All Forum Posts by: Manuel Llanas

I got a townhouse back in 2020, a month before covid had struck. $175,000 when I got it, I currently have $151,000 left. I had recently renovated and added new appliances and have the 2b1.5b for $1,670 ($,1600 per month plus $35 per pet fee). It cash flows about $348.17 per month. After HOA/insurance/mortgage/hemlane fees. My problem is my VA loan benefit is stuck to this townhouse. I could sell the property and focus on getting a 4plex with that benefit. But my downside is my debt and lack of a job at the moment. It is taking me a bit of a while to find a job in my new place and the property is maintaining my debt. If i sell the property, I can clear my debt and my VA disability pay will grow my income as I look for work. Or, i keep the property and continue looking for work, and manage debt each month with the profit + va disability pay. Since the peoperty is in a 1 year lease, i cannot sell it to a veteran, until that lease is up.

Thanks, but I'll be holding onto this property for a little bit. I will eventually sell it. The 1 year lease is keeping me from doing that. I want to sell this property to a veteran, so they can assume my loan and I free up my VA loan for getting another property. The 3.25% should be very enticing to veterans. Since they'll assume that APR. But they can only do that if they live in the property itself.

There is now a bit of a problem that I have been dealing with. I talked with my real estate agent and she said that the value of my townhouse is 250k. I paid an appraiser and he valued it at 276k. But he had to go to other towns that were more than 30 minutes away. Fortuna has very few townhouses and the market mostly shows houses for sale or apartments for rent. The Lowest valued property in fortuna is 299k a 2 bed 1 bath and needs a bit of renovation. I had originally wanted to sell this townhouse. but the values that the agent and appraiser gave, seems off. So, I put the place up for rent for $1,600 per month with a $35 per pet fee. now it is making me $1,670 per month. mortgage at around $982 per month, hoa $98 per month, Landlord insurance is insane, given the fires in california. I'm looking at $178 per month. yet, I am still making income. I will eventually turn this place into a midterm rental with full furnishings. The Hospital nearby will make this property valuable and will rent for more. Though, I will need to be active. Has anyone come across a unique situation. with a property potentially being undervalued, due to a lack of similar properties around the neighborhood? 

Thanks, I honestly have 0 experience in regards to decor and I was winging it with getting advice from the handyman. my original thought was to give the back splash a dove Grey color subway tile setup. but this one is definitely better looking. the epoxy finish to the countertop is quite a nice fit to it. though, I'm not expecting it to last that long. but the property will profit. mortgage is at $981 per month. if I rent it for $1,600 per month 12 month lease. I think it will do well. at least until I can turn it into a midterm rental.

I just recently finished a renovation on my townhouse. it is a 2 bedroom 1.5 bathroom, has a carport for 2 vehicles. HOA, but they deal with yard, exterior, garbage. I had talked with an agent on the value and seems to be $250,000. it's not bad for $175,000 purchase. I am currently in the process on renting the unit out. but, wanted to see what everyone thinks about the renovation. the appliances are new (got a deal for the dryer and stove). dishwasher is not new, but only used once. I had the back splash re-done in the kitchen, light replaced in kitchen, epoxy the countertop, painted the entire inside, replaced the doors/hinges/handles, replaced the carpets to the stairs/2 bedrooms, replaced all ceiling lights and ceiling fan, replaced the water heater (old one was way out of date, also had my brother help me with that since he is in hvac), kitchen sink/faucet, bathroom mirrors, resurfaced the bath tub. I think that is all that I had done. Will need to so the yard a bit, it needs a little clean up.

Yes, but how long will it take to get back to making 2.2k in rent. The profit from that rent to travel nurses is 1.2k. It will also lead to me being able to pull out a HELOC to get the triplex later down the road. Just not the one i'm currently looking at. Both paths lead to the same output, but one is at a later time frame compared to the other and will have debt along that path. But it will be debt that should last about 4.5 years. While the other, will clear debt immediately. But wont have the long term profit of that rental. I'm not entirely sure how long it would take to get the triplex to be on the same profit margin as the townhouse would. I did the math on the triplex and would end up with around 400-500 per month in profit. This is including cash reserves for repairs.

UPDATE: i'm currently at $152,000 on my mortgage now. The Mortgage is now at $982 per month. The current market in my neighborhood, cheapest property for sale is at $299,000. that particular property needs about 25-30k of upgrades. My townhouse is in the process of getting upgrades, which is around $13,500 +/-. I believe that the value of my townhouse may have gone up to the $300k mark, once it is fully updated. I'm still up in the air on selling it, i could furnish the place and set it up for a Travel Nurse property for Midterm rentals. The hospital is literally within walking distance (5-7 Minutes, give or take). I'm under the assumption that it could be rented for $2,200 for rent, if i fully furnish the property. If I sell the property, I free up my VA benefits and can focus on a triplex that I had found. giving me the opportunity to purchase it with $0 down and pay the closing cost. With the triplex, i could live in 1 unit and my brother and his family live in the other. Both of us can cover the cost of the triplex, per month. IF, I sell the townhouse. Otherwise, I would have to wait a couple years of renting the property out. If I rent the property out, I will need to have a property manager take care of the townhouse. Since i'll be moving out of California and wont be able to come back here often.

It has been a while, since i've done this. But, i'm currently living in my first home (townhouse). I'm working on the flooring, replacing it with vinyl planks, in the living room. The mortgage is at $972 and some change. With an APR 3.25%. Purchased at $175,000 and it is now down to $155,000. Supposedly, this place is worth around $250,000. I could pull money out from it, but as most will know. This interest rate is AMAZING. So, I'm hesitant on doing anything with it and just saving up my personal income to do small upgrades as best as I can do. Which is a very slow process for me. The location of this place is in an amazing spot in my small hometown. School, clinic, hospital, grocery stores, gas stations. All within walking distance. My goal is to try to fix it up and set it up for renting to travel nurses. But also trying to save up to get a multiplex at my home location. I've been living here for about 5 years now. I do have my VA benefits that I could use. Based on all this information. What would YOU do?

I'm curious, by "Disabled" is it 100%? or as long as you have any percentage to be included for the "Funding Fee" to carry? I myself am considered 65%. So, would that apply to me?

So, I figured that posting a VA Home Loan Benefits - Information and More. Would help those of my brother's and sister's in arms. I have looked in the forums and could not find a detailed description of this. So I figured that I would create a post and say what I know of the VA benefits from what I have used for getting my current home and then having others add in to it.

So, when I used my VA Home Loan benefits. It was back in March 2020, just a couple months before covid lockdown hit. I got to know a great loan broker in my area and an aspiring real estate agent to help me get a townhouse. This will be a short amount of information in regards to me using the VA Home loan benefits. I had found a place that I was able to afford ($175,000) at the time. My loan broker was able to get me set up for my VA benefits of $0 down and only $1k and some change for the closing cost, with an APR of 3.25%. Owner paid for the inspection and the place is livable. I only spend about $976 per month and $515 per year on insurance. $95 for HOA (uggh HOA is difficult but still useful on certain things). Yearly taxes is roughly $2k. So, my monthly expensive for the property itself (not including utilities, PG&E), is $1,113.92 per month. An amazing price for a 2 Bedroom, 1.5 bathroom, 2 carports, 2 story townhouse.

If anyone else has any unique information to add on. please do. let's make a post that is all about the VA Home Loan Benefits.