All Forum Posts by: Luis Rodriguez

How much debt are you okay with at 3X rent ?

So my fiancé and I will be closing on our first home in two weeks. We bought a duplex. My realtor told us we should ask $2K for rent. He told us that we should stay around the average rent, you don't want tenants looking around and think they're overpaying. I've taken a look at what has been available and other 3BR 2 baths for $2K get snatched up pretty quickly. Most of the homes in the area are older homes. Our home was built in 2004.  The apartment offers hardwood floors through out, huge master with its own bathroom, central air, storage space, and a balcony. We're thinking of charging $2200, I put up an ad on CL and we've gotten a few replies. Currently on zillow,trulia, and CL there are no similar apartments available. Thoughts ?

What kind of income requirements do you guys follow for tenants in NYC ? Do you charge a late fee ?

For tenant screening we'll use smart move. We know NYC laws are very pro tenant so we want to make sure we get this right the first time. 

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

It's definitely not buyers remorse. We love the house.

I did a little digging and it looks like in Jan 2015 the house was changed from flood zone X to AE.

Who's job is it to disclose to us the house is in a mandatory flood zone ? 

My agent is saying we can lose our down payment if we back out. My bank is saying they never had something like his happen. Im trying to get in contact with my lawyer.

I doubt they drop this bomb on you at the end of the process.

I'll try to make a long story short here. We're in contract for a duplex in Queens, NY. My broker told us the house wouldn't need flood insurance before we made an offer. We're in the final steps before setting a closing date. We found out our mortgage was approved today and one of the conditions said that we needed flood insurance. I was already worried about the money we were spending and now this is getting to be too much. We were only able to put 5% down so the PMI is pretty high. Add on the $2776 a year for flood insurance. It feels like we're throwing a lot of money out the window. Now, no one ever told us we needed flood insurance. I did a little research online and I read about how the sellers have to disclose that the house is in a flood zone. Is that the case in NYC ? The house is in zone AE.

Thanks for the advice. We ended up passing on her. She told us she was at her job for 6 years and received $200 cash every week for marketing the office. We spoke to her manager today and was told she's been there for 9 months. The $200 dollars is an incentive if she reaches her goal.

If she's lying about things we can verify, I can't imagine what else she is lying about. PASS.

We'll be moving into a 2 family we bought in Queens in the near future. The current owners are looking to rent the place so they can get some rental income before they leave. They need our approval before moving anyone in. 

We met with a tenant that we like who makes $950 after taxes. She claims to get $200 a week in cash for marketing her office and another $1000 a month from her ex-husband for the 3 kids. Her credit is low because of student loans,her ex-husband taking out a credit card and not paying it without her knowing, and a coned bill that the tenants used under her name which she forgot to disconnect. The rent is $2000. She also has a little over $10K saved. She's willing to give us 2 months security.

I wanted to ask what are some rules NYC landlords follow when looking for a tenant ?

I dont think we're going to do it. The UFMIP is almost 13K, $650 in PMI, and 10K+ to refinance when we get to 20%, and I'm sure rates would be higher by then. It's wayyyy too much money being thrown away.

I forgot to mention its a 2 fam and in this price range it requires 10% down for a conventional.

Right. The thing with a FHA loan is you can't simply call them when you get to 20% and tell them to drop it. You have to refinance which is expensive.

My wife & I are looking to house hack in NYC. We don't have the 10% to go conventional. The thing that bothers us about the FHA loan is the origination fee and we would have to refinance to get out of paying PMI. I'm sure rates will be higher in a few years. We're about 30-35K short to go conventional. We dont have any debt so we'll pay more towards the mortgage every month. We think without appreciation we can get to 20% in 7 years or so.

Should we just do the FHA loan or get a loan to get the extra 30-35K ? How do I go about getting a personal loan ?