All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Mazdra

After a big brand new kitchen renovation, the appliances are still shipping. If the appraisal is scheduled before the appliances arrive, will that hurt the value?? If so, how to combat that?

Hey guys. New to Fairbanks, and trying to find a meetup. I know this is old, but are there any groups around here that meet?

@Nathan Smith Great question brother. I'll tell you this. I am in the military, and I have a masters in business administration. Which one has helped me with real estate? Not the MBA. The VA loan on the other hand I have used multiple times.

You’re looking at investment strategies that don’t really require college. You can learn everything on YouTube university.

That being said, you need an income stream to get loans from the bank. College might be able

To help with that part.

Hey buddy, I'm going to send you a personal message with the email box for the virtual meet-up. I know my thing says I'm from Alaska, but I invest long distance in St. Louis. Would love to connect also.

You are right that most places will require 20 or even 25% down if you are not owner occupying. This is hard to get past. I have found local banks are more willing to help you past that than the big banks. Sometimes local banks will allow a 15% down payment for an investment property. You have to reach out to them to find out. Also note that investment loans will have higher interest than own occupied loans

 It's not a bad idea. When the bank calculates your debt to income ratio they use the minimum amounts that you owe. That extra money that you pay won't play a role in your debt to income. It is going straight to the principle which means you are saving whatever interest rate that you have when you pay that. The only other choice with that money would be how could you better invest it? I think you're on the right track.

Hey Garrett, way to get ahead of the game. My advice would be to make sure that you set yourself up to be able to qualify for loans. 

Since you are young, you will need to be able to show a steady income stream. The banks will look at your debt to income ratio, and you will only be able to qualify for a certain amount based off how much income you make. IDK the exact ratio they are looking for in your area, but say they want 45% debt to income max. That means if you make 1000$ a month they will only loan to you for something that costs 450$ a month. This is in combination with your other debts like car payments. So if you made 1000 and had a 200$ car payment, you could only qualify for 250$ worth of mortgage a month. Does this make sense? 

So it is important to keep your debt low and your income steady while you're working towards getting some loans. Also, it is nice to live with your parents and save your money. That being said, as a young person, you have the opportunity to grab a multi family home with an FHA loan and start house hacking. It can be a great catalyst.

Best of luck!

Connor, Thanks for the advice. So down in Anchorage are you able to see the final sales prices of comps on the MLS? Are you allowed to share this with your clients?

 Thanks for the advice. I started working with a realtor, and I have been able to get ahold of things like seller's disclosures and inspections. That being said, they still don't have access to sales prices. It's very interesting. According to my realtor, all they can see is the old list price, and whether the appraisal came in high or low. It doesn't show exact values. It's very secretive up here in the mountains of Alaska. 

 I don't think so. It says it doesn't expire until OCT2021. I had it activated with a broker while I was in Texas, and I did one sale. Then I let my broker know I was moving to Alaska, and to my understanding the broker un-activated the license. So, I believe I still have a valid license, but it just isn't sponsored by any broker.