All Forum Posts by: Nathan F.

Welcome, to BP Forums. I am originally from Duluth, MN and moved back a few years ago after 7 years in Alaska. It's super awesome place to be, you're going to love it up there. Alaska has a great rental market to get involved in because the residents are so transient, a lot of them are up for a year or two then gone and just looking to rent while they are there. That being said real estate in Alaska, especially Anchorage (that is where I lived) is expensive, well everything in Alaska is a bit expensive.

Good Luck up there. Going to Anchorage or Fairbanks?

Actually, the bank is usually quite good. The underwriter is saying it is an FHA requirement to have actual duplexes, not triplex or quads for comps. They said in the past (even last year) they could have used any 2-4 unit in the comp. There just no comps for duplex in this price range.

The bank told me that is looked like a good enough loan, that they'd be willing to keep the note in their portfolio, but I would need 20% and it's about a point higher than FHA right now. I can't get to 20% right now.

Today, I'll try and find if a second would work and assume the owner's loan.

I am trying to close on a duplex and appraiser said there are no available comps? The banks has already unwritten the loan, just need an appraisal and apparently cannot finish the appraisal.

The appraiser is a local real estate investor, he knows the house is worth more than the price, he knows it will cashflow (which is part of the appraisal he has finished). The bank won't let him compare triplex's even in simular nieghborhoods. They said they have to be duplex's only.

Part of the problem it is a nice duplex in all single family upscale nighborhood and duplex's in my area are rare (Duluth, Minnesota).

So if a bank won't finance, looking at possible:

• Assume loan (which owner ok with) and try to find a second loan to make the difference ($50K), but would still need appraisal.
• Lease Option? Not sure if owner is open to this yet. He was looking to cash out his money for another project.

Any ideas on how to solve the comp issue would be appreciated. Or tips on lease option and second mortgage. Anyway's I'm surprised there are no comps within the year.

Thanks

Welcome Rob, from up north, in Duluth.

I was in your same position about a year ago. Between saving the capital and then finding a deal takes a bit of time. Stay focused you'll get there. I will be closing on my first deal in 6 days. This is a great place to find all sorts of information on REI.

Anyways, welcome to BP,

Nathan

I was going to hyper-inflate the rent. So if the rent is $1500/Mo, the lease would say $1550/Mo, but if you pay online and on/or before the first rent will be $1500. I would also advertise at the lower amount and explain to the tenant that they get the advertised price for online/on-time payments.

Wow, lots of great feedback. I know I can't make every renter go high tech. But this is a more upscale rental, where most people who will be renting have high speed internet, computers, tablets, & smart phones. Would like to collect rent online vs checks.

Maybe I'll offer a discount for online payment and on-time. Would $50 off be a good amount to offer for deduct?

Yeah, it does throw up some red flags. All it says on their webpage is they are associated with intuit. I emailed and asked if they can make address and phone number easier to find on the site so those red flags are not there.

Closing at the end of the month on my first rental property. It's a duplex and wondering if I should encourage tenants to set up payment online. Was looking at sparkrent.com, it is only $1 per unit/month.

Has anyone had luck using this service?

I just went trough this. I called lots of lenders in my town and couldn't find anyone who would do a conventional 5% down on a multi-family, they would do it for a single family. The best I could find was 10% down for conventional. I went the FHA route and plan on refinancing 2-3 years down the road.

North Dakota is kind the wild west right now. The company I work for has been out doing work out there for a couple of years. Lodging for our crews was a definite issue. We ended up working out a deal with real estate investor to lease 4 townhomes for our guys. We also had a friend of mine, develop a RV "park" on his property for campers. Both deals were very expensive, and I'm sure the investors made some good money on our lodging. I'm not sure what cap rates are out there, but just be prepared for the boom and bust cycle. Right now it's hard to see the bust, in either competition or oil field slowing down.