All Forum Posts by: Senai Gebrekristos

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

Thanks for the advice Erik. I hadn't considered that but makes sense and might be easier to find a SFR w/ ADU than it would be a duplex.

Hope someone can help give me some clarity on this! I'm a first time home buyer looking to buy a duplex in expensive LA county. I'm going through FHA and I have heard that you can use your living trust as proof of income (along with W2 income) to help qualify for a loan.

My question is, are all lenders familiar working with this type of income or is this a situation I take to a lender who is specifically experienced working with trust income. I guess I'm not sure how common this is and I know not all lenders are experienced with some nontypical forms of income. Thanks in advance!!

@Nathan W. You’re absolutely right, it’s ludicrous. I think I’ll be following your lead and look for other cities with better Cap rates

@Nathan W. Hi Nathan, just out of curiosity are you how did you get familiar with the Grand Rapids market? I’m from chicago too and am exploring other cities in the Midwest so my dollar stretches further. Anyways good luck on your journey!

@Artem Shum I was thinking of renting by the room also to increase cash flow. Have you looked into any laws that relate to renting by the room in chicago?

Best of luck!

@Reed Meyer I’m hoping to be doing something very similar in chicago next year and would like to hear your experience!

So getting your rent completely covered would actually be a great start but you’re right most of the areas you mentioned don’t cash flow very well. You could consider a value add like squeezing out an extra bedroom and bathroom from each unit to warrant higher rent. Also, I’m some areas with a younger population like wrigley/lakeview and some other areas, you could consider renting by the room, it’d increase your cash flow but you’d also have more work on the management side.

Good look!