All Forum Posts by: Steve B.

Not sure what you mean by not passing an appraisal.   An appraisal is an assessment of the value of a property.   It not a pass/fail type thing - the appraisal will result in some value.   It might turn out to be a really low value but the idea is that the appraiser would provide an estimate of what similar properties have been bought for recently.  

Maybe the issue is that the appraisal will not match the asking price.   Then I would say that the seller is asking way too much.   Actually an appraisal would be a good tool to support a lower price during your negotiation.  

I just saw a potential fix and flip on the MLS a pretty decent price. It is on a block where all the other houses are near the front of the lot while this one is at the rear of the lot with no back yard. This is a very urban with alleys so this house is basically right off the alley. Does anybody have any experience flipping this type of an arrangement?

@Lisa Medlock are you offing this in PA only or any other states?

Generally you can have a conventional loan as a primary and a HELOC as a secondary as long as the total LTV does not exceed 80%. Any bank coming into a second position like that will get an appraisal and limit the size of the HELOC to the 80%.

About seller financing - this is when the seller gives you a loan to buy the property.   Basically they act as the bank for you.    This could work for a seller that does not have an existing mortgage and wants to stretch out their income over time.

About 'subject to' - this is a essentially taking over the existing mortgage on behalf od the seller.   It is legal but a pretty sensitive issue for the existing bank.

Search around on BP for a lot more discussion of either of these methods.

I have not hit the lottery either !@#$   So I am on the look out for either seller financing or 'subject to' deals.  

Welcome!   You might be interested to check out the Northwest Indiana Creative Investors Association which meets in Merrillville.   I sat in on one of their meetings not to long ago and it was a really good group.  

For the mortgage: principle balance of $65k, interest rate of 5.75% for equal monthly payments for 30 years will give you something like this:

Interest:         $311.46

Principal:        $67.86

Property tax:  $81.25

PMI:              $270.83

TOTAL:         $731.41

It looks like you might not have included the property tax as part of your calculation?   And keep in mind that this does not include any other expenses.

@Wendell De Guzman count me in for the next meeting.  Thank you!

@Wendell De Guzman I don't think that I ever really thought about deals from a lenders perspective before.   Thanks for helping to shift my perspective around.  

Do you spend as much time getting to know borrowers as you do investors?

Welcome Mike!   I grew up in Chicago and my first property was a 2 flat on the south side.   Hope that you find the site very useful.  I ha

ve found the forum and podcast to be really great.