All Forum Posts by: Ellie Narie

I read conflicting information about this. So FHA doesn't care that the two duplexes (marketed as a 4plex) are on two separate tax lots? I heard that FHA wants everything to be on one lot.

There's a property being sold in my area, it is marketed as a "4-plex", sold by the same owner, but it says that there are two duplexes, on separate tax lots. Would this be eligible for FHA? I heard that the owner could possibly combine these into one deed and therefore make it eligible?

I am looking for off market 4plexes in my area. I have located a street where there are a bunch of them, so I am just looking up the addresses and the owner's names and contact info from public records (whitepages, spokeo, etc). I don't know how accurate the addresses are, but if there are two owners (most of the time a married couple), then I compare the addresses for both of them and send to the matching one. I got a free trial on spokeo to look up contact info. There are a bunch of emails that come up with my searches, should I try to send an email as well as a letter in the mail? Does this feel a bit "stalker-ish"? Or is this what it takes to get an off-market multi-family property? 

Also, for the properties that have two owners (usually a couple), should I send out a letter in each of their names? 

I guess my goal isn't necessarily cash flow right off the bat-- that's pretty much impossible with the prices around here. I'm currently renting, so I think any sort of investment into my own place would be better than renting. However, after I satisfy the one year occupancy requirement, I might want to move to another place, so I want to make sure that the rents of this place pay for all the expenses (mortgage, taxes, repairs, etc).

If this one is too expensive and "not worth it", then I'm not sure what is around here. The triplexes are going for 400k, with the same rents. SFHs are going for 200k as the cheapest SFH (and it would be outdated), but most SFHs (3/2 homes) are going for 250k-350k around here. Duplexes are usually going for about 300k-350k here, but there aren't any right now on the market. I'm just trying to find the best option for me in terms of investment. I need at least something so that I actually own something instead of renting. What's the best option?

My area is somewhat expensive when it comes to real estate. A quad plex just hit the market in my area for 500k. The units are 2/1, and the rent comes out to about 875 a month per unit, which is pretty fair given the current market, but I guess it could be increased to something like 925-950 a month. I want to use the FHA loan with 3.5% down. This quad plex already has a cash offer though, because quadplexes are very rare in my area and there probably hasn't been one sold in the last couple years. However, there are plenty of similar quadplexes to this one, in fact, on the street that this one is on, there are a whole bunch of them that look pretty much identical. It's just very rare to have one up for sale in my town.

Since there is a cash offer already on it, I'm offering the full asking price, considering that I have an FHA loan.

Since I'll be living in one unit, there won't be any cash flow, in fact, I would pay about $500 a month on top to cover the mortgage for it. But $500 a month is cheaper than paying rent here, and this is a rare opportunity.

What should I expect in terms of repairs? How much do you generally spend on 4plexes if you manage them yourselves? I don't know much about repairing stuff, so for repairs I'd have to hire someone, but I'd like to manage the property myself. 

Do you guys think this is too expensive of a property? I just read on these forums how people are buying quadplexes for 300k-400k, and some even for 200k, and it's like, how do you even find such properties? It's just very rare for quads to go up for sale here. There are some triplexes too, but the price-per-unit is about the same, they're listed for like 360-400k, and the rents are about the same.

There's a triplex in my area that's listed for 289k (possibly could offer 275k according to RE agent), it has 2 one-bedroom units renting at $605 a month and 1 two-bedroom unit which I would move into if I were to buy this. The 605 a month seems low, because rents for one bedroom units are going for around $725-750 in my area, so I'm wondering if I can increase the rent, but then again, idk, the units aren't in too great of a shape (still livable though). 

The units look old, the carpet might need to be replaced. The two bedroom unit looks like it is in a lot better condition than the one bedroom units, so possibly the two bedroom might be ok without replacing carpets. If I were to buy this place, I would use FHA with 3.5% down.

Another option I've been researching is building. I've talked to a construction company in my area that builds duplexes. All in all, if I were to buy land for $65000, then the whole entire thing would cost $360000. Each unit would be a 3 bedroom 1.5 bathroom, with one bedroom and half bathroom downstairs and two  bedrooms and full bathroom upstairs. 

For a newly constructed 3 bedroom, I'd say the rents could be $1400 a month in my area. Maybe even higher. Also, the construction company says that there's a high chance that the duplex would appraise for 20% or higher than the cost to build it, a lot of their customers' homes have appraised 20% or higher, so that would mean I'd avoid mortgage insurance. 

What do you think? Just forget construction and buy the existing triplex, or do new construction? 

I want to be able to own multiple multi-family properties in the future, so I'm hoping that once I live in whatever property I decide to get for a year, I will move out and get another property. I heard that with an FHA it might be hard to refinance it unless I'd have at least 20% equity... What should I do?

I live in a small town and currently rent, so commuting to work is only a 5 minute drive, and everything is really close by (walmart within 5 minute drive). I can finally buy my first house and would like it to be a multi-family property with an FHA loan. In my small town, there are a couple triplexes available. Real estate is pricey in my area. They're listed for about 400k, but RE agent said we could offer around 360k and be competitive. Rents are about $925-950 per month in my area for those types of units (2 bedroom).

There's a fourplex for sale that is probably within a 45 minute drive on a good day. Rents might be a little higher because it's closer to a bigger town, but mostly they're about the same. The fourplex has 3 two-bedroom units and 1 three-bedroom unit, so it could get a little more from rent with the 3 bedroom unit (maybe $1100). It's listed at 515k, but could probably offer something like 460k-480k.

What do you guys think? I guess the pricing is about the same per unit, but with a fourplex I'd get more units overall, and one of the units will be bigger (a 3 bed), so I could get a bit more rent. Or should I just go for the triplex and not have to commute so far?

What if you travel a lot? I might be out of the country for 3-4 months a year (sometimes these months are in a row all at once). Do they care about this?

I'm wondering about the FHA loan. I know that FHA wants you to owner-occupy it if you buy a 4plex. But, what if you have a place somewhere else... do you actually have to go and physically move to that 4th unit? Or can you just "leave it empty" (aka, not rent it out), and kind of "pretend" you live there, but not physically actually live there.

I most likely have (undiagnosed) depression and anxiety. When I was childless and lived in an apartment with no dishwasher, I left dishes in the sink so long that maggots appeared. This happened on two occasions. It would take me 1.5 hours to do the dishes by hand every day, and my back would be killing me afterwards. This was when I cooked for just two people. Then, I moved into a family member's house, and they have a new $800 bosch. I have been doing dishes every single day ever since, it only takes me 15 minutes each day, and they come out clean. I now have two kids and I literally don't have an extra 1.5 hours a day to do dishes. It's a make it or break it kind of deal to me. I don't care if the stove or fridge are 100 years old. The most important thing for me is the dishwasher.