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All Forum Posts by: Rebecca M.

Rebecca M. has started 4 posts and replied 28 times.

Post: Finding a Seattle Primary Residence Advice

Rebecca M.Posted
  • Pacific North West, WA
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 21

@Chris Wilson Would you be willing to tell me or message me who the local vendor was that you used in Whidbey, and whether you recommend them?  We are looking for someone in that area. 

Post: VA Loan and Appraisals Help

Rebecca M.Posted
  • Pacific North West, WA
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 21

@Cassi Justiz. Thanks! This is very helpful. I figured they'd call out quite a bit. I do appreciate that the VA looks out for it's buyers, but sure does make it hard to make a competitive offer in this market :-).

Post: VA Loan and Appraisals Help

Rebecca M.Posted
  • Pacific North West, WA
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 21

VA Appraisal Scenario:

If you are under contract to purchase a home with a VA backed (Veterans) home loan, and the VA appraiser completes the appraisal well after the inspection contingency expires, will the buyer get their earnest money back if the VA's required repairs are too great for either buyer or seller to manage, even if the home appraised high enough?

After seeing the inspection report I have doubts that the VA will buy off on a few things. For example, there is no insulation under the floor or around pipes, part of the roof needs repair and half of it appears to have 3 layers of roofing material, single pane windows presenting a moisture problem, some failing siding, etc. I don't know what the VA will allow..

The Realtor said the earnest money would be returned if the appraisal doesn't come in high enough and a deal can't be made, but I wanted to get an idea if there is anything we should watch for or specific financing contingency language we should check for regarding the VA appraiser's required repairs. Anyone have insight or experiences they would be willing to share regarding VA appraisals in general?

Thank you! 

Post: First time House Hacking - FHA LOAN DUPLEX

Rebecca M.Posted
  • Pacific North West, WA
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 21

@Dylan Smith Yes I'll message you!

Post: First time House Hacking - FHA LOAN DUPLEX

Rebecca M.Posted
  • Pacific North West, WA
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 21

@Dylan Smith.  I agree with @Michael Dumler.  Waiting too long could bite you in the butt. David Greene had a great explanation with the current market in a recent podcast, #502 about 20 min in. 

I'm going through this same situation right now actually. We are under contract on a quadplex that has been sitting on the MLS for over a month. It makes sense to us to buy it. Maybe I have a little FOMO going on too, because these properties are getting harder to come by in our area.

@Dylan Smith

Post: Anyone Ever waive inspection contingency?

Rebecca M.Posted
  • Pacific North West, WA
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 21
Originally posted by @Jim K.:

@Greg Todrank

The former owner, a bank clerk, had spent THREE YEARS painstakingly covering over every single problem with a trowel and paintbrush before he sold it. My four months were spent in a dirty little campaign to try to uncover everything he screwed up, from a complex sewage leak in the slab to a soilstack busted in three places to a live 240V wire taped and left open, outside a junction box, in the basement joists. I had to replace both toilets, a vanity, and do a new surround around the existing tub.

Wow that's some bad luck.

Wonder if he could just add a home warranty. But then again, if might not put him in a better position than just keeping the inspection contingency, especially if they are in fact, tying to hide something. 

Post: House Hacking w/ Negative Cash Flow?

Rebecca M.Posted
  • Pacific North West, WA
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 21

I feel ya! I tend to overanalyze too, and sometimes I have to step back and look at the big picture. If I have too many properties to compare I never seem to make any progress.  I've gotten better, but then, there are less properties on the market these days. :-)

Post: House Hacking w/ Negative Cash Flow?

Rebecca M.Posted
  • Pacific North West, WA
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 21

@Joey Gorombey. I recommend simplifying it a bit.  If you use a loan that requires you live in the property, then first evaluate your costs of living in the property vs your current living costs.  Your rent will likely be much lower with the house-hacking option.  If you own the home you're living in now, then you can probably rent it out and make even more.  

If you want to evaluate whether the house is a good buy, go back to the basics a little bit. Instead of calculating cap rates and CoC returns, set up a spreadsheet (or Bigger Pockets Calculator) and put together a 5 or 10 year cash-flow analysis. Enter everything you think you might pay for the property each month, and the income you expect from renting the other unit. The first 1 or 2 years would show rent on just one unit, and the following years will show the rent from both units. Spend some time on your assumptions and include how much you expect both rent and costs to grow.

Factor in Rent, P&I, Taxes, Insurance, Vacancy, Garbage pick-up, Landscaping, Repairs, Tenant turnover costs, Cap ex, etc. 

I recommend doing the same thing for any other properties you're comparing it to, using the same move-out dates, so that you are comparing apples to apples.  

I did this for our first duplex and it showed negative cash-flow for the first year (but we saved on living expenses overall). The second year we started to break even on our monthly cash-flow once we moved out, and in the third year we hit positive cashflow.  It is now 5 years later that place is a cash-cow.  Our low interest rate combined with local rent increases have really worked in our favor. 

As far as seeking advice or a number look-over, reach out to get quotes for any unknows costs, and look at what other comparable units are renting for in your area. I like using rentometer.com as a starting place. If you have a local investors group or people you trust who aren't profiting on the deal, you could always ask if you could run the number by them as well! 

If you really want it and the numbers make sense, don't sit too long.  I have many properties I evaluated some time ago that I look back at now, and wish I had purchased ;-). 

Good luck! 

Post: Comparing Multiple Homeowner's Insurance Policies

Rebecca M.Posted
  • Pacific North West, WA
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 21

@John Mocker That makes sense. Thanks! 

Post: Comparing Multiple Homeowner's Insurance Policies

Rebecca M.Posted
  • Pacific North West, WA
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 21

Does anyone have any favorite sites they use for getting quotes and comparing multiple Homeowner's Insurance Policies, or do you prefer to just call around?