All Forum Posts by: Kerry Baird

Interesting.  We will have to watch this space and see if there is a tangible benefit to be found for all affected people.  Reducing paperwork won't do much for most of us.  Hope they do better than just that.  Thanks for posting!

Welcome to BP!  There are a lot of different aspects to investing, as you may know.  I have gotten a lot out of listening to the podcasts while I drive, and then I often order the business or real estate book that the guests recommend. 

From this side of things, what interests you?  Buying your first property to live in, and renting out rooms is a great way to cut back on costs and if you set that money aside, it will grow and become down payment funds for a future purchase.  

We were military and stationed in Europe for many years.  It seems to me that your favorite title company would be the best resource for solving a lot of your closing processes.  So much can be automated, as you know. 

I'm going to put a word in for living abroad...and I can't think of a more beautiful place than NZ.  I thought that I could wholesale while in England, but the banks hold the deeds, so I couldn't do sub2, which was my bread-and-butter for a season.  Money was expensive over there and at the time, I didn't know how to get hard money to do rehabs.  So I ended up finding houses to buy near bases in the US, and settled on doing LTRs in Texas.  

Add in unexpected rising expenses, particularly insurance.  Not just the monthly cost of insurance, but some of the oddities I've seen this year.

About 2 years ago I bought a house near the ocean, which had a barrel-tile roof. In looking to get better rates, I had an insurance company give me a quote.  They said I needed to replace the roof, not because of the age of the tiles, but because of the age of the underlayment.  Even to sell the house, the house would need a new roof so that the buyer doesn't have insurance issues.

The tiles were around 20 years old with about 20 years of "life" but the underlayment was 15 years, so it had to go. I paid $70k for a new metal roof (big house, near the ocean) this month. How long would it take for my STR income to pay for $70k in roof replacement? Yikes.

I got red tagged for using an handyman and not a licensed repairman when I started doing some renovations in Florida, and learned that each municipality has its own rules of engagement, ordinances, building inspector and so forth. Once I had the right person to speak with, things went much better, and I hope that is the case for your situation, too.  Often the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing, so to speak.  An example is that I had a building inspector come by recently, following the fire inspector, in the same municipality.  One said I needed one type of exit light, while the other said the municipality couldn’t make me do that kind of thing and I could go with a different cheaper option.  

Are you changing the use from a single family to a multifamily? I get that you are adding a floor, but are you adding another kitchen? On my lot where I live, I can have as many kitchens as I want (not sure why I would have extras) and can build a tower, but they won't let me build an ADU for my mom unless it is connected to the main house. Once you get the right person on the phone, things will resolve. I'm sure you have found out more in the hours since you posted.

I did look to see that in Jersey City people must apply online rather than in person, and there is a page with “What I can do with my residential property?”  What can I do?   Perhaps you are in a different municipality, and can find similar guidance online.

@Jesse Rivera, I have also never heard of that product.  Going off to research now.  :D

@Henry Lazerow you tickled my brain with your Lightstream comment.  I'd forgotten about that type of loan.  And @Jesse Rivera, I did not know there was a low-doc or bank statement HELOC. That is interesting! Thanks for posting that nugget.

Your situation is so difficult, and the best plan is to get financing before we need it. 

It is so much easier to get a HELOC or second mortgage on a primary residence, and much more difficult and expensive to get one on a rental house. Conventional lending requires tax returns, good FICO and reasonable DTI.

DSCR mortgages are a business purpose lending that does not look at DTI. You might also consider private money loans, local lenders and so forth.

My local municipality is changing ordinances to be far more restrictive, and I notice a number of houses up for sale that were STRs.  It is the snowbird season in Florida, so it is a reasonable time to catch attention of those buyers.  

That was a fun read.  I am amazed to see she drew sketches on napkins and took the vision all the way to fruition.  I’m guessing we have all imagined living in a Hobbit house…amazing that she actually built one.