All Forum Posts by: Matt Nico

@Michael Thompson

Thanks for the reply. I actually meant that to saw a Wrap, not a subject to. My mistake.

@Jimmy Lieu

I have used a 0% APR credit card for rehabbing. I bought a house with an owner occupied 5% conventional. Moved into it, used the credit card for rehab. A year and a half later i gained 50k in equity, paid my card off, generating cashflow, and the PMI should drop off within another year.

Just be strategic about it. You probably have options if you are savvy enough to think of something creative.

Happy Housing,

Matt

@Matt M.

I literally disagree with your entire post. Could you maybe give us reasons why you hate Behr and love SW? I found Behr paint to cover great, clean easy, and its 1/2 price as SW.

Hello Bigger pockets,

I am hoping someone out there (or possibly a blog post in the near future) would be able to help me understand lending better. I have been in real estate for a while now, and I feel as if I have mastered most of the other elements of investing. To use David Green's BRRRR acronym, I feel as if I have very good skills at buying, rehabbing, renting, and repeating. Its specifically the refinance (or purchase to start) that is hindering my ability to really ramp up my portfolio.

I think my biggest problem that I have is not understanding a lot of the different loan packages available out there. Because I dont know what they are, I dont know what to ask for. There are so many that I seem to get tripped up on which one I want to use, and when to use it. I also would be interested to know what kind of interest rates are associated with different loan products. As an example, I know that traditional financing with owner occupied is usually the best in terms of money down and interest rate, where Hard Money is the highest interest rate. 

Could anyone give me basic information about these loan types. Which of these loans uses Income and credit for approval, a DSCR, and what interest rates could I expect to see with these loans:

Conventional Financing

Subject to

Investment loans

A Debt service coverage ratio loan

Commercial Loans

Thanks in advance,

-Matt

@Jason Lam

Hey Jason,

Im an investor with properties in Osceola and Polk county. Would you happen to have any good lender options or small banks that you know of? Im having a tough time finding local banks. That interest rate sounds too good to be true.

Thanks,

Matt

@Quentin Moore

I would say to hold off on asking more specific questions like that until you are ready to pull the trigger. There are multiple reasons for this, but the main one being that things could change rapidly from now until when you plan to buy. Maybe bigger houses are in vogue now but in 6 months people will want a more cottage feel.

Also i am not extremely knowledable with lending as of yet, so im not quite sure about the loan for a vacation home.

I think you are on the right track though.

 Hey Victoria,

I would not accept someone else's lease. If they are not in your specific area, a lot of things in it could be illegal or not allowed in your area. I would either draft one up yourself and pay a lawyer to critique it, or have them write you one up from scratch. This will ensure the most protection. 

Also the month to month is a good option. I do them all the time in my house hacks.

-Matt

 Christine,

If you want to be a good client, I would offer this advice: Dont blow smoke up anybody's a$$ with wanting to get started in investing until you are ready to pull the trigger. Agents don't like to waste their time. When you are ready, I would suggest you get a pre-qual letter from a bank, and have intelligent questions and information about what exactly you are looking for in a few specific areas. 

Example: I did a bit of research and I think that the best strategy in South Florida is to buy a SFH and turn it into an AIRbnb. I'm thinking in the "Insert neighborhood here" area.

^----This is something an agent can work with, not a "I think I want to invest. Can you help me?". Or he could say no, and suggest something else.

Also for a good agent, I would try to find someone who also invests in that area. If you find an agent who lives in South Florida but invests in Jacksonville, he doesn't believe in the market enough. I invest in the Disney area, and I also live here. I research the market multiple times a week so I have a good pulse on it. Find an agent with a good pulse.

Hey Quentin,

I have 4 rental properties, all in the Davenport / Kissimmee area actually. Can I ask why you are so convinced to do Short term rental? Maybe a buy and rent out the traditional way would be better if you dont have much of a team down in Central Florida yet.

Also your analysis of bedrooms vs. price is really spot on. I'm assuming you did your research. I'd go with the larger one.

 I know the area quite well. If you need a hand feel free to shoot me a PM. I am a new real estate agent as well so I could probably find you something that you want.

Happy Housing,

Matt

Hey Greg,

I use Quickbooks online for my 4 rentals. It gets a little tricky, but you could use quickbooks yourself. If you are just trying to get reimbursed for this 1 rehab, I would say to take every receipt and just sit down 1 day and enter them into a spreadsheet for this first one. If you save the receipts and can document everything incase of an audit, you are good to go.

In the future, get a business credit card and expense everything to that. Every purchase you make is recorded obviously, and in quickbooks you just assign it to the property its for.

Hope this helps,

Matt