All Forum Posts by: Maxwell Morrison

@Mike Hanneman That is the current rate if I refinance. Working with a few lenders/brokers to find the best rate and that's the best I found.

I would move to an apartment close to work. I currently work about 30 mins away and the cost of living in this house is not worth the principal. While my monthly payment is roughly $1500 (principal, interest, taxes, insurance) there are a lot of additional costs that really rocket the price. My toll bill to use the highways (which is unavoidable) is $200, gas is another $150, water bill to keep the foundation healthy is $250-300. I'm paying well over $2k per month for around $800 in principal. And that's not including repairs/upkeep. I'd rather find an apartment within walking distance to work and half my bill, save the rest.

@Thomas S. I've certainly wrestled with the idea of selling but the problem is it's such a seller's market here, it will be difficult to find a property. I might get lucky but the odds are not in my favor. While the rent certainly doesn't equal the total value of the home, I look at it as I'm buying a 100k home that rents at $1500+ per month. If the value continues to climb, that's a bonus. If there was a slam dunk multi-unit available where I could live-in, I probably go that route but nothing worthwhile has popped up over the past few months. 

@Allen Fletcher

Thanks Allen. I think that is great advice. The plan is to have a portfolio of rental properties so what better way to get the feet wet.

I'll try to keep it short, sweet, and factual. 

Kickstarting my investment life after many years of reading and planning, it's time to take action. I own a SFH and I'm deciding whether renting or selling is the best option. It seems rather obvious but pulling the trigger for the first time has me in an over analyzing paralysis. Looking for feedback.

Here are the financial statistics.

- Purchased in 2011 for approx $145,000 @ 4% on a 15yr fixed mortgage. Originally a foreclosure an investor flipped but sold at a lost due to market and financial pinch.
- Current mortgage left is a shade over 100k. House value has bounced back and appreciated to 190k, give or take a few thousand. This value is from a realtor valuating the home, not a website estimate so I'm confident in the value.
- Market in this area is very strong; homes are lasting an average of 9 days on the market.
- Selling would net somewhere between 70k-100k, depending on the sell price and if I use a realtor.

However using this as my first property is also attractive.

- After refinancing, the new combined payment of mortgage, taxes, and insurance (no HOA) would be about $950.
- Rent would be somewhere between $1500-$1700.
- Brand new roof installed a couple weeks ago plus the indoor HVAC Unit and Hot Water Heater have both been replaced in the last 5 years, so major maintenance costs should be low for some time if nothing goes incredibly wrong.
- This puts my cash need at basically 0 to acquire my "first investment" and the cap rate is about 17% depending on what numbers are used to assume monthly costs.

I feel like if I saw this deal online, I'd think it was too good to be true and that I should make this my first income property. Seems like it's clearly the best idea but the allure of a quick, easy sale to net a large profit to use to acquire more than a single property and have the option to really accelerate my portfolio keeps biting at my heels.

I need someone to shake the tree so I stop holding on so tight and make a call one way or the other. These first steps seem overly daunting, which I'm sure is a surprise to no one.

Thanks in advance!