All Forum Posts by: Forrest Hayashi

@Forrest Hayashi the answer here is that only lenders that are investor friendly will allow you to refinance in less than 6 months.  And yes, you can absolutely refinance in less than 6 months.  Others might stumble across this post so I'll address a couple of things for the others who might be here and then provide some solutions here as well.

Generally speaking there are 2 main types of loans for investors: “Conventional” and “Portfolio”

Conventional - I'll define these as loans that come from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (if you recognize those names). These loans are all 30 year fixed rate loans. They have the lowest rates we can find and since they are 30 year fixed...they allow us to cash flow better...which helps us qualify for other loans later. The draw back to these loans is that they are more paperwork heavy than the other "portfolio" types of loans....but if you have ever received a loan on your primary home, it's likely that you will go through the same type of paperwork here with conventional lending. Fannie/Freddie money = Fannie/Freddie rules. NOT the bank's own money.

Portfolio - I'll define these loans as loans that come from the bank's own "portfolio" of money. Sometimes referred to as "commercial" loans. These loans are a lot more flexible than "conventional" loans. Bank's money = Bank's rules. If they like you, then maybe they will lend to you. But since there is a limit to how much money the bank has access to....their rate will be higher...and usually a shorter term. The most common portfolio style loan in Texas is a 20 year adjustable rate loan. These loans are easier to get but the terms are different.

So the conventional loans will have the "set restrictions" on refinance an all cash purchase but a portfolio loan may not.  Now, don't get me wrong - not all portfolio lenders will even lend to residential real estate.  But the ones that we work with usually don't have any waiting.  So how do you find those?  I wrote an entire post about it for Bigger Pockets you can find HERE. 

But can you refinance with a conventional loan in less than 6 months?  Yes, absolutely!  I wrote an article about that subject that you can find HERE. 

I hope that some of this makes sense but feel free to ask anything else if you need.  Thanks!

 If you bought the home all cash then there's a good chance you'll qualify for delayed financing.  Fannie Mae will refinance your property based on new value after day 1.

Get with a broker or loan officer that has experience in this area.

I hope this helps.

You should look up the current rental license and see if it's for 1 or 2 units. Philly has a 'use it or lose it' rule for variances where if you stop using the property in accordance with the variance for 3 years it's gone. 

If the rental license is good for 2 units and there are no open violations I wouldn't be concerned. If the rental license only shows 1 unit or there are open violations I would worry about a variance and CO requirement that could be an administrative headache. 

@Lenn Lin you should be ok, just get the rental license for two units right away. This happened to me.

@Chad C. for properties outside of Philadelphia county with lower assessed values it could be worth the expense but all depends on when it was last assessed. I've often advised investors to consider this before closing on a deal in their personal name as title will need a couple days to do a bringdown before closing.