All Forum Posts by: Jim Blackburn

Daniel Alfaro Can you add a storage unit and charge $150/mo?

Jake Hottenrott yes pm me for details.

Hello Yader - One of the best ways a new investor can get started, in my opinion is by purchasing a 4 unit property as their very first purchase. Orange County ... Here the county loan limit for a 4 unit property is 532,950 That enables you to buy around 550k with just 3.5% down payment. The seller can cove closing costs & escrows. That's about 20k cash. Plus we need to be sure to have another 3 months in reserves. Call it 12k So you need about 32k total. We live in one unit, and rent out the other 3. In some cases the rents from 3 may be enough to cover the living expense in unit we live in. In most cases, the rental income will make our cost of living in our unit much cheaper than it ever would be if we bought our own condo or single family house. This is an FHA loan. Typically you can only use FHA one time. Unless you have a really good letter of explanation that details the reasons why you are moving out of your current primary and into a new house using FHA a second time. (Ie. having a baby, moving to other side of town for job, etc.) If the exception is granted, then we get to use FHA twice allowing us to control more real estate with only 3.5% out of our pocket! Where many investors make a big mistake, is buying single family or condo first... then trying to acquire a 4 unit later. It's much more difficult to convince the underwriter that you are moving out of a comfortable private space , and into a building shared with 3 other families. Then you are stuck putting down 25% to acquire that 4 unit as investment VS the 3.5% FHA as primary residence. Long story short.. by purchasing the 4 unit as your first property, you're able to acquire, control, and benefit from the appreciation of 4 units with just about 20k down (3.5%) vs about 160k (25%). How long would it take us to save up 160k? My vote is a 4 unit purchase with FHA on our very first buy. Ask anything. Jim

Shane Paeper - Were you you looking to buy investment property first or a primary residence first? If investment, consider buying a 4 unit with FHA loan using only 3.5% down. If primary residence, consider using a 1% conventional loan with just 1% down payment, and 2% assistance. I suppose your purchase decision would really depend on how much you have saved.. If you purchase a 4 unit, you also need 3 months reserves in addition to down payment. With the conventional loan as primary, you need two months reserves. In both cases seller can credit for closing costs. Ask anything. Jim

Jay Ganz - In my experience, it's usually #3 of what Chris wrote... with detailed receipts from contractors and a good letter of explanation, I've been able get underwriters to exclude those one time annual expenses from the debt income calculation. Ask Anything. Jim

Hello Michael Orlandoni Will you be purchasing your first home as a primary residence or do you already own a house right now? Are you interested in acquiring multi family properties or single-family properties? One of the best ways a new investor can get started, in my opinion is by purchasing a 4 unit property as their very first purchase. Wayne County.... Here the county loan limit for a 4 unit property is 530,150. That enables you to buy around 550k with just 3.5% down payment. The seller can cove closing costs & escrows. That's about 20k cash. Plus we need to be sure to have another 3 months in reserves. Call it 12k So you need about 32k total. We live in one unit, and rent out the other 3. In some cases the rents from 3 may be enough to cover the living expense in unit we live in. In most cases, the rental income will make our cost of living in our unit much cheaper than it ever would be if we bought our own condo or single family house. This is an FHA loan. Typically you can only use FHA one time. Unless you have a really good letter of explanation that details the reasons why you are moving out of your current primary and into a new house using FHA a second time. (Ie. having a baby, moving to other side of town for job, etc.) If the exception is granted, then we get to use FHA twice allowing us to control more real estate with only 3.5% out of our pocket! Where many investors make a big mistake, is buying single family or condo first... then trying to acquire a 4 unit later. It's much more difficult to convince the underwriter that you are moving out of a comfortable private space , and into a building shared with 3 other families. Then you are stuck putting down 25% to acquire that 4 unit as investment VS the 3.5% FHA as primary residence. Long story short.. by purchasing the 4 unit as your first property, you're able to acquire, control, and benefit from the appreciation of 4 units with just about 20k down (3.5%) vs about 140k (25%). How long would it take us to save up 140k? My vote is a 4 unit purchase with FHA on our very first buy. Ask anything. Jim

I should add that she should actually be living in the property as her primary residence, otherwise it could be considered fraudulent. - jim

Ameer Eddin she could file a tax amendment with the primary address listed on page 1 of tax return and reapply after IRS receives her return. 99% success ratio.

Hello James L. Do you already own real estate in NYC that you will be vacating and keeping as a rental? Or will you be buying a primary residence in Dallas? Were you interested in multi family properties also? Jim

Hello Brian Varbel One of the best ways a new investor can get started, in my opinion is by purchasing a 4 unit property as their very first purchase. San Bernardino ... Here the county loan limit for a 4 unit property is 729,800. That enables you to buy around 760k with just 3.5% down payment. The seller can cove closing costs & escrows. That's about 30k cash. Plus we need to be sure to have another 3 months in reserves. Call it 15k. So you need about 45k total. We live in one unit, and rent out the other 3. In some cases the rents from 3 may be enough to cover the living expense in unit we live in. In most cases, the rental income will make our cost of living in our unit much cheaper than it ever would be if we bought our own condo or single family house. This is an FHA loan. Typically you can only use FHA one time. Unless you have a really good letter of explanation that details the reasons why you are moving out of your current primary and into a new house using FHA a second time. (Ie. having a baby, moving to other side of town for job, etc.) If the exception is granted, then we get to use FHA twice allowing us to control more real estate with only 3.5% out of our pocket! Where many investors make a big mistake, is buying single family or condo first... then trying to acquire a 4 unit later. It's much more difficult to convince the underwriter that you are moving out of a comfortable private space , and into a building shared with 3 other families. Then you are stuck putting down 25% to acquire that 4 unit as investment VS the 3.5% FHA as primary residence. Long story short.. by purchasing the 4 unit as your first property, you're able to acquire, control, and benefit from the appreciation of 4 units with just about 27 down (3.5%) vs about 180k (25%). How long would it take us to save up 180k? My vote is a 4 unit purchase with FHA on our very first buy. Ask anything. Jim