All Forum Posts by: Nicole Holcomb

Li Lu would you consider turning your primary residence into a rental and purchasing a new primary residence? Chances are you could get a solid cash flow on your primary if you have owned for a couple years. This would open up your options and allow you to take advantage of the lower down payment % options on a new primary + house hack. 

Way to go!!! What't next for you?

Hi Jason, welcome to the BP forums! 

What are your favorite neighborhoods in San Diego for investment properties? 

What are your favorite investment strategies to use in the San Diego market? 

Hi Oscar Moncada, Welcome! This is a great place to meet like minded investors, grow your network and learn about REI. Where in San Diego are you looking to buy?

Have a great day!

Hi Loretta Williams I have been house hacking for the last 6 years and would love to chat with you. Most recently I added an ADU to my SFR in Encinitas. I am happy to share my experience and knowledge on house hacking in San Diego.

I like number 4 best because it states the "why" right up front. I think there is too much elaboration, keep it short and sweet. Stress good credit score, long term rental & personal references and stable employment history. I would remove the word bulldog, that breed reference can turn some people off. It would be better to refer to the dogs as 2 professionally trained rescue dogs under _____ lbs.

Here is a possible draft that is more direct:

Hello

My name is Cordelia, I am a mature, young professional woman looking to relocate to a quiet and peaceful area. I'm originally from a farm in Scandinavia and want to get back to nature. I have been living in San Diego, California for the past four years and I have excellent long term rental and personal references (provided below). I am well employed, with great credit and ample cash reserves. I am looking for a long term home for me and my 2 professionally trained rescue dogs under _____ lbs. I do not smoke, drink or use drugs and am ready to put down a deposit today. I look forward to hearing back from you!

Thank you!

Regards

Cordelia

Hi Joseph Marman I have found that my local Facebook REI groups are best for these sort of referrals. I am a member of 4 Facebook REI groups and see posts a couple times a month asking for title/ escrow companies that do dual closes and are open to working with investors.

Become a member of your local groups and look at the past posts to see who investors in your area use. The Facebook groups will also help you build your buyers lists. Look as past "deal posts" and "building my buyer list posts" and collect the emails of cash buyers to utilize when you find a deal.

Best of luck to you!

Hi Tradarian Clewis welcome to the BP forums! You will find so much great info about REI here. In my market one of the easiest ways to build a buyers list is to join your local Facebook REI group/s. Once you are a member of the Facebook group you can go back and look at past posts. The comments on past deal posts will be filled with cash buyer email addresses. People often make posts saying, "Building my buyers list, drop your email in the comments." All you need to do is check out the comments for the names and email addresses. My recommendation is to quietly build your buyers list by collecting email addresses from past posts as opposed to making a post about looking for cash buyers. It can be annoying to constantly see the "Building my buyers lists posts."

Best of luck to you!

Hi Kico Mendoza, will you be using the multifamily property as your primary residence? If not you will most likely need 20-25% for the down payment to qualify for a conventional loan. My preferred lender can go as low as 5% down on a conventional loan as a primary residence. If you are going to go this route keep in mind the limits on conforming loans. According to www.loanlimits.org the conforming limits are as follows for 1-4 unit properties in San Diego County.

Start talking to lenders now to get an idea of their requirements, you may be able to go conventional and take advantage of the historically low interest rates.

Hi Long G. Tran

 I think the number one reason to go with a local lender is that they have a better reputation for closing loans on a timely basis. In today's competitive market some sellers and real estate agents may not even consider offers from national banks or online lenders because of previous bad experiences, or because of the bad reputation some of these have. I just had a terrible experience with a National Bank that almost caused a cancellation of escrow.

To big banks and national lenders you are just another $$$. Local mortgage brokers have an incentive to provide you with excellent service because they want you to be a source of referrals for future business. They know that whether you have a great experience or a bad one, your friends and relatives are going to hear about it. These people live and work in the local area and have local lending insight that is not available to national lenders. Local lenders know it is their reputation and livelihood that is at stake. 

Going local means you can meet your lender and ask questions in person if need be which can be a huge benefit to first time home buyers. They have an actual person there to walk them through the sometimes daunting process. Finally using a local lender supports your local community.