All Forum Posts by: Lisa Monnig

I've worked in HR for many years and cashing out your 401k is just never recommended - ever!  Unless your home is being foreclosed upon and even then I would recommend you try and find another avenue.  You could take a loan agains your current 401k but that max is likely $50k so not sure how much that would help you.  And when you leave your company, if the loan is not paid back you must pay the whole thing back within 30 days or it counts as a distribution.  When you leave your job, and cash out you will be taxed on the money and pay a 10% early withdrawal penalty - yikes!  I didn't read the entire thread here, so if this has been mentioned and I'm piling on then I apologize.  

When I left my job, I rolled all of my 401ks into an IRA at Vanguard (you can use any institution of course). With an IRA, you can take money out and as long as you put it ALL back in within 60 days it is considered a non-taxable event. We did this for a flip. So, you have to leave your job, roll your money over to an IRA, take the distribution, buy the property, re-fi it, and then get all of the money back into the IRA within 60 calendar days. If you can do that then maybe this is an option. Good luck!

It's cliche, but do what you love and the money will come.  I would say the same about what your major.  There is more to college then a degree.  The collegiate experience will teach you a lot about dealing with difficult people, multi-tasking, time management and so much more.  Not to mention you will expand your network of either clients or partners.  I'm not saying you can't learn these things outside of college, but the experience will be one that you will never forget.  Maybe just get your Associates Degree and move on.  It seems like you have a great start to your RE career.  Enjoy your youth and have fun!

Welcome Jason.  We are in close proximity to each other.  I might have a contact for the lower loan amount.  PM me.

I just got something in my inbox that Sherwin-Williams paint is 40% off April 21-24.  Good quality paint and on sale!

@Kyle McCorkel I agree with you. HELOC is the way to go over hard money as long as you will have enough to buy and renovate using HELOC funds. Good luck!

Welcome!  You've come to the right place.

Welcome!  To pile on, you'll find a lot of great info on BP.  Read as much as you can - blogs, other posts, books, etc.  Philly can be tricky with neighborhoods so take others up on their offers to help you understand the lay of the land.  Best of luck!

Victor,

I think a majority of us struggle with this.  We have two properties in Ewing and luckily we had the money for the down payment, but coming up with 20% on a $200k-$300k property is no easy day.  I'm hoping that someone smarter than me has some better advice for you.  All I have is this:

A.  You can partner with another investor so you only need to come up with say 50% of the down payment but you need to give up 50% of the profits/rent.  50% is better than no %.

B.  I can't believe that I'm even offering this as an option but you could take a loan agains your 401(k) if you have enough in there since you can usually take 5 years to pay that off and by that time you should have enough equity in the home to refinance.  Not a great idea but a thought.

C.  Is this a property that you can buy and domestically improve enough to build instant equity?  If so, you may have an option there.

D.  Win the lottery (unlikely).

I wish I had more for you.  Best of luck, NJ is a heck of an expensive place to buy property!

We are facing this same issue with my mother-in-law's house.  I would opt for B if you can finance/afford it.  

Good for you!  I love my Keller Williams Agent.