All Forum Posts by: Chris Jackson

There is a duplex on the market for $65K. Half is rented and half is unlivable. My broker just said that he doesn't do the 203K loans, so he can't tell me if that is a viable solution or not, but there aren't really any loans out there that I can get since half of the place is unlivable.

I don't have the capital to just buy the property outright and as of right now I don't know of any private money sources that could fund the entire purchase price either. What do you guys think?

@Kevin Romines may have just answered my question/problem.  But let me set it up for everybody else to read to see what y'all think.

There is a duplex on the market.  Half is rented and half is unlivable.  My broker just said that he doesn't do the 203K loans, so he can't tell me if that is a viable solution or not, but there aren't really any loans out there that I can get since half of the place is unlivable.  

I don't have the capital to just buy the property outright and as of right now I don't know of any private money sources that could fund the entire purchase price either. What do you guys think?

@Andrew Bosworth thanks! I'm so happy to be meeting different key players in the investing industry. Especially ones in PA. So your day job is in insurance, but you're also a real estate investor??

@J Scott - thanks for your advice!  I just wanted a rough guesstimate, so you don't need to worry about my offer - I am going to do my due diligence before moving on anything.  Also thanks for the disclosure on the book - that actually made me laugh out loud a little. Still, I appreciate your candor, and will probably buy that book today or tomorrow.
@Conor Aylward thanks for the tip on buying my own materials -vs- letting the GCs mark-up whatever they buy. Those are the sorts of tips that I need to know beforehand! 

@Patrick Liska - you're awesome! I know of a REIA in my town. I'll need to check in to when they meet so I can start making connections with them. Some of them are people I know already from church, but the group is larger than that, so it'll be good for me to start attending for sure!

@J Scott thanks for that help!  I was hoping for a good rough estimate like that.  I am not sure what price to figure on. I'm not going to be putting in top-of-the-line anything since it's a lower-income neighborhood to begin with - so that saves money.  Since I've never done a rehab before and because it's in the downtown borough, I must use a licensed GC and pull permits for everything.  So I am guessing towards the higher end of that range you listed.

I am looking at rehabbing a 3/1 half duplex. It needs everything and had already been mostly gutted. Floors, walls, small roof leaks, appliances. The only thing that is good is the water heater (go figure). We're talking low to moderate income rental unit, 3/1 and about 700 square feet. Anybody want to give me a rough guesstimate? I promise i won't hold you to it.

My mentor who has been doing this for a very long time told me not to call the guy back but let him call me. If he calls, then I'm in the drivers seat and I can make a deal work - if he doesn't call then he's not motivated, and I'll most likely end up wasting my time and efforts trying to make a deal work that he isn't willing to do.  Probably one of the toughest pieces of advice so far - as a newbie, I just want to get something done!  Being motivated but NOT moving on a deal is frustrating.  On the other hand, I updated my profile avatar from this:

To this:

What do y'all think?  haha. I suppose neither is the most professional-looking.  Maybe I should hire a photographer soon...

@Charlie DiLisio thanks for that information!  I'll see if I can get my real estate agent to check in on that for me. I'm not sure that the deal is going to work. Will keep everyone posted - but as of right now I can't see it working for me unless I get some private, probably.

@Jacob Anderson Sorry - I meant to ask you also - do you have any specific credit cards/cc companies that you think are the best to apply to (all at once)?  Low interest for a year, or no-interest for a year?  That sort of thing?  And how do you go about using a credit card for renovations or purchases? I don't really get the process behind that.

@Jacob Anderson hey man - thank you SO MUCH for giving out some of that amazing free advice!  You have really been helpful!  I was wondering - you were the first commenter on this thread - and you suggested the 203k loan but said the caveat was it had to be an owner-occupied home.  Do you know of any other kind of construction loan available for non-owner occupied purchases?  I am looking at a duplex for $60K that is half rented and the other side is gutted and needs to be rehabbed.  Probably $40-50K of work I'm guessing - EVERYTHING needs to be done on the one side. I am not going to move my family into that part of town just so I can owner-occupy the place.  Any other thoughts?  The current rent ($675) I think would cover a conventional mortgage for $60K, but then I wouldn't have any capital to fix up the other side.