All Forum Posts by: Marsha C.

Thanks all.  I was going to bookmark that article since it seemed of interest, but decided I would get opinions first due to the recent posts about lender scams.  [As an aside, I am sorry to all the legit lenders whose reputation may unfairly get called into question because of fraudulent lenders.]

Although I was not planning to pursue that avenue for financing, the comments here have provided me with a lot of good information that I can add to my knowledge bank.  

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@Jay Hinrichs  Thank you for the clarification on PG.  I related "valuation" in your comments to mean the property appraisal / rental income estimation, which is so subjective.  [.. and their valuations.. and that's were many have issues.. their valuations require the 20% down to all of sudden need to be 50%..]  More to add to my knowledge bank.  : )

Thank you for the responses.

@Jay Hinrichs  Even if the underwriting turns out to be as rigid as you suggest, but the investor is still able to prove up on all the lender's requirements, the rate quoted in the article is the part that caught my attention as suspect, especially based on the current cost of investor loans.

    "The interest rate on the loan, which is 30-year fixed, will be between 6 and 8 percent, about twice the rate on a traditional mortgage for an owner-occupant, but far lower than the current cost of investor loans."

But as you mention, their valuation could be the real problem and may lead to disappointment.  Now that I think about it, that may be what you were primarily referring to with their stringent underwriting.  PG meaning property guarantee?

Any thoughts on if this is a "too good to be true" lending option, or if it's even a good deal?  

In particular, "The interest rate on the loan, which is 30-year fixed, will be between 6 and 8 percent, about twice the rate on a traditional mortgage for an owner-occupant, but far lower than the current cost of investor loans." and, "We're not verifying any income [of the borrower]."

Below is a link to the article, along with a portion of the text that I pasted from the article. The full article has more details and information.

http://nbr.com/2016/06/30/this-private-equity-gian...

This private equity giant wants to give landlords millions — here's how.  

June 30, 2016 | Diana Olick, NBR, CNBC.com

B2R, a mortgage company owned by private equity giant Blackstone Group, just began offering a mortgage product for investors that requires absolutely nothing of the borrower, save a 20 percent down payment on the home. The loan is based entirely on the rental income of the property. Russo intends to use it to pull millions of dollars worth of cash out of the homes he already owns.

B2R's requirements are pretty simple: The investor must hold a minimum 20 percent equity in the property for a purchase, 25 percent for a refinance. The rental income of the property must exceed the owner's costs, including principal, interest, taxes and insurance (PITI), by 33 percent. In other words, if it were a regular, owner-occupant mortgage, it would be like a 67 percent debt-to-income ratio, but in this case, the income is all based on the property, not the borrower. The borrower needs to have a minimum 680 FICO credit score.

"We're not verifying any income [of the borrower]," said Matthew Weaver, a vice president at Finance of America Mortgage, another Blackstone company working with B2R.

The interest rate on the loan, which is 30-year fixed, will be between 6 and 8 percent, about twice the rate on a traditional mortgage for an owner-occupant, but far lower than the current cost of investor loans. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have limits on how many properties an investor can own. B2R will lend up to $750,000 per property, and there is no limit on how many properties an investor can own.

.... see article for more....

Thank you for offering this discount!  Could you please let me know what format the digital version is in?   

To help decide if you should remove the popcorn ceiling, you should have it tested to see if it contains asbestos.  If it doesn't, then it is a simple matter of spraying the ceiling with water and then scraping it off. The trick is not to spray too much water or it compromises the drywall.  I did it in a few rooms of a house.  Everything worked out great except the family room, which was a permitted add-on.  After removing the popcorn ceiling from that room, I found that the finishing plaster underneath was uneven.  It took a lot of work to smooth it out to get a flat ceiling.  But removing the popcorn ceiling was one of the best upgrades I have done.  It adds a more current look to the home and makes the rooms look larger, in my opinion.

BTW, I dropped off a sample to a company in Pasadena, CA (or maybe it was South Pasadena) to get the asbestos testing done.  It took maybe a week to get the results and was not very expensive.  

Hi Chris, 

Connecting with an agent is definitely the best route to go.  Additionally, you may get some insight on the market from realtytimes.com (Real Estate News & Advice).  In particular, the tab at the top of the home page "Market Conditions" breaks the market reports down by state, and then further by city or county.  The tab "Market Outlook" is searchable by state and has some interesting articles, although nothing current for PA.  I am in California, but thought this resource may be of interest to you.  Good luck!