All Forum Posts by: Myles Ellison

 Thank you for the tip, @Erik Estrada! I had never heard of this type of loan until yesterday. I will do more research. Really appreciate the reply.

 Thank you so much, @Andrew Zamboroski! I really appreciate the tip. I had never heard of a DSCR loan until yesterday. Very helpful.

Thank you so much for the reply, @Jeremy Taggart! I really appreciate it. I have considered moving out there and getting a W2 job for two years and renting, and then doing a house hack with a low-down loan. However, I had never heard of the DSCR loan until yesterday, so that is really helpful as well. Also, thank you for the info on the other units counting 75% toward DTI; that might tip me over the edge to qualify as well.

Hello! I am looking to buy an investment property in the Pittsburgh area in the next year, but am worried my Independent Contractor situation might complicate getting a mortgage. I live in NYC, but my brother and family live in Gibsonia outside of Pittsburgh, and I have been visiting them there for a decade. I work in real estate rentals and also am an artist here in NYC, and have two S Corps for both businesses, so my tax returns look like I make less than I realistically could afford mortgage-wise due to write-offs, etc. I have been doing the same jobs for 13 years, so I think that would bode well for me, and I have what I'd consider a sufficient amount saved for a 20% down payment in my price range, plus closing costs, etc, and have excellent credit.

Recently, I have been staying a night in different neighborhoods I have been researching each time I visit. I stayed in Beechview and Avalon recently and think they are cool, and am also open to a lot of other areas. 

I have considered moving out there and doing a proper multifamily househack of a duplex or triplex, which would open up my price range since I could get an owner-occupied mortgage, but I feel like that would be even worse qualification-wise, since I would be moving out and starting a new job as opposed to paying the larger 20% down investment loan and continuing to live in NYC, where I have a work history, and I believe mortgage lenders usually want like 2 years of bank statements and tax forms when lending to Independent Contractors in the first place.

I am wondering if any other investors in the area have invested from out-of-town with a similar work situation (being an Independent Contractor) and how the process went for them. Also, if you have any mortgage lenders you'd recommend I speak to who are local, that would be helpful as well. Thank you!

Hi @Christian Orellana! How's it going with your building? If you're looking for a real estate broker, I'd love to help.

Hey BP, I'm an early 30s professional looking to buy his first place. I'm curious, is it worth it to buy a condo in NYC, and furthermore, is using an FHA loan even an option? I hear stories about people getting beat out with tons of cash offers, and FHA offers need to be above asking. Also, from listening to BP podcasts, I hear you aren't supposed to buy based on appreciation because "that's not investing, that's speculating." Can anyone give me their thoughts on this? Mostly on if it's actually realistic to think I can buy an NYC condo with an FHA loan.

Hey BP Fam, wanted to run something by you all. A former real estate broker/mentor offered to help me buy a condo. His proposal is that he would pay the full down payment and closing costs and we would own the place 50/50. He would basically give me private money and I would use my FHA privileges. I'd live in it for a year and then we'd decide if we wanted to rent it out/I'd stay there/we'd sell it. He mentioned the possibility of good appreciate in the coming years. The neighborhoods I'm interested in are Ridgewood (Queens) and Bushwick (Brooklyn).

However, I am a few weeks away from closing a sale on a property I own (inherited when my parents passed away a few years ago) out of state (Vermont) and will have enough to move forward myself if I want to. He even mentioned to me how "it would be smarter for me to do it myself." He also mentioned that he would co-sign a mortgage for me if I needed any help.

I know this all sounds like a nice offer, but he has an interest in getting a return on his investment, of course. And he can be a rather intense/pushy person, so the thought of partnering for this does give me pause... I've been a real estate agent for 7 years and he was my broker for 4 of those years. I know it might sound crazy, but I've only done rentals and never repped a buyer/seller, and going through the sale of the out-of-state property is my first experience buying/selling. He also mentioned I could represent myself in the deal and use my commission to reimburse myself for closing costs.

Does this sound like a good idea? Bad idea? All I can think of is what Bigger Pockets has drilled into me, which is "don't buy for appreciation, buy for cash flow." But then I look at comps of condos in my areas of choice that sold for $200k in 2013, which are now listed for $400+...

Any comments/advice appreciated. I'm assuming the first step in all this if I did move forward would be meeting with a mortgage broker and finding out what I'd qualify for. My credit is excellent and income is decent. Thank you.

Hello,

I’m Myles, age 30, living in Queens, NY, and working as a real estate agent here, focusing in rentals for the past 6 years.

I’m writing because my 2-5 year plan is to buy a multifam in another market. I can’t afford anything in the NY Metro Area at the moment, so I’m exploring areas in:

• my home state of Vermont (Southern VT mainly)
• Keene, NY
• Pittsburgh, PA where my brother lives
• Kingston, NY (Upstate NY area/Catskills)
• North Adams, MA (college town)

I’m trying to stick to areas I have some ties to since it will most likely be an out-of-state situation with a property manager.

My goal is to buy a 2-4 unit property that is in decent shape, rent the units, and have one unit for myself to come to when I want to get away from NYC.

I've been running numbers on both the rental property calculator and the BRRRR calculator with varying results. It seems that unless it's in rough condition and I make a very lowball, borderline-unrealistic offer, the numbers aren't gonna work.

I'm sort of torn because I have an amazing deal on my rent-stabilized one-bed here in Ridgewood, Queens. And I stay pretty busy here in the city, so I'm not sure I would be ready to do an FHA-loan house hack and relocate. Rather, I might have to bite the bullet and put the 20% down and get a property manager. Of course, I could also get private/hard money, but that sort of freaks me out - what if the property doesn't hit the target ARV and I can't pay off the lender / 70% isn't enough?

But part of me would like to get out of the city, cut my living expenses and maybe even live rent/mortgage-free! There's also the huge benefit of using an FHA loan, but I'm not sure I would be able to sublet my apartment here in the city to occupy the property for the first year.

Then, I think about the pros of having the tenants next door: they are next door. And the cons: they are next door.

So, I’ve also considered a single-fam, short-term vacation rental property in the Vermont ski areas, the Catskills, or some other yet-to-be-researched/discovered location.

Anyway, as you can see, I need to keep researching to find out where the best opportunity is for me. Fortunately, I have excellent credit, but I’ve been an independent contractor for the past 6 years, so I worry about qualifying for a mortgage. Once a house my brother and I co-own (inherited property in rough condition aka not getting rich off it) sells in Vermont, I will be debt-free and have some savings for a down payment. That *should* happen in 2018, fingers crossed.

If anyone has any comments/guidance/experience they can share with me, that would be awesome! I feel like I'm in my obsessive, Type A research spiral and need some guidance to focus/think outside the box.

Thank you,

Myles

Hey Vincent! Sorry for the late reply. I deal with the finances and he deals with the tenant/repairs, but we switch it up sometimes.

Wow, awesome work! Congratulations!!