All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I've been playing with the idea of selling my house, and I'm sure this is a very basic question but I was not able to find any answers on the BP forum or on Google.

Last year I got a 10 year loan to finance a roof replacement on my house, and now I'm wondering if the remaining balance on that roof loan would prevent me from being able to sell the house until after the roof loan has been paid off? 

Would the buyer's title search company have an issue seeing that there is a roof loan in addition to the mortgage? Or could I still sell the house and pay off the roof loan separately?

Just to be clear, I have been making all my regular payments and there is no lien placed on the house, so it seems like there wouldn't be any issue with the title search. 

Thanks

I'm currently in the process of getting my Hamtramck duplex house hack up and running, I'm currently in the tenant screening phase. I joined the meetup, looking forward to hearing other peoples stories and I'd also be willing to share my own experience so far

I'm gong to be renting out my very first unit soon (house hacking a duplex) and I am already thinking about how I will manage the tenant. I have heard from experienced landlords that it is often better to NOT let the tenant know that we are "owner/landlord", but rather that we are "just the PM" or even that we "just work for the PM".

That way, it is easier to manage the tenants when they make unreasonable requests, we can just say "Sorry I can't authorize that, I just work for the PM" and we are not seen as the "bad guy" in the scenario, the unseen owner takes the blame.

I wonder if this technique makes sense in a house hacking situation? I suppose I could identify as a "resident manager"...

Has anyone ever tried this technique while house hacking? Is it even a good idea to keep the tenant in the dark like this, or could it end up making things more complicated, maintaining a web of lies, etc...

Thank you @John Aloisi and @Joshua B. I will try to get an estimate from Victor's Roofing now

Hello, I could use some advice about roofers.

I need to replace a roof on a duplex in Hamtramck Michigan soon, and I was wondering if anybody here has had good experiences with a reputable (yet budget friendly) roofing company around metro Detroit? The roof is about 20 squares, with the original cedar shake shingles + asphalt shingles on top. Roofers say that the cedar shake is a pain for them to deal with, so they charge more because of that. Still, I have been quoted $14k to $20k for materials and labor, which seems ridiculously expensive to me. I was thinking something around $10k would be reasonable? I'm still fishing for quotes, so I'm not sure what a reasonable price would really be.

Any advice or referrals is appreciated.

Ok thank you for clarifying, I did not realize that a conventional lender would treat a refinance basically the same as a regular mortgage, but that does make sense now that I think about it. So I would need to basically have the same qualifications to apply for a refinance as I would for a regular mortgage.

Thank you for the information @Jerry Padilla

It sounds like Portfolio lenders are a much more flexible option for a self employed freelancer.

If I understand correctly, Portfolio lenders would be mostly interested in the cash flow details of a specific property, rather than the financial situation of the borrower? This means our interests would be more closely aligned, since I am also mostly interested in the cash flow details of a property as well... As long as the deal still makes sense with those higher interest rates that Portfolio lenders charge.

I will try to find some portfolio lenders in my area.

I have been reading about the BRRRR method of investing, and I am very interested in trying this in the future. However, there is one step that I need some clarification on, refinancing.

Currently, I have a W2 job, decent credit, and a low DTI ratio, so it is not too difficult to qualify for traditional bank financing. However, I do not enjoy the W2 "rat race" and I would prefer to be a freelancer instead. (Freelance website development, same as my current W2 industry)

I have read that people who do not have W2 jobs have a much more difficult time applying for mortgages, since there is less of a reliable "secure" source of income for the lender to look at.

My question is this: Do freelancers have the same troubles when trying to get refinances from banks, even if their property is 100% paid off? 

I would imagine that the difference of having a paid off property would look like good collateral to the lender, right? or at least it would make the buyer look more secure?

Does anybody have experience in this topic? This will help me determine if I should remain as a W2 employee, or if I could transition to freelancing, and still use the BRRRR method.

Thank you all,

Hi Peter, maybe look into a company called "Caliber Home Loans" I bought a duplex through them with just 5% down. (It was my first mortgage) 

I couldn't agree more, I think that FHA is sometimes overrated given that conventional financing can also offer very low down payments as well. This is exactly what I did when I purchased my recent house hack, I bought a duplex with a 5% down payment. I still have to pay PMI, but that only lasts until I build up 20% equity.

Another thing to note: I believe FHA loans require more strict property inspections before the lender is allowed to close! For example, this duplex that I recently purchased did not have working water heaters or any kitchen appliances. I believe that it would have failed an FHA inspection due to the non functioning water heaters. Since I had a conventional loan, they didn't even bother to do an interior inspection The whole lending process was very fast. If I had opted to go with an FHA loan, they may have refused to lend on this deal.