All Forum Posts by: Selena Williams

@Antony Charlier I always get a loan/pre-approval first. I would hate to shop for a deal, find a great one, and can’t get a loan to make an offer.

If you find a really good deal, chances are you’re not the only one that found it. In the time it takes to get a pre-approval in place you could lose the deal.

@Sherry McQuage honestly I don’t care, lol. It’s New York. There are a million more lenders I can reach out to when I am ready to buy again.

With North Carolina I wasn’t that aggressive. Still shopped around though.

@Sam Shi well for one, none of the loan officers now like me, I suspect even the one I ended up going with, lol.

Honestly I just kept pitting them against each other. I would go back to one and say the other was giving me ____ could they beat it? I also got pre-approved from them all - which means they had put in their time with me. Pre-qual takes hardly any effort. They were fighting back and forth all the way until about 2 weeks from closing, lol.

The first place I bought was in NYC so even .3% mattered drastically because my loan was so high. It was a lot of work, headache, and honestly I pissed a lot of people off but in the end I can’t say I care that much because I saved myself thousands of dollars.

Good advice here. I would add - always compare lenders and shop around for a good rate. It can save you thousands. When I bought my first multifamily I applied with more than 7 lenders. My loan rate went from 3.8% to 2.75%. Just went into contract on another property and applied with 4 lenders. My rate went from 5% to 4.625%.

Your loan interest rate eats into your profit so it’s worth the trouble to shop around and compare lenders. Always have the documents you need to apply quickly accessible so you can throw everything at a lender quickly and get a quick turn-around.

Newbie here. I’m currently house-hacking in NYC and so far so good. I’m looking to purchase another property but preferably outside of NYC where I don’t need a jillion dollars as a down payment.

I keep hearing that there are so many different strategies to come up with the down payment for a property. However, in most markets I check out the real estate agent says the same thing to me - my property would be considered an investment property because I’m not living there. And I would have to put down 25%.

What am I missing??? I was hoping to put 10-20% down on a property depending on the price and potential cash flow. How can I purchase without putting down 25%?

I know I started this thread a while ago but I just wanted to give an update and a shout out. I ended up working with @Abel Curiel and he helped me find a great property in Brooklyn that hadn't gone on the market yet. I really wanted to invest in Brooklyn since it was such a hot market but I was afraid I missed my chance. Abel is informative, professional, great to work with, patient, and answered all my questions. I'm extremely lucky to have found him and I'm super excited to work with him on future deals. 

@Michael Baker it’s going to be a rental unit and the house doesn’t need a ton of work. But I’d like someone efficient who does quality work. Some things include:

Shower doors

Adding a pantry cabinet in the kitchens

Building a fence around the backyard

Installing a few doors

The floors in the house are new but they aren’t of great quality so I estimate I will need to replace them down the line. Plus as I get other units they might need work. So I’d like to establish a relationship with a good contractor who can be my go-to when I need work done.

@Will Bert at the price points I see in Brooklyn I won’t be able to put enough down to cash flow. I’d like to get into Brooklyn now while I still barely can then look at other places like New Jersey for cash flow.

If I can significantly subsidize what I currently pay monthly with my one bedroom, I will be happy.

Thanks both of you! I’m looking for work to be done in Flatbush.

@Jason Rosenfeld yes Jason which is why I asked if anyone knew of someone they used in NYC.....😐