All Forum Posts by: Matt Cecil

@Brendon Woirhaye we have not tried to rent it yet. Just finishing up the remodel. Do you think the bonus room will still generate the same rent as a legal 4bd? I was worried that it may cause legal issues if something were to happen. Also, my city has to check the property yearly to approve us renting it out.

Hi All,

I'm new to BP and REI so here's a little bit about myself. I started out a year ago on the BP forums, podcasts and reading books. I fell in love with the idea of REI so here I am. My wife and I bought our first house in August with the plan to rent.

We bought a 2bd 2ba sfh planning to turn it into a 4bd 2ba because local rents seemed to be around 1900/month sfh. Long story short I haven't had any luck with turning our den into 4th bd (can't find egress window for RO). Since the local market is still screaming hot,  we had our realtors stop by. They said with the comps our house will likely go between 250-265k. Also, we have updated the main level and the basement is finished, just outdated. Our house, I believe, has the nicest main level and is better located (of the comps).

Here are our numbers:

-House 212k purchase

-Mortage $1267 (principal, interest, taxes, etc.)

-Owe 204k

-20k rehab estimate when finished 

Do we:

1) Sell using agents (safer path since we are very new to this but most likely break even)

2) FSBO (seems ethically wrong since we reached out to previous agents but can save about 10k+)

3) Refinace (use equity for investment property)

4)Rent (I'm assuming we won't get 4bd price since its legally a 3bd)

I understand that the numbers aren't great for flip and for sure 3bd rent prices. We wanted to do this over a couple years just to make sure we didn't jump into this too fast. Well, I'm hungry and just feel like we should take advantage of the high house values.

I'm sure I forgot something, since this is the 2nd time I tried to post this. The first time I lost it all! Ugh. We have an idea of the best route for us, but wanted to reach out and make sure we exercise all options! 

Thank you so much! 

Matt

@Marc Jolicoeur thats exactly what i was looking for. Thanks for your detailed responses!

Thanks @Marc Jolicoeur! Thats the mindset I've been trying to use when looking at properties. When it comes to loans other than conventional and FHA, how do you know what to use? Is it solely based on the bank you go through (what types they offer), if its bank owned, or based on what the seller wants. I see FHA and conventional rehab loans only and also cash only too. When we meet up with our lender are there certain loans we should seek out? Thanks, Matt

My fiance and I are starting to take our first steps in buying a home (non-investment). We know we want to invest in rental properties down the road and want to start with our first house we buy. Our goal is to put some forced equity into the home and be out in 2 years. Hoping that we will have enough saved for a DP on our next property.

We are starting to reach out to possible lenders, so, what kind of questions should I be asking or what should I specifically be looking for? Are there certain types of loans that make it more difficult to rent? I've heard some loans require you to live there at least a year, it has to be your primary residence, etc....

Currently, I feel good about what types of property to look for in our market, it's the financing part I have the most questions about. 

I don't want to get "stuck" in a house because I didn't set us up right from the beginning.

Thank you for your help and any other advice you guys want to throw our way!!!

Matt