All Forum Posts by: Sam Alex

I tried their online chat and this time got someone who put me in touch directly with their mortgage department. Turns out they do re-amortization for a $250 fee.

@Chris Mason - thanks for the pointers

@Andrew Postell - this is for a conventional loan.

Thanks Chris. I did ask to speak with the supervisor, but got the same answer, they were not really willing to entertain any more questions.

Hi,

I would like to lower the monthly payment on primary residence by paying down some of the principle. My home loan was sold to 'Bank of the Cascades'  around 6-months ago, i called them and they told me they don't have a program to do that. I believe my only other option is to re-fi (but the rates are a little higher and there will also be re-fi costs), are there any other options i should look into? 

thanks,
Sam

Hi,

I've put my house on the market and am expecting some offers. I need some help with evaluating potential buyers. I had a bad experience a couple of years ago where we accepted

a buyer with pre-approval (Wells Fargo), but later it turned out that they had credit issues and the deal fell through. They had an earnest money deposit of around $10K , which seems like

a lot (i had returned their money and looked for a new buyer but couldn't sell in time - had to move into a new house so rented the old place). I don't want to make the same mistake again. What can i do to safeguard my interests? Should i ask for more earnest money - what would be a good amount? Is there something specific i should check related to pre-approvals? An acquaintance mentioned some pre-approvals go upto underwriting stage - but didn't have details; is this true and how do i check for this?

thanks,

Sam

Thanks Rob  & Jeff. Rob - to answer your question related to the 10% i meant equity in the house not upgrades.

Thanks for the clarification Rob. Just for my understanding - do you know why only the initial down payment is considered? For example if i initially put down 20% and over say a couple years another 10% , i now have 30% 'cash' invested in the house , shouldn't the return be calculated on the total amount i have invested?

Hi,

I've been trying to calculate the cash flow on my rental (actually my previous residence but had to rent out as i couldn't sell so not really planned), but have found it a little overwhelming. Could someone review let me know if i'm on the right track? (Background: i am evaluating whether to keep as rental or sell as i will have to pay capital gains if i keep it after August - when my capital gains exclusion expires)

Cash Flow = Income - Expenses

Expenses = Mortgage, Taxes, Insurance, Maintenance, Fees (e.g. HOA), vacancy ...

My monthly cash flow after expenses amounts to approx. $800. How do i use this number to evaluate the property ?

The other calculation i came across was Cash on Cash Return

Cash on Cash Return = Annual Cash Flow / Total Investment

Is the total investment my equity ? I bought for around 370K and owe 230K so have around 140K , using that:

Cash on Cash Return = (800 * 12) / 140,000

= 9600 / 140000

= 6.85%

Is this the right way to calculate? I'm not sure how to evaluate these numbers.

reference: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/06/1...

-Thanks

Thanks Russel  & Chris for you insights.

Thanks Christoper.

By exception i meant the capital gains exception , where you have to have lived 2 out of the last 5 years in a primary residence. My 5 years ends in Aug, so i have to sell before that. Did you mean that you don't expect the rate to raise before Aug, so it should not affect me? Do you expect mortgage rates to increase as a result of any rate hikes? My worry was if i wait too long and interest rates increase, there may be lower demand  because of higher interest rates and property values go down.

hi,

I'm planning to sell my old house to avail the capital gains exception, i have a few months left. My original thought was to wait out a couple more months and then put on the market - hoping to get a better price as market has been going up here and each sale seems to up the base price a bit. It was suggested to me that interest rates may go up soon and this would dampen the market, so better to sell earlier. Do you think this is something i need to factor in to my decision? I need to sell by August and can put the house on the market earliest mid March. 

- thanks