All Forum Posts by: Matt Rothwell

The house I was going to buy turned out to have serious issues when the full inspection was done. I've decided to exercise my due diligence clause and get out of the contract. The issue is that I'm already halfway to being fully approved by the lender. If I back out now, what does that look like on my credit report?

Why would the vacancy hit you harder with more units? Wouldn't it be the opposite? IE, 5 units, one is vacant, you've still got 80% of your rent coming in, vs, 4 units, one is vacant, have 75% of rent coming in.

A fewthoughts:

-A $200,000 mortgage works out to about 1100/month. Add in the ~ $400/month taxes, and you're looking at about 1500 in expenses, and that's if nothing breaks. Search around here for the 50% rule, that will get you started with the property analysis.

-1 bathroom with 4 people renting is going to take a lot of abuse. Especially if its college kids.

-Individual leases sound like a huge pain. What are you going to do if one of them doesn't pay?

-Its "Johns" Hopkins, not John Hopkins.

Anyways, these are just a few things to think about.

I'm in the exact same pickle. I can't really afford to buy a multifamily in a nice place, and the one that I'm trying to close right now is in an area where my girlfriend will absolutely not live. I think she's just going to keep the apartment and I'm going to live in the MF home. Its only a year, right? Or hopefully less if I force some appreciation by upgrades and refi with a different loan.

Bryan H., I am pre-approved for the 203k. I have a pretty well-paying full time job, so that helps. I'm actually pre-approved for almost three times the loan amount already.

I do not have a buyer's agent though. I've been so frustrated with the three that I've dealt with so far that I'm certain I can do a better job myself. What would a buyer's agent do that I cannot after I've found the house and gotten the MLS sheet from the seller's agent?

I went to make an offer last night, and since I'm wanting to use a 203k loan, I knew it would be a pain in the ***. I asked for a financing contingency as part of my offer, but the real estate agent said they don't do that in North Carolina, they just extend the due diligence period, apparently 30 days is the norm here. You pay a "due diligence fee" for the long DD period, and if you don't have your **** together before it lapses, you're either SOL or you need to pay another fee to extend it.

With all of the troubles I've heard about with people actually getting the money for 203k loans, I'm wondering if I'm going to have issues here. Can anybody shine any light on the contingencies in North Carolina? Was this guy just jerking my chain?

Honestly, I think that its that difficulty in figuring out the bad from the good that makes Durham a good value for the local buy and hold investor that's willing to do research. I don't put a whole lot of stock in the city-data forums, they all seem terrified of any minorities or anyone that makes less than $100k/year.

I'm giving the "boots on the ground" test a shot this weekend. I might also try the "girlfriend test" to assess the sketchyness of the neighborhood if I'm not sure of an area.

I like the "ideal tenant" thought. I'll give it a shot on the next property.

I'm looking to buy a quad to owner-occupy in either Raleigh or Durham. If you've got a real estate agent that you've been really happy with, let me know.

What kind of monthly cashflow are you seeing from that tax lien? If I'm not going to have any monthly cashflow, I'd rather buy stocks and ETFs, at least then I can get my money out if I need it.