All Forum Posts by: Nick Louie

There are income limits and loan limits and sale price limits which depend on which county in New York State. Minimum FICO middle is 600 ::: but that pushes the fixed rate way up. If your score is 740 today you can get a rate that parallels a traditional FHA loan. You will struggle finding anything in the price range in NYC area because of the loan limits. Sellers are not going to smile at your offer as the property has to be in good to great health and safety codes, no fixers. Sellers have so many cash offers to pick from you better have the most savvy, loved, negotiator, respected Realtor in the city where you are making an offer as your agent. Who you deal with will matter. IF you plan to use your buddy who is out of county expect to be making offers on 30 properties until you give in and recall what I said here. With today's rates so low, holding for ten years is a nice plan, but you have to maintain owner occupancy to one unit. No unit can be under 500 square feet so the basement idea would have to be something you fix up with your own cash after closing. No more than 5 acres. There are many properties for sale today upstate that meet the program. I suggest you take a free approved homeowner education class as it is required and will help you with the ins and outs. some links to read:

https://hcr.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2021/06/atdlimits6.11.22.pdf

There are 4 different programs. The FHA one you ask about is limited to the county max dollar here ::

$548,250 – 1 unit Family • $702,000 – 2 Family • $848,500 – 3 Family • $1,054,500 – 4 Family

Wishing you happy hunting

C G

Hi CG - I agree with you that using the NYS SONYMA down payment assistance program ("DPAP") might not be worth it. You made me realize that to be eligible for the DPAP (which is all I really want), I actually need to take out my loan with SONYMA, which has all types of income restrictions. I think my income alone would disqualify me. Then on top of that, there's all sorts of restrictions that make the DPAP unattractive.

I agree I gotta compete with cash buyers, but I welcome the competition :-)

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Originally posted by @Akwasi Degraft:

@Ralph Chiaia I had plans of looking in the North Ironbound area. But after meeting with Abel, I decided to invest in a property in Brooklyn, NY. Going forward I may look to Newark or possibly Trenton.

I see this thread is over a year old, but I was wondering how your search ended up? Were you able to find a spot in Brooklyn to house-hack?

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@Dustin Lauer

Do you happen to know of any DSCR loan officers in New York City?

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@Jeff Shumway

Thanks Jeff. This is some solid advice. I’m going to look into this as well.

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BiggerPocketers,

My name is Nick. I'm moving back to Manhattan from abroad in about a week. I'm looking to house-hack via FHA (3.5%) immediately. Ideally, I'm looking to land a multi-family in Brooklyn with 4 units + an additional dwelling unit, like a basement.

I did some research on loans, and I noticed some providers in NYS offer a product called "SONYMA FHA PLUS," which is a combination of an FHA loan and SONYMA's down payment assistant program ("DPAP"). The DPAP grants qualified first time home buyers up to $15,000 in down payment and closing costs. This is a grant, so the buyer wouldn't have to repay the $15,000, with some exceptions. After researching, I do not believe the DPAP has income limits (Please correct me if I'm wrong).

My question is: has anybody used the DPAP before? I'd love to hear the community's thoughts on the DPAP. It seems attractive.

I do know that: (1) the applicant must reside in the residence for 10 years; and (2) the applicant cannot pay off the mortgage within 10 years as well. Besides these requirements, it seems the DPAP is a great program for first-time buyers in NYS.

Any feedback would be great!

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I'm currently planning on financing my first deal as well. I'm going to do a FHA house hack as well, and I'm looking to land a duplex or multi-family.

@Jordan, when you put down your 3.5% downpayment, did you consider applying for any down payment assistance program in your state?

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All Forum Posts by: Nick Louie

Nick Louie has started 10 posts and replied 56 times.

Post: NYS SONYMA Down Payment Assistant Program Requirements

Post: House hacking: New York City neighbourhoods

Post: What has been your experience with DSCR loans?

Post: Self-Evaluating Mortgage Loan Worthiness

Post: NYS SONYMA Down Payment Assistant Program Requirements

Post: You're First two deals. Financing