All Forum Posts by: Steve K.

@Tyrone Hardy  Welcome to BP.  There is a real estate investor group in Snohomish county.  Meetings are totally free.  Check it out.  Only cost is your time and gas. 

http://www.meetup.com/SnoCo-Connected-Real-Estate-Investors/

@Brian Cowan  Welcome to BP.  Are those your dogs in the profile picture?  My friend has a husky type dog and he's an escape artist.  

Wow.  Thanks for the warning.  FTC has a publication for jut for you.  Follow this link 

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/feature-0015-....

Take a look at the publication called "Taking Charge: What To Do If Your Identity Is Stolen".  That should get you started.  

Regular FHA loan is for owner occupied, primary residence.

Some creative way to do this is through house hacking.  If the property is 2 bed / 2 bath, you can get a room mate.  Or if it's a duplex building, then you can live in one unit and rent out the other unit.  Or if it's a single family residence with mother in law unit, one can rent out the mother in law unit.

Just my 2 cents.

@Loren Thomas  I suggest doing some research.  Ask the owner why he/she's selling?  Sometimes it's because wanting to retire and move to some place warm.  What they tell you will give you some clue about whether the property is worth buying or not.

Next thing is to look for jobs and major employers in the vicinity.  People move to places where there are jobs.  No jobs means no money for rent payment.  

Looking at the map, I see it's further away from I-5 and quite a bit away from Everett city center.  It's also far away from Mukilteo and Boeing. If there are no tenants renting right now, it may indicate the rentals market is soft.  Real estate is a very localized.

Just my 2 cents.

Not every conventional loan require a 20% down.  Lender usually require a mortgage insurance when purchasing a property with less than 20% down.  So theoretically you can purchase a property with 10% down.  Only condition is you'll have to pay monthly mortgage insurance.  

Once the unpaid principle balance is less than 80% of the original loan amount, you can request monthly mortgage insurance be removed.  Or when unpaid principle is less than 78%, lender is supposed to remove the mortgage insurance automatically according to Homeowner Protection Act.

Another way around 20% down is to go FHA. FHA allows 3.5% down. However, you'll have to pay upfront mortgage insurance premium at 1.75% of loan amount plus a monthly mortgage insurance premium.

100% financing is available for military through VA loans or USDA loans.

Just my 2 cents / opinion.

@Joseph Quarto  Assuming MU means mixed use, I think the best way to value your property is through income approach.  

Research your market rent through website Hotpads (or similar websites) by using property address, and see what other similar units in the area are renting for, and then adjust your rent accordingly. Assuming the rents can be increased after research, you can sign new lease with tenants with higher rents if leases are up for renewal. After 6 months of collecting increased rent, your property can be marketed at higher price. Because you now have proof your property can generate higher cash flow, ergo you can sell for more. Income investors want to see actual paper trails providing the proof, not just owner's opinion on what the income property can generate. Buyers will be looking at NOI, GNM, GRM, Cap Rates, etc. Try to time the sales when all the units are rented, because to some potential buyers, empty units (not collecting rent) shouldn't count toward gross rent income.

Just my 2 cents.

@Steven Britton  My suspicion is that a short sale is listed as an adverse item on credit report.  If that's the case, then the adverse item will be on the report for 7 years.  A short sale simply means higher risk to a lender, so lenders will charge higher interest.  But like Tim says, try other mortgage brokers and see what is available.

@Tri Ly   Welcome to BP.  Columbia City, south of Interstate 90, is an up and coming neighborhood.  It getting lot more development.  City of Seattle puts out a map with future development plans.  You may want to check into it and see where the future growth directions are.

@Rohn Falter  Welcome.  A good place to start is one to four units multi-family property.  It's considered a dwelling and you can get conventional financing.  Conventional financing is cheaper in terms of cost.  Places that has easy access to highway and freeway are good candidates.  Maybe consider Olympia, Tacoma, or Lacey.