All Forum Posts by: Reid Chauvin

@Alessandro Stammes - congrats on your purchase! Appraisals do not consider rental income in determining value for conventional or government loans (or for any type of residential loan that I am aware of). Appraised value is determined based upon recent sales of nearby similar properties. The appraiser will make value adjustments based on differences in features of the property compared to the 'comps', (ex: bigger square footage would be a positive adjustment). 

The appraiser WILL do a rent schedule so that the market rent for the prospective property can be factored into your debt-to-income ratio. The Lender must request for this to be done though, and this can't be done for every property or loan type. 

One thing for you to keep in mind with your strategy is the timing of your refinance and how your occupancy will affect the loan-type. If you are no longer living in the property (or even if you are still in the property but moving out very soon) then you will likely have to use an investment property conventional loan, which has a maximum loan to value of 75% for a refinance. 

@Gerardo Castillo - I have had success just using Zillow to both market and screen tenants. Prospective tenants can apply through Zillow (I think its $25 or so); you get a background check, a credit score with list of accounts and collections, and applicant can upload income documentation. 

Hi @Ryan Heilig - happy to connect you with a realtor in TN, depending upon where exactly you are looking. Also happy to share insights on your options for financing an investment property. Feel free to send me a message. 

Hi @Vicki G. - congrats on getting under contract! I've done a few San Antonio deals and am more than happy to chat through long-term financing strategies with you. Feel free to message or call me!

@Rhianna Vernon - If you are doing 1 year lease term then this is not a concern. They will either hangout there in the summer or sublet their place (if you allow); regardless they will be responsible for paying you rent. Just try and line up the availability of the units with the start of school (i.e., you want to be trying to lease your places in July/August), otherwise you can miss the boat on the students. 

@Daniel Hollis - REIN is pretty solid and they have a multitude of different events across Middle-TN. There was a monthly BP Nashville meetup going on for a little while, but I haven't seen a post for one in a while. 

@Triston Blodgett - I think that you should just pick up the phone and call the people on your list, tell them what you are looking to do, and let them steer the conversation. A good mortgage broker will ask questions about your credit, income/employment, assets, and overall goals, so as to gauge whether or not you will likely qualify for a loan and if so what loan product(s) will best meet your needs. A good idea would be to have them explain how the loan process will flow once you are ready to try and get under contract on a home. Another idea is to have them send you their client reviews - this would be a pretty good indicator of the level of service they provide. 

Hi @Phison Vy - I think it is smart that you are focused on paying off your debt. Whether or not you should be paying more than the minimum towards the debt or paying the minimum and investing the rest generally depends on the cost of the debt vs the returns you could gain through investing. Check out a Debt Payment vs Invest Calculator online to see what I mean. 

I think that given where interest rates are and the fact that you are traveling and will be more hands-off on managing any investment property, generating returns that are higher than interest rates on your debts will be a challenge. Not to mention you will also need to put down at least 15% of the purchase price as downpayment if you are buying an investment property (i.e., you won't be living in it). 

Keep plugging away at paying down your debt and work on stashing away some savings as well, that way you have the capital to cover the upfront costs of buying a property when you're ready. Pursuing a house-hacking strategy in the future where you can leverage a low downpayment loan option may be best for your situation. 

@Johnny Scott - if you are trying to buy a primary residence, a 640 score is allowable and you will probably want to use an FHA loan. If you are trying to buy an investment property you will likely be leveraging a Conventional loan, which does allow for a 640 score but there will be other limitations that will make it tough. If your score is below 680 I believe your minimum down payment amount is 25% down, your max Debt to Income ratio is less than otherwise (maybe 36%), and you may be required to have reserves in addition to the funds being used to cover the upfront costs.

@Steven Barr - I have never heard of a penalty for loan amount being too small...not a fan of that one, unless they were very clear about it upfront. While 760 is a very strong score it does not get the best pricing. I think that 760 used to, but Fannie Mae loan level price adjustments have changed and a 780 and 800 score can get better rate pricing respectively.