All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Coulter

Hi,

I am looking to buy a 3 bed single family house with decent schools in San Diego. Budget is about ~900K and looking at places which have good appreciation (and less risk of depreciation) in San diego. Currently I am looking at mira mesa area 92126 as I see ~900K houses there and schools also are rated 7-9. 

Can someone local to San Diego share insights on local SD areas which meet above criteria? Is Mira Mesa a desirable and safe area to live/rent? How is Poway? (it seems a bit too far to me but budget wise I might be able to find something there).

Thanks 

I have 2 long term rentals both at 7.5% interest rates.

1. estimated value: $950k, outstanding mortgage of $574k

2. estimated value: $900k, outstanding mortgage of $514k

#1 cash flows nicely for me at $2500/mo, but #2 leaves me at a $400 loss each month, mainly due to the interest rate. I'm wondering if anyone has any creative ideas for how I could consolidate 2 loans into one that MAY have a better rate. I have a good income and credit score. My loan broker tells me to not even think about 15yr mortgage (i don't know why?). So I'm wondering if I was to get a business loan based on the rental income of the properties and secured by the properties themselves. Is this a thing? I'm still new at this and I own the houses in the name of my trust, I haven't set up any sort of business entity for them yet. I'm happy to pay someone's consult fee if they can help me towards refinancing to a better rate that helps me cash flow on both properties. Thanks BP community!

Thanks for your revert, @Nicolas Coulter - Apparently we do not prefer going the HELOC route and were hoping if there are other options out there? Please advise!

Team - We plan to 'BUILD' an ADU in our backyard needed to know if there are any "Non-Traditional ADU financing options" out there? Eventually we plan to rent the ADU for Medium or Long Term rental, and not sure if DSCR loan will qualify for such an arrangement. Please let me know. Thank You!

Hello! My name is Maegan and I am in the beginning stages of adulthood. I got my first “career” job a year ago, but quickly realized that trading time for money wasn’t going to be enough if I wanted to create wealth while living in California. After doing some research, I finally read rich dad poor dad (a classic turning point). Reading this then lead me to try and find ways to invest my money. One of my good friends and I were talking about different investing methods and decided we would be each others accountability partner. She would learn and teach me about investing in stocks and I would learn and teach her about real estate investing. This lead me to finding the bigger pockets podcast on YouTube a few months ago, and then eventually to the real estate rookie podcast. After listening to the podcast for months and reading multiple books on real estate investing and rental properties, I am officially hooked and eager to begin my real estate investing journey! I am open to connecting with real estate investors in the area and am eager to learn and hear about other investors experiences. I am excited to join this bigger pockets community and look forward to connecting! Cheers!

Hello BiggerPockets community!

I’m excited to join this vibrant group as I embark on my journey into real estate investing. My background is in Military and IT, but I’ve recently shifted my focus toward achieving time and financial freedom through real estate. I’m diving headfirst into learning everything I can to become fluent and knowledgeable in this field.

What really excites me about REI is the hustle—the constant growth, challenges, and opportunities that come with it. While there are still some unknowns that I'm working to overcome, I'm confident that with persistence and the right community, I'll master this craft.

I'm here to connect with like-minded individuals, share experiences, and learn from others who have walked this path before me. If you have insights, advice, or just want to chat about the world of REI, I'd love to hear from you. Let's grow together!

Looking forward to connecting and learning from you all!

Hi BiggerPockets community! 👋

I'm fairly new to real estate and currently working on my first big project—adding an ADU to my property in Escondido (San Diego County). I'm here to learn as much as I can and connect with others who have experience in this space.

I'm specifically looking for anyone who has used a Homestyle Renovation loan for an ADU. Did you get to use the future value of your home (post-ADU) to qualify for the loan? If so, how did that work out for you?

If you haven't used a Homestyle loan but have added an ADU, I'd love to know how your home appraised afterward. A ballpark figure is great—just trying to get a sense of what to expect.

Thanks so much for any advice or insights you can share! I’m really excited to be part of this community and to learn from everyone here. 🙌

Thanks for the responses! I’m already working the buy, live in, rent strategy but plan on selling the house I’m in now. 

I'm stationed in San Diego and bought another house as a primary residence. Issue is that it doesn't look like rent is gonna catch up with my mortgage unless I'm able to refinance at a ridiculously low rate before I PCS next year. Since I'm not trying to have negative cash flow, I'll likely sell it when I leave and roll that equity into another investment property when I move to my next duty station and use a VA loan to buy another primary residence.

Also I would rent out the other rooms if I didn’t have a family! I’ve got friends doing that and it works well for them  

Regarding the due on sale clause, I was wondering about that since the seller of the property I was looking at has a VA loan. I called a local real estate attorney and he advised against it. What I'm looking at now is using the HELOC for a down payment and getting a conventional loan, just need to get someone to bite on an offer that's low enough for me to at least break even month to month.