All Forum Posts by: Ryan Hastings

Lima One Capital may be a good option, I’ve never completed a loan with them, but I’ve chatted with a gentleman from there and they do asset based lending, much easier to get a loan approved as long as the deal is profitable and you can demonstrate reasonable past experience with similar properties. 

Hey Gabriel! Most of the second home loan programs I've seen specify that the property must be single family. However, if you find a really good mortgage broker they may know of some smaller local banks that might be flexible on that requirement. I've seen a handful of multifamily properties on lakes and other 'recreational areas' that are traditionally dominated by STRs, so I would think that a smaller local bank would be more willing to consider a multifamily in that second home loan program. One of the big things the lenders want to see is that you actually plan to be using the second home yourself, as an actual 'second home' from time to time. 

I'm assuming that you're looking into the second home loan because of the lower down payment? If so, have you considered trying to do a deal with creative finance? All of my lowest down payment deals have come from creative seller finance deals. 

Typically, I've seen that the six month refinance period is for conventional loan products - if you go the commercial route, the refinance can be done immediately after closing - no seasoning period needed. Finding a great mortgage broker makes a huge difference navigating all the nuances of refinancing. 

Are you planning to refinance as part of a BRRRR strategy, or to satisfy a balloon payment requirement as part of the seller financing?

Where to begin with this one....

Under contract on a property with a Section 8 tenant (schizophrenic) who has apparently had gas disconnected for 13 years, and water shut off for 3 years. I cannot get a clear answer as to why the gas has been shut off, but apparently water was shut off due to a running toilet, and tenant refused to let anyone in to fix the issue, and then changed the locks. At this point, landlord apparently decided to leave things alone and forget about it?

Fast forward to today, we (current owner and myself) tried to get in after owner left her a note stating we would be coming today at 9:00 am. She does not have a cell phone, so he corresponds with her via notes left on her door. As mentioned, tenant changed locks so thus we couldn't get in (go figure). Owner is now on the phone with everyone and their brother (local police, DA, codes, etc) trying to figure out what to do with this because apparently my concern finally sparked some urgency in him. 

I am seeing this as an opportunity to negotiate quite a robust discount if I can get this sorted out myself, but I also would love to leave this mess in his court to deal with. Ideally, I'd like to call up the local Section 8 folks and get this poor woman relocated to an assisted living facility since she is clearly not in her right mind and needs help. Also do not want to get current owner in hot water since he's holding a 15 year note for me. 

What are my options with this? Any advice/insights greatly appreciated! 

This is a great question. I think the most specific issue I've seen beginners have too much confidence in, is tenant screening and selection. Choosing a tenant is the most crucial choice you'll make aside from purchasing the property. You are trusting this tenant with likely the most expensive asset that you now own, and especially in NY (being a tenant friendly state) once you get them in, it's very difficult to get tenants out if they are problematic. If you are here on BP, you're likely to be going into this endeavor with the correct mindset (business vs. hobby) and will thus treat all aspects with adequate levels of effort. 

I have seen time and time again, the small 'hobby' landlord use the minimum effort required to advertise a property, screen and select tenants, and get burned later on down the road when the tenant stops paying, or becomes problematic for whatever reason, because proper due diligence wasn't performed when screening. A friend of mine who thoughtlessly advertised her family's extra unit for rent (hobby landlord) found someone that looked good based on their extremely limited selection criteria, got them in, and for the first few months had no issues. Fast forward a few months, they completely stopped paying rent, moved random family members in, and the property owners have been struggling for months to get them out. Conversely, I went into the screening and selection process of my first tenancy knowing how crucial it was, put forth the required effort to make a great (not just good) advertisement, set up processes for screening, and wound up finding an amazing tenant with an almost perfect credit score, pays rent at least 15 days early each month, and bakes me loaves of banana bread on occasion "just because". There's a ton of resources on this, but the NOLO books have been my favorite resource for this, as they're written by lawyers, and tenant screening is a highly sensitive area with all the Fair Housing Laws. 

Looking into move-in gifts for tenants, figured there has to be some good stories out there! Has anyone given move in gifts, and if so, what?

Have you heard of any bad/weird ones? Would like to hear others' experiences!

When I was a renter my landlord gave me a fire extinguisher on my first day because I had an old 80's Camaro I liked to work on...guess he wasn't too confident in my abilities! 

I was given a sample rental agreement by a family friend who has been a small-time landlord for many years now. He uses a real estate agent for all tenant screening and rent collection. There was a certain clause in the agreement that caught my eye, regarding utility payment: "The Landlord pays for all utilities associated with the apartment. A surcharge of $25 per person per occurrence is added for any long term guest staying for more than 3 days."  

This is a rental agreement from Upstate NY. Does anyone have any experience using a clause like this? I'm assuming this is a legal, as this was drafted by a local agent who knows the laws well. I see how this could be beneficial but I also think this could be overkill. I have never seen or read anything about a clause such as this before. Any experiences or thoughts would be appreciated. 

@Adam Zach civil engineer here from NY..also know of another engineering colleague who invests

Hey guys did anything come of this? I live in the Utica area as well. I'm brand new to investing, supposed to be closing on my first duplex in about 4 weeks. I found information on the old group that used to meet at Kumon but found that no longer is active, would love to meet up and get more involved!