All Forum Posts by: Robert Hastings

I will bite...if you can go conventional loan, the max dti will cap at 50%...

off 140k combined annual income, roughly 2692.30/week or 10,769.23/month...

using 10,769.23 monthly, I would guess the sum of all your debts cannot exceed 5300/monthly (and some change)...

if you already are at 3100, I would guess you have 1900 available monthly for debt service on your house...

the lender will use the lower borrow's middle score. best to get credit scores as high as possible to get the best rate. the best rate will shave some dollars off your interest and a couple dollars can really make or break DTI if the lender is using a computer to underwrite..

but at 15k for a downpayment, on the homes you are talking, you will def have PMI (which sucks)...im not sure what PMI is...

but 15k down on a 300k loan, leaves 285k note...you may be able to pay that note and be within the 1900/month criteria, but when you factor in property taxes, insurance, PMI, and interest, you may exceed the 1900 and won't get approved.

my .02

I have several rental properties.  I usually buy in low income areas.  I have purchased homes for under 30k and have the rented from anywhere between 700-900/month. I am ready to acquire another home but I am wondering if I should try a different strategy.  

I have 40k to utilize on a property and I have considered making a downpayment on a 200k condo.  I'm still planning to rent the property.  

I guess I have to consider how I feel about debt? I think I would cash flow the same after expenses...thoughts?

@Natalie Kolodij he has been our cpa for years and has personal real estate investments. not sure if he specializes in investors but i feel comfortable with his advice over the years. thanks for the reply.

i have a CPA but before i run this by him i wanted to ask the forum first...

my rental business has several properties but all my rental income rolls up into 1 LLC.

i know some people have different llcs for different properties, but i do not.  I did well last year and i wanted to know some creative write offs that may apply beyond the normal upkeep, utilities, repair, taxes, insurance...

can i write off consultant fees to a company who helps me evaluate deals and find properties? 

are you really concerned with savings over the LIFE of a mortgage?  

i guess mathematically it MAY save you some money over the entire course of the loan, but sometimes there is more value then living in the now rather then the calculated savings over the loan...

Car payments, phone payments, daycare payments, energy payments....all come once a month.   i am personally conditioned to live on a monthly budget.  it comforts me.  i never understood why somebody would increase their payments  by hundreds just to be mortgage free 15-20 years later.  i want to live in the now.   i feel like if i can get a cheap monthly payment, i will be able to increase my disposable income that would allow me more options.  Vacations, dinners, nice clothes, gifts for the wife, sports for the kids, nights out with the boys etc....

and for this reason, i would rather buy mortgage  points as a way to reduce my payment rather than make a larger down payment for my home.  

the context i am speaking of is my primary residence, where i plan to raise my family.  its not my starter home.  my wife and i are placing an already large down payment (25%).  we could come up with a larger down payment but i would rather spend 6k up front at closing to get the lowest possible rate.  

thoughts?

i hope to list my primary house before the end of the month.  we are doing last minute repairs before we stage and list.  i have an appointment with our accountant in a week to file taxes so we can submit our return to our lender so we can work our final numbers.   we have a combined income of close to 220k.  plan on putting over 20% down with a large amount of reserves.  i plan to keep my debt to income around 45%.  

whats the difference between interest rate and APR? what percentage will my monthly payment be based upon? a mortgage of 100k for 30 years with a "rate" of 4.0 is $477/month (Google mortgage calculator)...will that be my monthly payment or will it be adjusted because my APR will be slightly different?

if we are able to secure our mortgage and one or two years later, we our credit gets a bump and my wife and myself have A+ credit, can we refi for a cheaper monthly payment?  right now my credit is close to 790 but my wife is hovering around 620.  

i need to sell my home in order to buy.  it sucks but i cant avoid that contingency.  should i wait until my house is under contract before i start placing offers?  or, can i wait until i get my pre approval letter/proof of mortgage approval?  i know sellers dont like offers with a contingency but i feel like our offer will be solid enough to stick. 

ideally i would like to close on selling my house and buying my next house same day or as close as possible.  

any input would be appreciated!!

my wife and i are considering listing our house in a month or so.  

i am trying to figure out what my i will be able to net off the sale price.

assuming we sell for 250k, what should we be able to net?

here are some numbers to consider...

our mortgage payoff is 155k

our mother in law is our realtor, and she will forfeit her commission, but her broker will have a commission, correct?

our taxes are 7200 a year but we have already paid half the year in taxes....

no liens 

not sure nj transfer tax

average title fees for title agency?

thank you

i am about 4 months away from our listing our house.  over the next couple of months, after the holiday, we will spend time and money into our primary to position ourselves as best as we can be with regards to the highest sale price.  new paint, upgrade bathroom vanities, upgrade laundry room, fix this, fix that, etc...

the sale price is going to govern our budget for our next house.  i feel we can sell our house 270k and i figure we can net 260k from the sale price?! ( our mother in law is the real estate agent and she will waive any commission on her end...what should we expect to net off a sale price of 270k in new jersey??) if we can net 260k, we should have a clean 100k left over after we payoff our mortgage.  that 100k will be our down payment for our next home which will place our next home's budget within the 350-400k sale price...

the X factor is my wife is pregnant with our second child.  she is one month pregnant.  i know there are alot of variables with selling and buying real estate.  i am trying to plan and budget and coordinate and navigate all options that will allow us to sell our home, buy another home before my next child is home from the hospital.  

how does this work?  how should i approach this?  should i get a pre-approval letter from my loan rep, make an offer on a house contingent on selling my primary?  should i be as upfront as possible with both buyers of my primary home and sellers of my next home begging and pleading to close as soon as possible to each other so i can avoid being homeless and renting with a preggo wife lol?  

what governs the close date with real estate transactions...lenders, correct? how can i evaluate the strength of my buyers offer besides the amount they want to pay...meaning can i ask to speak to their lender to see how tight their credit/DTI/bank statements are....last thing i would want is my buyer's loan falling thru two weeks before i close. the domino effect would prevent my sale, which would prevent my buy bla bla bla i need a drink!

i really dont want to sell, then rent for 6 months, then buy but that is always an option....last resort option but its there.

thanks in advance

i am about 4 months away from our listing our house.  over the next couple of months, after the holiday, we will spend time and money into our primary to position ourselves as best as we can be with regards to the highest sale price.  new paint, upgrade bathroom vanities, upgrade laundry room, fix this, fix that, etc...

the sale price is going to govern our budget for our next house.  i feel we can sell our house 270k and i figure we can net 260k from the sale price?! ( our mother in law is the real estate agent and she will waive any commission on her end...what should we expect to net off a sale price of 270k in new jersey??) if we can net 260k, we should have a clean 100k left over after we payoff our mortgage.  that 100k will be our down payment for our next home which will place our next home's budget within the 350-400k sale price...

the X factor is my wife is pregnant with our second child.  she is one month pregnant.  i know there are alot of variables with selling and buying real estate.  i am trying to plan and budget and coordinate and navigate all options that will allow us to sell our home, buy another home before my next child is home from the hospital.  

how does this work?  how should i approach this?  should i get a pre-approval letter from my loan rep, make an offer on a house contingent on selling my primary?  should i be as upfront as possible with both buyers of my primary home and sellers of my next home begging and pleading to close as soon as possible to each other so i can avoid being homeless and renting with a preggo wife lol?  

what governs the close date with real estate transactions...lenders, correct? how can i evaluate the strength of my buyers offer besides the amount they want to pay...meaning can i ask to speak to their lender to see how tight their credit/DTI/bank statements are....last thing i would want is my buyer's loan falling thru two weeks before i close. the domino effect would prevent my sale, which would prevent my buy bla bla bla i need a drink!

i really dont want to sell, then rent for 6 months, then buy but that is always an option....last resort option but its there.

thanks in advance