All Forum Posts by: Moira Mosley-Duffy

I'm under contract for a SFH in south Jersey 08108, and having a hard time finding contractors who will come out and give me a quote for repairs. I've called at least a dozen and every one of them either doesn't want to do it because I don't own it yet, or they tell me to send over the inspection and then they don't get back to me. I know that making up an estimate takes time and I've offered to pay them to put it together but still they turn me down.

It's crossed my mind that maybe I'm just doing something wrong. Does anyone have any advice on what I could try to get some different results?

Hi @Herman Domb, I know this is a really late reply but I am fairly familiar with the area. I grew up in Haddonfield and am looking to invest in Oaklyn and Woodlynne. I would be super interested to hear how your deal has turned out. In my experience the prices in Oaklyn and Woodlynne are cheaper just because there is an arrogance/pride in Collingswood that causes them to look at lower-income people in those areas with a little bit of disdain.

The great thing about Oaklyn and Woodlynne is that there is a higher population of renters (in my perception), and a lot of good people from Camden and Pennsauken looking to upgrade to the Collingswood school district without paying Collingswood rents/home prices.

I am a beginner in out of state RE investing and had a question for those doing out of state investing:

Do you always send a RE agent to check out buildings before making offers? 

After I crunch the numbers and check out images I feel fairly confident in sending an offer (especially because so many of them would likely be turned down) and I don't want to have my agent running around like crazy to look at places, 80% of which wont accept my offer. 

Thank you all for your advice. I am definitely going to approach some more local banks and credit unions. 

I have been declined for a mortgage because I don't pay rent. My boyfriend pays our rent (which is high) and my lending bank has told me that they have to consider that I would be paying all of the rent someday, which precludes me from any large loans. I asked if it would be possible to calculate using the average bay area rent of a single person, or even half of our current rent, but they told me that they need to assume I would be paying the total rent. 

Does this seem right/normal? I am wondering if I should just go to another bank and try again or if we should just apply for a joint mortgage. He's not interested in investing in real estate so I'm not super keen on having his name on a mortgage for a building that I have paid the full down payment on and am managing--but, I trust him so maybe it wouldn't be so bad?

Details:

current rent in bay area is $3,000

my salary is around $60,000

have saved $35,000+ for down payment

looking at duplexes and triplexes around ~$150,000-170,000