All Forum Posts by: Johanna S.

@Johanna S.You can likely find a bank that will do it in less than 6 months but a majority of the banks are going to require a 6 month seasoning period. If you can't qualify because of your w2 then that will likely be the holdup. I would talk to a lender about refinancing and see what you need to do in order to be able to refinance. You might have to show more income on your tax return but I would have that talk prior to moving forward with the hard money so you know you are set when you need to refi. That or you could go in with the intention to fix it up and sell it. Does the house need work? Banks will want the property to be in at least decent shape in order to finance it.  A lot of banks will let you wrap the closing costs into the loan on a refi. 

@Johanna S. 5% interest isn't bad for the private loan honestly. If it is amortized over 30 years and the lender will let you keep it indefinitely then consider keeping that for longer. If not, then I would make sure you can get set up for conventional financing to refi out within the near future so you don't get stuck not being able to pay the lender off and having to pay a penalty to extend it. 

I work a job that I love but I make less than $35k a year. I have 2 children and share custody with my ex husband. I currently own 4 homes and an empty lot.

For me I started with the home I purchased after my divorce. I didn't have any cash down but I had good credit and no debt. The second house came in when I found a really good deal a few streets over. At the time the market was down and things weren't selling. I did it "owner finance" and purchased the home plus the lot next door and spent every waking moment rehabbing the house. It took me 4 months because I only had my partner to help and a contractor (after firing 2 bad ones) to help me with the things I had never done. I learned a lot! I did a lot of shopping at thrift stores, Craigslist, habitat for humanity etc. to find a lot of what I needed to fix the house. It turned out amazing and about a year after I purchased it I refinanced to get away from the owner finance and the house appraised at $75k more than I paid and that did not even include the lot next door that I now own free and clear. When I did the refi, I took out $20k extra and used it to buy my next home. You get the idea, now I make enough in rental income that the banks seem willing to lend me anything I need. I also now have a couple of investors that have been impressed with my work, so my next purchase will be made with investor $. The problem now is the market is up significantly and finding the deals Is easier said than done. I am always keeping my eyes out tho, you never know where the next purchase will come from!

I still have that $35k job, to hard to leave the security when I have little mouths to feed. I am aiming to leave my job tho once my children are off to college... Maybe travel to different areas and live in homes as o fix em?? Who knows! Reach for he stars right!?