All Forum Posts by: Marcus Johnson

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

@Benjamin Haberman, that's what I'd like to do. But working a minimum wage job in college won't pay my monthly debts is my only problem.

cmon man that's a cop out.   I was never an A student, yet I worked 50 hours a week and went to school full time.  Quit making excuses.   

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

@Marcus Johnson, there aren't many technical colleges to choose from in my city. I go to one now online just to obtain my real estate license. I'd also like to get a Construction Management degree. I would get enough from tuition to go to school for practically free as long as I kept my GPA in a good standpoint. My only problem is working while I go to school is really hard for me. I can handle it physically, just not mentally. I pretty much have to devote most of my time into school. Even if I worked some small part time job while going to school, paying off over $20,000 in debt would take years and I couldn't do it in a timely manner. My credit seems like it will be ruined regardless and there's no need for me to get anymore credit cards anytime soon. So I feel like it would make more sense for me to file than to pay off for 5 years and in the end my credit still not be that great. I know people who had around a 650 credit score 2-3 years after filing. Obviously not amazing, but I'd probably be around the same boat anyways, maybe...

First off it's nice to hear someone admit their failure.  Second, why would you declare bankruptcy over 20k?   Since you've moved in with your parents, your only 22, plus you've had a good job in the past, why not take the next year or two to pay off the debt and go to a community college or Technical school to pursue your dreams?  I mean you'd only be 24 or 25 and have no debt whatsover, so long as you don't go heavily into debt with school loans if you were to choose an expensive school.  I went to a technical school for 5k a year and got a great degree in Network Administration and make a very good salary.  

Don't file!!!!!

Aren't we getting close to the peak now? Prices are getting pretty high in the Minneapolis area now and rents are at an all time high.

Here is what I would compare the speculation of the housing market. It's the same as the interest rate, but adversly, meaning interest rates are at an all time low and have no where to go but up. So with that in mind, do you think it's a good idea to get a 5 year ARM mortgage that currently has an interest rate of 3% for example. Well, isn't it logical to assume that the rates could jump up back to 7% or 8% again within that loan period. Not a good plan, especially if at the point you don't have 20% equity in the property and cannot sell or refinance without taking a hit financially.

So when you talk about a market that is at an all time high, that scares me to think that just like 2006, it won't continue that way forever.    The markets where I live are right back where they were in 2005-2006.   It took 10 years to recover.  I'd hate to see you get stuck buying an investment property for too much money.  

I started a handy man business along with my full time job, plus we had some investments do quite well on mutual funds so we were able to put 25% DP on a duplex in a great neighborhood and we cash flow $700 a month on that property. Hard work and saving money is the only way I know.

A problem I've run into before is that the Underwriter whose reviewing the loan and the borrower which was me, wasn't willing to count gifted money from a relative as income and actually subtracted it from our available funds.  He said it cannot be used technically for the DP.    I believe he said there is a look back time of 60 days  

The problem is that your losing interest on the 50k or whatever dollar amount during the time it's been taken out.  Plus if you lose your job, you have to pay the loan back asap.  

Here is an example as to why staying at market rent in a good neighborhood. Let's say two different landlords each have an SFH and both units ha e all things equal. Landlord 1 is attempting to rent for $1000 and landlord 2 is renting for $950. 12x$950= $11400 11x$1000=$11000 (1 month vacancy) As you can see if applicants keep going to the more reasonable rent versus the landlord who is trying to get more ROI. Landlord 11actually ends up losing $400 every year.