All Forum Posts by: Maureen F.

Thanks Nuhan.  I can't disagree with your assessment of my state of mind!  But still, I want to do it, definitely maybe.  My son has already been pre-qualified.  And I'm not an agent; he has been working with an agent for seven months and the agent has done a great job, shown him many properties, put in many offers.  So if I buy from a wholesaler who won't pay a commission to a buyers agent, I'm sure he will pay his agent something out of his own pocket.  Also he is more than willing to do work himself on a property so that it will end up the way he wants it (although with a full time job and not being a skilled tradesperson, he's limited in what he can do).  He does want it to be a nice home for himself at the end of the day.

Thank you Doreen. And yes, that's why I need a good Plan B, in case my son can't get a mortgage within the 60 days, so I can repay the IRA. I'm thinking Plan B would be to convince my husband to put a lien on our home and get a conventional loan, or go to a Private Money Lender. I'm not sure which would be more difficult.

Thanks Damian, I think your concern is with buying a property using funds from a self-directed IRA as an investment in that IRA. I had thought about that option but as you mentioned, I don't think it would work in my situation. What I'm contemplating is to withdraw funds from my ordinary IRA; I won't have to pay taxes if I replace them within 60 days.

Hi, I'm trying to buy a three-family (or maybe a two-family) in the crazy-hot market of Dorchester or nearby, and need advice! How would I go about buying from a wholesaler? Do they only accept cash offers? How much time to close? Can my broker be involved? Alternatively I might make a cash offer for a property on MLS. If so, how much lower might a cash offer be than a financing-contingent offer, to be attractive to the seller? If the offer was accepted, could the conveyance actually be to my son if he could get financing in time?

Here's the situation. My son has been trying to buy in Boston or nearby (south of) for seven months. He has been beaten out on many properties by higher offers or cash buyers. (Thus far the offers he submitted had a financing contingency with 5% down.) He's had offers accepted on several properties, but they didn't go through due to issues such as discovering major structural issues during the inspection, seller being in bankruptcy, seller's spouse (in divorce process) refusing to sign P&S, etc. The market is such that it seems a cash offer is the way to go. My only reason to buy a house is to convey it to him. If I actually have to pay cash, I will take title, and then he would buy it from me with a mortgage, and preserve his eligibility for mortgages limited to first time homebuyers.

The other issue being if I actually have to pay cash, where to get it? We can probably come up with half from non-retirement accounts. The other half would either need to be from taking a loan on our home (which has no mortgage), however my husband is opposed to this idea because he's risk averse. Or, I could use funds from my IRA, but there would be a big tax hit unless I can replace the funds within 60 days. The third option would be a Hard Money Lender. The IRA idea would work as long as I could convey the house to my son within 60 days. If that timing didn't work out, then go to the HML? My son has been pre-qualified many times by his lender, and would be putting down 20% (with help from a gift from a family member) because his income went up and he's over the income limit for the ONE Mortgage, and doesn't want to pay PMI. I am fully confident of his ability to get financing, unless the lender has a problem with buying from a family member.

I would greatly appreciate your advice ... thoughts .... ideas ??

No not for the MassHousing loan. That's true for the ONE Mortgage and the NACA.

Craig, I'm working with a family member who has applied for the MassHousing loan and we've never seen the 10 year requirement that you mention.  I suggest you contact the Agency or one of the participating lenders for more info.

The MHP ONE Mortgage program doesn't require PMI and has the lowest interest rate around. MassHousing also has loans, they have PMI but it's much better (lower cost mortgage insurance) than FHA. NACA (Neighborhood Assistance Corp of America) also has favorable terms, although I've heard it's a long and painful process. City of Boston has a Home Center which should be able to guide you, they have a First Time Homebuyers course which is required if you're looking for their financial assistance.

Congratulations Shane, sounds like it came out great!  I used Buyers Desire Home Staging for a condo in Dorchester and was very happy.  If you have some pieces of furniture that can be used, that will save money on furniture rental; if the pieces aren't in the unit now you could take photos of them and ask Linda.  Much of the staging impact is achieved with accessories.  She comes out for a free consultation and gives a lot of worthy advice at the time, and then sends you the proposal with prices.  Also it may not be necessary to stage all the rooms.  Good luck!

Great suggestions -- thanks Mike!

yes -- buyers desire staging, Linda.  I was very pleased with a job they did for me, a condo in Dorchester.