All Forum Posts by: Natalie Cloutier

I'm not sure if this will help but I build rental properties in Canada with a similar loan type and I've met people through Instagram who are in the US and they've found it hard to qualify for the US cons-to-perm loans, so sometimes a Private Lender is an easier option. We've built a Fourplex with a private lender last year and yes the interest was a little more expensive (9% vs. 4%), but the approval process was a breeze AND we were able to get them to give us the money in progressive draws just like our typical construction loans. We paid 9% interest on one chunk at a time (150k, + another 150k, etc.) instead of on the whole 425k during the 9 months of construction. Hope that made sense. Good luck! :) 

@Melanie Stephens Tried to sell a unit during Covid but due to lack of inventory in the market the tenant refused that we take pictures of her belongings and post it publicly, refused any in person showings unless she could supervise with surveillance and then accused our realtor of sexual harassment. All so she wouldn’t have to move. We had our lawyers ready to go after her but Luckily we had a buyer make an offer without needing a formal viewing and wanting to inherit the tenant.... PERFECT!

@Kaylee Pratt. Built a side by side duplex with 0$ down for a 420,000$ mortgage in 2018. Sold 1 half for 258,000$ in January 2020 and the 2nd half during Covid for 345,000$. Made 183k profit for 0$ invested and still cashflowed 300$ a month during those 2 years.

@Justin Johnson yes it’s normal! My husband and I started by building our first home from the ground up at 19 years old and my husband was throwing up the entire first week when the shovel was going in the ground lol then we house hacked it with a basement apartment and I still get nervous to this day when we take on a new tenant in our own home. Just take a deep breath, remember to always keep your eye on the ball, stay focused, treat it like a business and keep educating yourself. You will come out a winner. It just means you’re going outside your comfort zone. Good luck!

I'm in Canada so I'm not sure if the terms are the same but we had to pay a start up fee of 1% along with the lender's lawyer fees before getting our loan. Everything was paid through the lawyers though so we weren't worried about not getting our loan after, maybe you can ask to do the same if you're worried? I also don't believe they need a license it can be anyone that lends you money. We found our lender through our accountant and our lawyer and it turned out my mom knew who he was too, but if you're not sure who this person is maybe you can ask to speak to references? He shouldn't hesitate to give you references, he should understand you're just doing your due diligence too. Good luck!

@Nick Reinhardt Sounds like a good plan! Stick to your gutt feeling and go with it :)

@Joseph Atafua I always believe that house hacking is the absolute best way to start :) how you choose to do that is up to you but personally I find that buying a simple bungalow and adding a basement apartment is a fantastic way! Good luck!

@Amber Ponte The best thing to do is to start with a Pre-Application Consultation Meeting with your municipality. You’ll most likely need to do several studies and reports to achieve the zoning amendment and the level of detail required for most of those reports/studies can vary. In some cases, a single-page letter from a qualified expert will be adequate, while in other situations a major study will be necessary. But either way you’ll get all the requirement and scope of work needed during your pre-application consultation meeting.

@Nick Reinhardt I feel like maybe I would get it done now and get it out of the way, just in case the market crashes in the next year with the Covid crazyness. You could get full price now and lock it in. Cause it sounds like we’re in a similar market and you probably wont have any issues renting in November if its like here.

Just my hunch though! You know more your market best :)

@Alexander Palomares Hey Alex! My husband and I have been building stick frame from the ground up since 2014 and we owe all of our success with this method. We build with 0$ down using our sweat equity instead, not sure if that's something you'd want to consider. Our first 4 properties were SFH but we sold them all this year in order to recycle capital to build better cash flowing multi units. SFHs have their pros and cons. The value increase went very fast for us but the monthly cash flow was low and tenants wouldn't leave which can be good and bad lol but I would definitely take the opportunity to build on your lot, rent it out and worst case sell it after a couple years like we did.

Good luck!