All Forum Posts by: Oscar Miguel

I'm happy to see everyone starting to make headway! I was unable to refinance when I needed to make a move, but fortunately, I was able to get a HELOC where the appraiser was reasonable and gave me full credit for the ADU as if it had been a full-fledged unit! Times are changing, and it appears it will or is getting easier to proceed.

 Thank you Max, that makes sense.  Too bad, I doubt I'll be able to pay what wholesalers or flippers will be able to pay.  It's in a nice area and will prob sell high even in this condition.

Hello everyone, there is a neighbor whose grandmother (legal homeowner) passed away without a will or trust.  The neighbor doesn't live there anymore and now the house has a squatter.  I asked her if she'd be interested in selling and she is, but here is some of the hair on this potential investment:

*There are 3 siblings, two are in contact and receptive to selling, the third is estranged but came out of the woodwork looking for a piece of the pie.  Have not had any luck getting a hold of this person.

*As mentioned, there is now a squatter in the home.  Police were called and the squatter knows his rights and now has to be evicted.

*The house is just about to go into probate.

I would love some advice from people with experience here.  Is there a way for me to buy the house and start the eviction process myself?  This house is in a gentrified neighborhood but has not been touched since 1960.  It'd be almost a full teardown and rebuild, but the neighborhood it sits on is definitely worth it.  Not to mention that I'd like to help keep the neighborhood safe.  Most of the other neighbors are elderly and don't seem to want to get involved.  So I see an opportunity for a value add flip or rental, but not sure how to deal with the house being in probate, and now the squatter.

Any advice is welcome, thank you!

 Congratulations, good luck, and keep us posted!

Congrats on the permitting of the ADU! I'm sure things will change soon, but at least you can pull a HELOC on the property if it's owner occupied. Just have to find a bank or credit union that allows HELOCs on multi-fam.

Hello Khoa, unfortunately not. Everyone I spoke with said they could not/would not refinance a duplex with an ADU as it would make the loan intelligible to be packaged and resold...or something along those lines. Ultimately, I had to adjust and plan based on this information. I am hearing rumors that guidelines will change for CA ADUs in 2021 that could provide much more flexibility, I imagine since there is such a shortage of housing in CA.

Are you planning on building, or selling a property with an ADU?

 Thank you Kerry, yes definitely looking into those options.

My last post was removed. I'm wondering if HELOCs exist (nowadays) for owner-occupied multi-family properties. I recently finished an awesome house hack and am hoping to finish strong with a HELOC to let me continue investing. I used 3.5% down and bought a two-family property close to the beach, added a permitted ADU, refinanced out of MIP, and dropped the payment/rate. The last thing I'd like to do is get a HELOC to open me up for more investment opportunities. Did this solo and it's been an awesome adventure and learning experience every single day!

Sorry I don't have more info on the post, not sure how to get info without this getting flagged.  

Congratulations Paul!  I just finished building one in San Diego.  Curious, how long was your process from design to ground break?  Very cool man!