All Forum Posts by: Charlie V.

No "easy" way to go about getting a property for 0% down for an urban area. That is generally agreed upon as one of the shaky financial decisions that contributed to the 08 crash. First, you should look for different types of loans than conventional ones requiring 20% down. Look for the FHA loan (3.5% down) to finance a multifamily that you can live in the first year to meet their requirement. There is also the USDA loan (0% down) but you need to meet location requirements since it is meant for "rural and agricultural" development. You could get seller financing if anyone is willing to work with you on 0 down.

I'm not one of the "pros" you asked at the end, but here's my 2 cents:

With your immediate refi strategy, it sounds like you intend to create value through renovations/repairs (since you only can make money with an immediate refi by buying cheap or forcing appreciation). If you intend to do a reno, then an appraisal won't matter much since your end profit will be reliant upon your finished product. If you don't plan to do this, then I'm not too sure how you magically intend to create money (and if you have a plan to magically make it, please let me know). 

Apologies if this may be a very amateurish answer, but I think your decision is dependent upon what next steps you plan to take. Right now you are only paying 280/mo (plus taxes and insurance) to live somewhere while having roommates pay into your equity. Will you be moving into an apartment where you could pay even less than that? If you can sell your property for more than you acquired then possibly 1031 it into a multifamily that you live in and reduce those living costs to 0 (or even make money!). 

@Victor Evans Thank you for that info, I will definitely be using it. 

@Steve K. That makes sense in zones where the SFH in a location go for $400k but do you think it would make sense where homes go for $200k in the immediate outskirts? This is in Frederick, MD, so the downtown area can get expensive, but most of the "valuable" houses are in the $300-$400k range on the outskirts of the city in the 2000-2500 sq ft range and an acre or two of space, while downtown townhouses will go for $200k.

Looking around for real estate in central Maryland I'm finding some weird stuff of people posting about duplex's for sale but seemingly only focusing on one side of the property and never implying or mentioning the second side. Is this a common practice to sell half of a duplex for the price of SFHs in the area of approximate size? Or am I just reading too much into it and needing to give them a call to clarify?

Thanks @Bettina F. , I was not aware of this exemption.

@Marcus Mcvay Welcome! I am in a position pretty similar to you, (freshly) 25, finished up college a little over a year ago, and looking at getting into this in the next 6 months and move to the Winchester, VA area. We may not have much of an overlap, but feel free to connect with me if you would like to.

@Bettina F. 

Thanks, I actually didn't even think about simplifying it as simply classifying them as roommates. If they are signed on as "roommates" then do they have much fewer tenant rights on their side as opposed to renting out the top half as a unit? 

@Mike McCarthy  So the installation of a kitchen would qualify it as a multi-family home in NJ at least? Is that with a permanent separation between the main and basement level? Or would leaving the door cause a confusing grey ground for it?