All Forum Posts by: Stephen McKnew Colonna

Corey, Will, Agustine, Gloria, Danielle, and the list goes on...  Thanks for your support, experience, and insight.  My out of state/country and out of mind (lol) adventures continue.  The hurdle I working through now is that despite the fact that I have enough saved to buy a house outright (not necessarily the best avenue), I have not been able to meet standard lender's gates.  I own no property in USA, and most of my legal/financial moorings are based on my location overseas: residence in Korea; bank is US but address of account is based on an Armed Forces Post Office; tax address is my Dad's home in Kansas; precious metal holdings in Florida; no US-based drivers license (lived and worked in Korea since 2008.  The suggestion from another real estate investor who has seemed to crack the same nut is to move all addresses to where my tax address is (Kansas), have dad either add US phone in his home for me under my name or change his phone account name to my name; get utilities put in my name...  Basically, establish a US residence in my name.  That is doable.  I guess I'd be adding value to Dad's life by assuming some of his bills, but is this the best (or even logical) way to break the code?  I have not yet pursued avenues through Bigger Pocket syndicates.  BREAK:  David G's last solo podcast hit the nail on the head for me.  I am financially better off than I have ever been.  So, the pain level of good is not great enough.  David suggested finding a pain in the bouquet and using it as the motivator.  Good idea.   

Will:  I am learning too.  One thing that occurred to me this morning, "I can't or won't pull the trigger if my pistol stays in the holster."  It really does not matter how shiny I've made my holster (studying, saving cash, etc.).  I'm doing the out of state (well out of country) thing too.  As the man behind the beard mentioned (and I ignored), financing is an early long pole.  I have a team in GA, but the lending piece is still in limbo. Need to find either a portfolio lender, hard lender, or owner/seller financer.  Conventional loans (in my limited experience) are not amenable to out of state investors.  My lender just informed me that my case requires a manual underwriting.  Can't house hack at a distance either.  Man my holster looks good!  Plenty of ammo (cash assets).  But, until I tried to move toward pulling the trigger, I did not know I had the wrong kind of ammo.  Not to worry.  Everything is figureoutable.  Steve C.

Finally honing on an area to begin our journey.  We are looking for recommendations from others who have had good experiences with specific realtors in the Pittsburgh, PA greater metropolitan and surrounding area.

To Jill, Evan, Steve, Matt, JD and Jacob:  You are awesome.  Conclusion--honesty is the best (really only) policy.  Shopping and comparing lenders on-line seems obvious, but I did not think of it.  Thanks so much.  My partner (spouse) and I are expanding our looking to Wisconsin and Texas.  Any pointers?  Thank you again.

Everyone has to start somewhere--thankfully, this is the place to which we were lead to find enduring freedom and sustainable wealth.  My partner and I want to break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, renting ourselves out to someone else so they can have what we want.  That said, we are looking for a small (2-4 unit) multi-family property (buy and hold, rental) in the Austin, TX area.  We've been through the sacrifice and save drill--hence borrowing is a choice not a mandate.  But BP schools me that leverage is the way to go.  I went to my bank, Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU), but I think I can do better elsewhere.  NFCU limits investment properties to 15-year loans, 15% down, with the stipulation that I must do the deal on a house-hack basis.  I live in Korea where my current employment has me and my teenagers are in high school.  FINALLY THE QUESTIONS...

1.  If I were to use the bank terms summarized above but chose not to follow the house-hack rule, how likely is it that they would know? what would happen if they found out? is it worth the risk?

2.  Any recommendation of a good community in the Austin area in which to focus my search?  Perhaps someone in the BP community can recommend a reliable realtor, broker, etc?

3.  Lastly, is there a better financing choice with which any of you have had success without the limitations of NFCU?   

I know, new-comers have so many basic questions, but I am reading BP publications as fast as I can.  

Respectfully,

Steve C.