All Forum Posts by: Nicole Brush

Wow, thank you so much for all the advice, I appreciate it so much. 

Two questions:  

1.  Is the down payment based on the selling price plus the estimated rehab costs or just the selling cost? 

2.  Is there a way to find out (without making a million phone calls) who would finance a HomeStyle loan.  I'm trying the Google but I'm not having much luck.  

Thank you all!

Thank you Shaun,

The property is in Newbury, MA.  It's a very large property, built in 1850 and does need a lot of work -- insulation, windows, etc.  In doing the rehab I would probably do an all new kitchen, bathrooms, and add on a master bath.  The electric is updated (no knob & tube) and the foundation has been improved but still may need some work. 

I found a two unit house in MA that I want to completely rehab.  I would live in one unit and rent out the other.  I can easily afford the mortgage with 20% down but that would eat up all my cash so I'm unsure how to finance the rehab.  I don't want to make an offer without knowing that I'll be able to afford it.  Just ball-park, off the cuff, no reason for this number, I'm guessing it will take 200K to rehab.  I obviously want to bring a contractor in to take a look and give me a better estimate but again, I don't want to proceed if I'll be unable to purchase.  

Where do I go from here?  Can I make an offer in order to get a contractor in?  Can I just request a second showing with a contractor (but I would want more than one contractor estimate) and I would want to act quickly in order to secure the property.  I know of a 203k loan, are there other types of financing available for this type of project?  

Thanks so much for the help

I'm a 33 year old teacher, living in Massachusetts, married with two kids and a huge interest in investing in real estate.  However, after reading this site for hours upon hours and listening to days worth of podcasts, I feel like I'm even more confused with what I should do and where I should start.  Ideally I would like to build something that would allow me to dedicate more flexible time to my family.

My husband is on board with me doing something creative real-estate wise, but I'm not sure what direction to head.  We have about $70,000 cash we can use to get started but we are also looking to buy/rent in a good area for the kids to go to school.  Since we are first-time homebuyers I know we could buy and put very little down on a house but don't know what direction to go.  Would you put down as much as we can on a multi-family that we would also live in?  Put down 3.5% on a single-family (or multi-family) and invest the rest in a second property?  Buy and flip a house?  I'm so confused! (and still not entirely sure how to go about with the wholesale thing)

Because I am a teacher, I would have the summer to dedicate to research, rehab, etc., but until then, and perhaps even after, we would both stay employed to guarantee an income.  As a side note, we currently live in a house that we put down the down payment on and have been maintaining for the past 5 years, but it is not in our name, which is why we would still be considered first-time homebuyers.  We do have experience renovating and maintaining a house though, and this beast was build in 1900 so it wasn't exactly easy swimming.  

Thank you so much for any advice you can provide.