on my primary residence for a HELOC. While she was at my home the appraiser said she also sat on the board for property tax reviews in my town. I thought this was a conflict but the mortgage company assured me it was not. She appraised my house very high. 40k more than I expected. I was denied the loan because of debt to income ratio. Since then, I have gone to other banks and have since been denied for same reason and also because my home does not appraise high enough (they are just doing drive by and computer generated appraisals).

I have now received notice that my property taxes have been increased because the value of my home has increased. Doesn't this seem like too much of a coincidence? Can't get the loan and now have to pay more in taxes? 

Thoughts on if I should pursue fighting this?

Thanks so much!

Lynn

I have a few things going on. So much that I wasn't sure how to title this! 

First, I have too much credit debt (embarrassed to admit 50k) and wanted to obtain a HELOC to pay off and at least get a tax credit for the interest paid. I have been refused at two big banks because of high debt to income ratio even tho the reason I want the HELOC is to decrease my debt. They know this so I don't understand the rationale behind the denial. Plus, I have income. A good income (200k/year) but it's been a tough few years and I have been helping out my kids a lot. That should be dwindling down now. I should be able to pay this off without bank but it would take awhile and again I would like the tax credit.

Second, my mortgage is in my husband's name. Not mine. We shared the title and now the house  is mine as he passed three years ago. But, I just kept paying the mortgage. I paid off our second mortgage these past few years. (In hindsight should have paid minimum on that and paid of cc debt).

Third, I finally sold a piece of vacant property we had and received about 50k after fees and mortgage paid. Technically, didn't make any money on this as it sold for 3k less than we paid for it. But, now I have 50k in savings. 

What do I do now? I have been looking at multi-family properties in my area. A few I could pay cash for with a good cash flow and cash on cash ROI. A few I could put down payment on and need small loan (60-70k). Will I even qualify? Should I take the 50k and pay of credit cards and start from scratch? Feel like I've been doing that my whole life. This is the last time I will ever have a "chunk" of money like this. I am over 50 and want to get out of my job. I want to start developing some passive income and take control of my life and my money. Working 6 days a week is wearing me down mentally and physically. What's the point of life?

Maybe if I take part of the money for a down payment and part to pay off debt I can head in the right direction? What priority should I give to getting my primary mortgage in my name? Should I continue to pursue a HELOC for my primary residence?

I'd appreciate any and all advice. I've been a member here for over a year and enjoy reading the posts and listening to the podcasts. This could be a turning point for me and I want to do it right.

Thanks everyone for listening!

Sadly, you are right. So, yikes, I guess I will pay a huge amount of tax. Any ideas on avoiding or reducing this? It alters my stratagy, as well. No point in putting all of it into property.

Thanks for any advice.