All Forum Posts by: Nick Foundas

Happy 2015 BP, I plan to use funds from a Home Equity Line of Credit for an investment property.
I was wondering if I opened a Home Equity Line of Credit on my primary residence and it just sits there unused, would it hurt my chances of getting approved for an investment property loan from a local community bank? I assume it shouldnt factor into the loan decision or my debt to income ratio if I havent made any draws on the HELOC but figured I throw this out to the experts for advice!

This is wonderful, thank you to @Michael Quarles for providing the specific step by step instructions. Any chance you can do the same for pre-foreclosure opportunities and what criteria to select? I tried running a few cities and they return 0 results which is hard to believe.
1 last question, under the Options tab it asks for "Address Completeness Requirements" I was wondering which option to choose. Do you choose only the Mailing Address option, or Both Mailing Address and Property Address option? I would assume you want both?

I'm new at this and would love to make new construction a big part of my strategy (inventory levels are extremely low right now in my area (Boston market) and there are a surplus of qualified buyers ready to pull the trigger, multiple offers everywhere).
For a newbie, This tool looks great, may not be perfect but I think the multipliers would definitely help get the cost in range for your local market. Would this tool work for calculating single family development? Also, what does "Finished Lot Cost" mean? Is that the cost of purchasing the land/lot?

This is a question to the full-time investors out there (flippers & buy/hold investors). If this is your full-time job and you don't have a typical W2 paying job, is it a lot more difficult for you to obtain bank financing on properties? If you own a few buy/hold rental properties with positive cash flow, do they count that as income? Thanks!

Hi Brenda, totally agree, I actually work as a part-time realtor so am familiar with local markets and have access to MLS data, comps etc so hopefully I can find something that would work!

Thanks so much for all the great reponses, If I can find a bank that will agree to this then I think this could be a good strategy to take as a way to acquire multiple buy/hold investment properties. The approach would be to use Home Equity loan on my primary residence to buy investment property, fix it up, cash-out refi, pay off existing home equity loan and do it all over again. As long as the #'s work of course.?

I was wondering if someone could explain how a cash out refi works in more detail. This might be an option for me but wanted to get a greater understanding before I went into a local bank, I figure the less basic/elementary questions I have for the bank makes me look like a stronger candidate. I created a fake scenario/example below, is this the gist of a cash-out refi? (Im more of a visual learner so like using examples). Purchase Investment property for $250,000 (non occupied) with 20% down payment (loan amount would be $200,000). Use $20,000 in savings to fix up the property) and then rent it out. Allow 6 or 12 months to pass (depending on bank requirements) and then ask bank for a cash-out refi based on new appraised value. Bank appraisal is $315,000. If you are able to cash-out refi, what is the max amount of cash that you can take out based on the above #'s? What # would your new mortgage payment be based off of?

Dylan, thanks so much those are great tips, I had not thought of going to a lumber yard/building supply store, they should definitely have some really good intel/recommendations. I know of a good one close by I will definitely check out.

For someone that is just starting out and about to embark on their first deal, does anyone have recommendations on how to find a good contractor to handle the renovations?  Are there specific resources you might recommend (google, angies)?  I assume local REI wouldnt want to recommend their own guys since it could possibly tie them up when they may need to use them. Also Scheduling is a concern of mine.  If you select a reputable contractor I would assume they have a full calendar.  If you are flipping, time to market is crucial, so how can you be sure the contractor will be able to devote several weeks in a row to get your project completed on time? Any helpful tips/advice would be great!!

Might be a random question but figure I ask to hopefully open up some good discussion: Im looking to do my first Investment deal in the near future. Based on the following details and assuming you were just starting out in the world of RE Investing, what would you do if you were me:
Currently my wife and I own a single family residence, we have some solid equity built up (lets say around $75k). We also have around 40k in savings. If you were me and just starting out what would you do? What sort of investment opportunity would you look for in that first deal, with the idea of wanting to do this full-time? Also, keep in mind this is the Northeast where prices arent exactly dirt cheap.
I like the idea of a Buy/Hold strategy, I think its a good long-term wealth building strategy, less risky and ultimately I would love to build up a large portfolio of properties over time, I know we could secure the first property just not sure how to acquire #2, 3, 4 and so on. I also like the excitement of flipping and the short term profit opportunity it presents but of course its more risky. Im not interested in wholesaling.
What financing strategy would you take with a local bank/lender? Simply take out a Home Equity Loan to put down 20% on an Investment property? I heard you can get away with buying a 2nd home with a conventional loan without 20% down if you had some sort of life event change such as a baby and need a home with more space etc, or want to move closer to work.
I know this is a lot of rambling and a very broad based question but was hoping to get some advice on how an experienced/successful investor would start in my particular situation