All Forum Posts by: Rob Terpilowski

@Rudy Manna  What HMLs in the area are you using for the 2 scenarios, and how much collateral do they require for the 2nd option?

Welcome @David Lopez!  I'm a fellow software engineer in the Seattle area myself.  I think you will find BP will be a great resource for you as you begin investing in real estate.

There's online and peer-to-peer lenders such as LendingClub, Propser.com, and Sofi.

I spoke with Terry this week and he was able to work his magic and got my variance approved in a few days with no application fee from City of Tacoma!  

When I contacted the city a few weeks ago to find out how to make the duplex compliant, they said I would need to apply for a variance ($2,500 application fee), and then it would be a 4 month wait with a public comment period, and I would not be able to get permits until the variance was approved, so Terry literally saved me more than $12,000 between application fees and holding costs.

Thanks for the suggestions guys,  I'll reach out to Joseph and Terry and get their thoughts.

I have acquired a property in the city of Tacoma which is configured as a duplex, but was never legally done so.  The land use codes say that the a lot for a duplex needs to be at least 6,000 sq. ft, and this lot is 5,750, so I would need to obtain a land use variance in order to properly do this  There are 2 other duplexes in the area on the same size lot, so there is precedence for this.  Part of the variance application process is to provide a written response to the criteria in the Tacoma Municipal Code, and would like to know if this is something that I should have a lawyer complete for me rather than attempting to do this myself, as I really do not know how in depth the responses to these criteria need to be.

Thanks,

-Rob

It took a day, but I actually did get a call back from 2 people who were very helpful.  The variance process doesn't look too complex, but it will still take about 90-120 days for final approval is what they said.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

I'd believe it if their the city's voicemail message was any indication of how busy they are... either a 60 minute hold time if you wait for someone to answer, or 48 hour callback time if you leave a message.

I have a call into the City of Tacoma to inquire of this and am waiting to hear back, but thought I would post here to get other's experiences as well.  

I have a distressed SFH under contract which is currently configured as a triplex, which the seller says was not ever approved by the city, and that I will need to apply for a variance from the city if I go through with the purchase and rehab. (I am planning on BRRRR-ing this property)

I haven't heard great things about working with the City of Tacoma, and would be curious how long this process could take.  Obviously we wouldn't want to commence rehab work until we know for sure if we can get the variance, but any ballpark ideas on the timeframe, weeks?  months?  

thanks,

-Rob

Hello BP,

I'm looking at my first BRRRR deal on a duplex in Tacoma, Washington and am wondering if I should put any of my own capital in or attempt to finance as much of this as possible and keep my powder dry for other opportunities. A high level overview of the numbers.

Purchase Price: $125k
Rehab: $100k
All In: $225k

ARV $320k

I currently have hard money lined up at 3 points and 12% interest, who will lend on 80% of the purchase price and 100% of the rehab.

Which would put my initial acquisition cost at about  $29k ($25k down + $4k origination fees)

My contractor, who is also a real estate investor may be interested in lending on the $29k at 9%-11% interest, but how would the debt be secured?  Would it be a junior lien to the hard money lender's, or would it be unsecured?  I'm planning on obtaining a lawyer to handle specifics, but want to get others' general thoughts on this.

Other options available besides using my cash would be either a HELOC at about 4.5% or a loan from my 401k is another possibility.

The goal would be to refi after 6 months, and pull out my original capital, which at the same time would still allow the property to cash flow nicely.

I have on my list to read the BP guide on buying property with no/low money down, but don't think I'm going to get to it in the next few days.

Thanks,

-Rob