All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

No problem. Please feel free to let them know I sent you :)

I haven’t picked up any additional. I’ve kept my eyes open but appreciation in the area has swung far above rent rates. Leander is tough with a lot of new apartment capacity having come online last year, made things competitive.

I'm a believer in the areas long term, but am focused for now on MF syndication opportunities, as opposed to more SFH. I think the possibilities are there in SFH, but it needs more attention and time than I can give to find a good deal.

Yes, I am happy with Casa overall. They’re very communicative and have taken care of inquiries I’ve had promptly, dispatch reasonably priced maintenance, and are available 24/7.

It hasn’t been hiccup free; some mixups in paperwork and the like but all considered was very minor.

I would hire them for future properties I acquire.

Hey sorry for the delayed reply. We ended up hiring Casa Property Management from Cedar Park, they manage throughout Leander, Liberty Hill, and so on.

Lexi Teifke was also highly recommended by a couple of members here, so some good options out there. Best of luck!

Thanks so much!

Fabulous thanks for the recommendation, will connect! 

Thanks Bryan, accepted! Much appreciated.

Hi all,

I have recently purchased a SFH in Leander (closing in a couple of weeks), and another in Liberty Hill (closing in the summer). Both areas are a fair trek north of the usual zone/scope of Property Managers working in Austin from the feedback I'm seeing.

I'd love to get some recommendations on any good property managers in the Leander, Cedar Park, Liberty Hill, Georgetown, or similar areas?

I'm super keen on recommendations from folks that have used a PM in the area and like working with them; I travel a fair bit, and so someone who is trustworthy, and can even handle the occasional odd request (like I need someone to meet a delivery co. at the property to put a new appliance in) would be superb.

Thanks so much!

 Totally makes sense.

Also you note "My first house does have 20% equity because of appreciation."

- Doesn't matter (again my opinion). Your mortgage was issued with insurance (and you're probably either paying premiums now or paid them up front).

Just refi into a conventional loan now that you have 20% equity and the limitation doesn't apply based on this home anymore.

Note that the CMHC rules about second homes came in to effect in 2014; so, when you did this before, you might just have been operating under old rules.

Anyway - my suggestion applies: you seem to think what you're doing is totally fine, so why not just pick up the phone, and ask CMHC directly?

Q: "because i put 5% down i have to live in it till its paid off" 

A: No. See below but in my opinion CMHC is clear: only 1 insured mortgage for principle residences per borrower. Your options (IMO) are:

- Sell the residence, and obtain a new insured property - you still fall within the guidelines of only 1 insured mortgage.

- Buy the new residence and obtain a conventional (not insured) mortgage - you still fall within the guidelines of only 1 insured mortgage.

- Buy the new residence and obtain an insured mortgage under rental property guidelines (20% down) - you have more than 1 insured mortgage, but you used the correct CMHC program for investors, not principal residence purchasers.

- Do what you're suggesting; find a lender willing to overlook the guidelines, and hope CMHC ignores the guidelines. Try your luck, and meet the consequences if they arise. I'm with other posters - this is a pretty silly move, but that's my opinion.

Your original question was "Is it possible to buy 3rd, 4th+ primary residences with 5% down" per the thread title.

The answer some folks have given is that if you do this, it could be interpreted as mortgage fraud under the current rules/guidelines from CMHC about what they're willing to insure. That's a pretty clear cut answer IMO.

I'm not entirely clear about what you're asking for other than this as if you want a very definitive answer, you'll need to either (or both):

1. Ask a lender.

2. Ask CMHC.

3. Ask a lawyer well versed with CMHC guidelines for a legal opinion if it's somehow a grey area with them (which, IMO, it is not).

A few minutes on google turns up information that supports the other posters who have suggested what you're trying to do could be a grey area, at absolute best, and in a worst case scenario, someone might interpret as fraudulent.

Per CMHC effective May 30 2014:

http://www.cmhc.ca/en/hoficlincl/moloin/moloin_014...

"Going forward, CMHC will limit the availability of homeowner mortgage loan insurance to only one property (1 – 4 units) per borrower/co-borrower at any given time."

Per TD Bank:

http://www.td.com/to-our-customers/tdhelps/#psce%7...

"...If you choose to make your current home a rental property and purchase another home as a primary residence, you'll have to put at least 20% of the purchase price as a down payment. This is a new lending Canadian Financing rule as Mortgage Default Insurance will no longer be offered on second homes..."

This then leads to the question of:

Can you find a lender who feels differently about it? Maybe. But, ultimately since you want to use 5%, CMHC underwriters have to approve it. 

If you've already done it - either CMHC has a different interpretation of the rules and you should just get them to confirm the answer for you directly (because you shouldn't be afraid of this being remotely fraudulent), or, it's a bit grey/shady and they just missed it when they were doing underwriting.

The problem arises in that if it's something they just missed, they might eventually catch it - I'd imagine the minimum penalty would be forcing you to refi at 20% down for any excess properties that were post cut off date for insuring under the old rules. However, it could be far worse than that - the age old advice of "ask a lawyer" applies.

No legal advice inferred, given, etc.

 For what it's worth:

- I don't think it's too sensitive: I think when it comes from close friends/family it can be hard to just ignore it, shake it off, etc. - it becomes more emotional and can hurt. I get it. And I feel for you on it - it can't be an easy situation.

- I think others who say they're just jealous/ignorant/etc. are pretty spot on: it's a combination of jealousy (they see you doing well but won't ever admit that they wish they could do what you do), ignorance (they just don't know anything about how REI works and assume every landlord is a tool out to screw people), and so on. It's unfortunate.

- I think education can help (teach them how REI works, what you do, why it's of value, and why you're different/better than an actual "slumlord" who does not treat tenants with respect, does not complete repairs, and so on and so forth). For some education doesn't work at all, this leads to:

- Shake it off or cut it out from your life: I know shaking it off works for some, not for others. The alternative is to remove those influences from your life. Hard with family/close friends but maybe ultimatums are necessary: "I don't like this area of conversation - we will agree to disagree, and I'd appreciate not discussing it further. If that's not feasible for you, we'll have to take a break for a while until that can be done."

Harsh? Absolutely - but many times in life necessary to solve these kinds of situations (IMO!)

My $0.02...

PS: Kudos to you for accomplishing what you have at a young age: I'm impressed!