All Forum Posts by: Maurice Smith

Thats what it comes down to.  patience and persistence 

thank you 

Hey BP Fam,

It has been a little while since I wrote a post on here. This past year has been real crazy im sure for everybody. Just wanted to give a update, and some possible motivation for those who are filling like giving up. This game of real estate can be really discoursing especially for all my first time home buyers trying to take advantage of these low rates we currently have. I made a goal to my self when I first got started that I would buy one property a year, and right now I am pleased to announce that despite covid, Im still on track with that goal!

My first property was a buy and hold non owner occupied 4 plex in las vegas ( about 7 mins from Summerlin) , I purchased this in 02/2019 for 369k, started at a 6.125% and was barley making $400 cash flow every month. That same 4 plex today appraised for 490k in only 1 year! I currently have a 3.6 % rate on this property, make around $3,300

( with a little below market rents ) a month and cash flow around $1200 after all expenses. Despite all the negative feed back I got from some of the BP members about multi family in las Vegas , I still stuck to the script and remained focus. im glade I did so.

More recently, I have been trying to find a fha owner occupied property for my house hacking journey in California, so that I can only have to drop 3.5% down. literally since July I have put in 8 offers, and have been out bid by cash buyers on 6 of those and the other 2 got beat out by conventional buyers. these properties were only on market on a average of 3 days before going " pending " no lie! supper hot market that I live in. I was really starting to lose hope and even went as far as trying to find a deal and drop 20% just to increase my odds. I was so discouraged that I gave up looking and said I wouldn't put any more offers in until the market cooled down.

The following week, I received notice on my phone about a property that just hit the market. It was a tri plex in Tracy , Ca that was only on market for 37 mins, I ran the numbers and made sure everything made since and put a offer in right away! I put my offer in a little over asking (contingent to appraisal of course). The very next day I received notice that a all cash offer came in , but it was lower then my offer, so they wanted to go with me! finally , after 6 long months of searching for something I found it. The funny thing about it all , is that this is the best property out of everything I have been putting offers in for . 3 bed 2 bath each unit ,washer dryer, 2 car garage , and back yard space for each unit! I will be living in one of the units and collecting rents from the other 2. I have a total of 7 doors at 28, and still on track to buy one property a year! I am very pleased with my self and my team. Just wanted to share with anyone looking for motivation to not give up!

" IS NOW THE TIME TO BE BUYING REAL ESTATE "  ( DISREGARD THE ERROR IN TITLE , BP DOSE NOT ALLOW ME TO EDIT )

with all the data coming out things are starting to become a bit more clear. One big indicator That the market can be in trouble next year 2021 is mortgage delinquency,  over 2 million people are over 90 days delinquent on their mortgage as of now . 4 million people in total. unemployment levels are still high, and seems like a lot of people are moving out of the expensive markets and moving into more affordable markets now that working from home is available. Despite all of the bad news ,  home prices in California and other parts of the county continue to rise. I have been looking to buy my next property since august . I have put in 6 offers and have been either outbid  or someone with cash came in and stole the deal. IT IS DEFINTLY A SELLERS MARKET RIGHT NOW , OR AT LEAST IN CA.  all the multi family listings I have been putting offers on ( DUPLEX'S AND TRI PLEX'S)   are literally going on market and getting offers in 5 days! IN SOME CASES OVER THE ASKING PRICE. 

  I am currently looking at a owner occupied Tri - Plex. I invest in small multi family assets. I put a offer in for around 595k   ( 2 BED , 2.5 BATH IN EACH UNIT , 2 CAR GARAGE , WASHER AND DRYER IN UNIT  BUILT IN THE 20TH CENTURY, SO FAIRLY NEW) brings in about $4300 a month with all 3 units rented. Me living in one unit AND RENTING THE OTHER 2 OUT BRINGS IN ABOUT $2700 A MONTH.   This house hack will allow me to only have to pay around $900 every month for my mortgage. My biggest fear is the market dropping and all the stupid tenant laws California. I also have a 4 plex out of state that I have to be mindful of. Is now the time to be buying or should I save my money and stay on the sideline?  PLEASE SAVE THE " EVERY TIME IS A GOOD TIME TO BUY REAL ESTATE" COMMENTS. This is just a regular listing I found on the mls that seems to be a ok deal, Not a off market deal. Please help , any suggestions or input would be appreciated!  

 how is the glen cove area compared  to the rest of the city ? 

This pandemic has been hell for me, Not only did i manage to weather the storm and come out with my shirt still on my back! Most importantly i had enough reserves put away for rainy days like these.  Long story short,I had 2 vacant units going into covid ( paid close to 9 grand to get the back rent ready) All while me having to cover the mortgage out of my pocket . was not  able to get them re rented until around June. Had only one tenant paying me rent since march, and another tenant who didn't pay me a single dime knowing i couldn't evict. Fast Forward  to Today, all 4 units are filled and paying.I collected the full balance from the tenant who was not paying ( for 6 months) at the beginning of august.

When I first bought the property I was at a 6.125% rate paying around $2,026 plus maintenance,expense of around $500. Each of the 4 units were only renting for $700 making me about $2800 a month before any expenses.Had to put a good amount of money inot property to raise rents. today im at a 3.75%  paying around $1,750 a month with about $350 in expenses. all 4 units bring me $3,400 a month. paid $369,900 February of 2019,today property  appraised for $470,000. Not to bad 

lol who told me? I own and manage a credit consulting firm, so i would say i'm pretty qualified to understand how everything works. Yes of course nothing falls off your credit ( good or bad) unless it is disputed and removed. If you have a paid off account from the 80's, that is  exactly what you  have  a paid off account. A closed account is not helping your credit at all. The length of time the account has been OPEN and positively reporting is what helps your credit. Only thing  closed account is helping is your dti, but he mentioned his car is his only other debt so dti shouldn't even be a concern.

nope, the moment you pay off your car the account falls off your credit all that positive payment history stops reporting your score will drop. get rental while your auto loan still reports. lender like to see a health mix of accounts on your credit.

 you are right, only thing that concerns me, is all my equity essentially being tied up now. If i was to ever do a cash-out refi in the future i would have to give up such a low rate. I guess its a bitter sweet filling 

I started with a 6.125% feb of 2019, refi to a 4.825% January of 2020. This week i took advantage of these low rates and secured a 3.625 % on a 4 plex non owner occupied investment property. just curious to see what your intreset rate is on your investment property? My Broker says that we may have already hit the bottom, Seems like the 10 year bond has been trending up , making interest rates higher as well. On top of all that, this past wed  8/12/20 Mark Calabria  basically introduced a " Refinance Tax" of 0.5% ( half a point) on all refis! Lucky for me i barley made the cut off. please share your thoughts

That aint really much to play with, BUT IT WILL DO. you have a few options. fha owner occupied 3% down. a $300k property with 3% down is only $9k down. If you find a duplex-4 plex for that price or cheaper live in one unit for at least a year to qualify for fha. you will get better interest rate compared to a regular conventional investment loan AND YOU WILL BE HOPEFULLY GETTING YOUR MORTAGE PAID AND SOME EXTRA MONEY IN YOUR POCKET EVERY MONTH. After the first year you can move out and turn that property into a rental property with no worries. another option if your not in a position to qualify for a loan with the banks.  I would say maybe find a off market deal. see if the owner is down with " owner financing. use that 10-15k as a down payment the finance the rest of the balance through the owner ( be carful though, these are usually 4-5 years interest only payments) Then at the end of the term you will have a balloon payment for the remaining balance. with hopes of your property going up in value , through appreciation for remodel) then do a cash out  refi into a regular loan. take that money from the refi to pay off the owner.  Inbox me if you ever need any advice, im willing to help were I can