All Forum Posts by: Seb Ko

I'm current house hacking and would like to appeal latest property tax assessment. I recall hearing about a decade ago that it's generally better to do it yourself especially for owner-occupied. The County looks more favorably around personally filed appeals as opposed to using a professional service firm. What is everyone else's experience with this more recently?

Anything above 4 units requires commercial mortgage

Thanks for all the responses. I have a follow-up question to this. If this is a new LLC, what does a conventional commercial lender use to vet the deal outside of the property economics itself? Does it look at the GP or LP credit score, PFS, etc? In my case, many of the LP investors will be out of country. I as the GP am based in the US with great credit, income, PFS.

Hi folks, can anyone recommend a Chicago area licensed architect? Need help with plans for some basement work.

Hi Janelle, congrats on the NS purchases. I've been following Atlantic Canada market for some time - great time to be in it. Yes your general understanding is correct. I would revise "high" cap rates to be 6.5%+ in general in Canada, but frankly I would raise that to 7.5%+ in East Coast. I've seen a number of properties in the 8-10% cap rate range. Cap rates can also be seen, from an investment point of view, as an alternate to long term capital appreciation. Some investors are ok with lower cap rates if it's a more stable area and is more likely to appreciate over time. Taking the East Coast market, cap rates are generally higher because you don't have the expectation of long term appreciation vs other Canadian markets like Toronto, Vancouver, etc. Like many things, a lot depends on your goals in terms of how to assess what an attractive cap rate. Hope this helps! 

Does anyone know if a zoning check is part of the license process? Currently I have 3 units, and do not think I can fit a 4th for a long term lease, but I'm thinking STR could be a possibility.

I would recommend checking out Amica. Not sure if they operate in TN though.

Hi Brett, I can't answer your question directly (I guess here on BP is a good start!), but I would be willing to work jointly on looking at any MF deals. I have actually seen some interesting deals in AL so that works well. I own a MF already but interested in learning how to work with syndication, other investors, etc on bigger deals incl commercial. 

Conventional mortgages are likely out of the question. They require pay stubs and sometimes W2s or tax returns. Next bet for you would be partnering with someone (you contribute to the DP) who does have some of basic qualifications a lender looks for or a co-signer. Final option would be a HML but they will charge for the risk premium.

@Shlomo Koheler Can you elaborate which lender you found consider 5-plex as a residential?