All Forum Posts by: Mitchell Van Overloop

Thank you! I was wondering if there was a group at all, good to know!

My wife and I have one duplex which is our first investment property. We lived in one side and fixed it up and then moved to the other side and are fixing it up currently. We are looking to do the same several times over. After we have a few duplexes, we would like to get into larger unit complexes and vacation rentals. I am much more committed to buying and holding long term in order to get a good consistent income that won't go away.

I am a emergency room nurse full time and investor part time and my goal is to flip that around some day to be a part time nurse and full time investor.

That was the idea, easier to get another place and make more money and then buy outright after a few years... but a lot of the different investing books I've read really don't touch on land contracts which is why I was wondering about them. Haven't seen too many positive posts on BP forums either :)

@Crystal H. I actually was told by my banker that I would be able to take out a second FHA loan as long as it was an owner occupied property. I didn't really know that was a possibility (or maybe there's different rules in Michigan versus Florida?), but I will have to look into it because it would be a better financial option if that is actually something that can happen.

@Andrew Syrios I don't have enough cash/equity to buy a 2nd place with cash, it would have to be an equity loan to get to the 25-30% mark for a conventional loan. And I definitely would want to have the FHA loan on my 2nd property as well because it's a lot less money out of my pocket.

Sorry I haven't posted about my first deal on here yet, but here goes. My wife and I initially bought a single family home and lived in it for the 1st year of our marriage. We then decided we needed to get into the RE game because we didn't want to continue paying a mortgage for the rest of our lives. Our first property was a duplex in a good school district in a nice neighborhood near a park. We bought it about $20k below market value at $135k. We then went to work renovating the main floor living, kitchen, and bath, along with painting the bedrooms in the side we were living in.

After a year and a half, the other side moved out and we moved in and are just finishing up with the reno of that side.

When we took over the property rents were $650 and $775. Since then, the side that was getting $650 is now at $950 and the side we are currently living in and fixing up will get $975 which is around market value.

Our original investment was a FHA loan with 5% down which was around $8k. We then invested around $6k to renovate both sides with all new tile and higher end vinyl planking that is completely waterproof. The ONLY reason we were able to renovate for $6k is because I am formerly a painter and was able to repaint everything and learned how to tile and install the flooring along the way.

We also recently refinanced. Our mortgage payment is $1050 per month and the property is now valued at $190k! Cannot wait to move onto the next deal!!

Just read some interesting posts about owner financing and land contracts and I am wondering how to start off a potential deal that you want to be contracted or owner financed. When I think of owner financing, I put myself in the sellers shoes and think that they wouldn't want that and would want their money upfront, so I already rule that option out in my head.

How do you strike a deal aggressively without having a bank back your deal?

Forgive my ignorance on this aspect of financing since I've only bought 2 properties so far...

My wife and I are thinking about buying another income property and are wondering which route would be better. We could buy a 2nd property as owner occupants and get a FHA loan which would get us the property for less down. Or we could use the equity we have - refinanced at $130k and property now is worth around $185-$190k. Which would be a better route since both incur a decent amount of debt and cut down on monthly cash flow?

My wife and I bought a slightly rundown duplex almost 2 years ago as owner occupants and have now fixed up both sides as they became available. We have effectively raised the rent of the side that we don't live in by over $225/month and plan to raise the side we live in by $250/month since it has direct garage access. After we end up moving out, we will be netting almost $700/month. We are getting ready to position ourselves to buy another property and are wondering if we should wait a little longer to try to buy a larger multi-unit property or try to buy multiple duplexes in the next year?