All Forum Posts by: Steve C.

I just bought my 5th multi unit house and used my VA loan for this one. Its a three unit and it will be my second house hack. First off I would HIGHLY recommend using the VA loan to buy a 3 or 4 unit house. (4 is the maximum). If you do the math it is easy to see that financially it makes so much more sense. But if it doesn't make sense for your situation, I get it. As far as the buying process with the VA loan, the only requirement is that you live in it. I wouldn't even bring up the roommate thing to the loan officer as it doesn't really pertain to them and doesn't break any rule. You do not need to clear that with them. I would highly recommend using Veteran's United home loans as the loan officer. Very easy to work with and the process was very streamlined on their website. Even though it is 100% financing be prepared to have 5%-10% of the loan amount in cash for closing costs, appraisal, etc and try to find a house that will appraise for 5%-10% over the selling price if you want to roll some of those costs into the loan.

Considering becoming an investor in a rooming house or two and would like to consult with or discuss benefits / pitfalls, etc.

I have a property being offered to me at a great price and another investor that I'm friends with wants to go in on the property to set it up as a rooming house.  It is zoned as a commercial "Inn / Lodge" but has not been used in a long time.  Its in horrible shape and will take a huge investment to renovate it.  I have ten residential units that I have renovated myself so I'm familiar with the work but I have no clue how a rooming house would work.  Does anyone have experience in this?  It is a 6000 sq ft property with 40 rooms! and 5 baths.  I've heard there are a few different ways to do it - with one being where you are just the landlord and lease to an organization that runs the house - this is what I would want to do. (Not own a business actually running the house for the tenants.

Does anyone have experience with this and could you post a few basics of how it would work?  ie. Contacting organizations and getting a contract / lease signed for them to use the house, who pays utilities, would I need more than just my standard $1M in liability and my personal $2M umbrella policies that I use on my other rentals, how the amount of rent would be calculated, the going rates in the area you are in?...etc.  Or any other info you would like to post would be very much appreciated!   Thanks!

Hello - any loan officers out there that could answer this?

I Brrrr'd a two-unit house that I have lived in for a few years and then used a home equity loan in January to purchase another property and am almost done with another two-unit Brrrr, which to make the reno. easier, since I do it myself with just one other guy, I have slept at the new house in one of the units for at least 51% of the time I have been working there for the past ten months. 

Would an application for a new home equity loan on the new house make it through underwriting at a conventional bank? Or would they not accept it as my new residence for the six month seasoning period? Utilities all on in my name, some mail sent to the new address, but house owned in LLC name. I'm asking because I am just assuming I would get a better rate and avoid a lot of fees with a home equity loan as opposed to a cash out refi.

Thanks!

You will always have problems with anything that "must have been there for a long time" and I would remove that from your vocabulary when speaking to the insurance company.  If it has been an ongoing issue it (according to insurance companies) was your responsibility to find and fix the problem before it caused damage.  You aren't (im assuming) a plumber or mold specialist so let them tell you it was ongoing issue. You want to only relay facts which are (according to your post) that you just discovered the issue, not an opinion which would help them deny your claim. If it was a sudden plumbing leak that you discovered and it caused damage they would be liable to make you whole. 

Former licensed insurance agent turned real estate investor..

 The service I use is not free. I pay annually per number of units I have. I didnt see any post about a free service. Maybe I missed it. And the service I use is constantly updated with all required state verbiage and parts. I have taken a large number of tenants to housing court and have been successful every time in multiple types of eviction situations. I have also been successful in small claims court during the housing court pandemic shut down with my leases and forms. I would much rather use a service that automatically updates and creates forms for me than to have to refer to government websites and attempt to put forms together myself while hoping I included everything. Also, Im not sure how many units you own/manage but at a certain point not having software that stores and automatically populates tenant/unit info would be a nightmare.

I have used EZlandlordforms.com for ten years here in NY. Everything is state specific which is important, especially in a state like NY with a large amount of ever changing rules and regs. Leases are very easy to create and tenants can e-sign. I have not encountered a situation where the necessary form was not available. 

I buy and renovate small multi unit buildings with a crew of three. I also have my VA loan with 100% financing and currently a rate of 2% that i have never used from the Army. I would like to buy a 2 unit house that needs about $70k in work with a VA rehab loan. But can I do the work myself or would I have to use contractors?

Hey Robert - so I have been renting about a dozen units to tenants with section 8 vouchers here in NY for roughly ten years.

Section 8 is a federal program so I'm assuming the guidelines are national but obviously you have to check.

#1 Yes.  I have done this in the past.  I have a two unit building that I lived in and rented the other unit out to a tenant with a section 8 voucher.  It is a little bit of a pain, but, doable. Sometimes you have to lock off certain areas of the house if the tenant has young children and there are usually two scheduled inspections per year plus one random plus any reinspections if and when they do find some required repairs you have to do.  (They will find something 85% of the time - job security, maybe?)  So you will have inspectors coming to your house.  But, this could be a good thing - if you are planning on buying more properties and renting to Section 8 tenants it is good to get to know the inspectors.

#2 - I have never heard of this. With the HUD Section 8 program the prospective tenants are given a voucher for a one, two or three bedroom unit. I have never seen or heard of someone having a section 8 voucher for a room. And, usually on the paperwork (Request for Tenancy Approval Form) it tries to clarify that you do not in fact live in the unit.

#3 Those are some GREAT rents!  Keep in mind that a section 8 tenant has a maximum amount on their voucher for their rent.  It goes by zip code market rent and their income.  It is usually pretty competitive but I have many times had to agree to lower the rent after I went all the way through the application and inspection process. (Be careful because a lot of times that amount includes utilities and if you don't include them in the rent then you have to call their worker to get the max amount without utilities.  Then get your direct deposit set up and wait for the beep on your phone around the 3rd of the month from your bank!

I would google Section 8 administrative agency in your county.  Here in Western NY we have 2-3 local agencies in each county that administer the program locally for the tenants/landlords/inspectors. They will be able to give you the details. 

Good luck!

The problem I am having in Buffalo, New York is that the courts do not even understand the moratoriums and have just completely closed the housing courts and never reopened them. I have a lease hold over from March who as soon as she heard news about possible moratorium just stopped communicating with me and stayed in the apartment while continuing to work.  I have another who stopped paying her portion (section 8 pays a portion) and had police called on her for people shooting guns in the air. I am not able to evict for any of these reasons.