All Forum Posts by: Brandon G.

We're in the process of rehabbing our first rental property. We are wanting some kind of light tan color for the walls and white for the baseboards and trim as that seems to be the standard now. Can you guys share what colors you usually use for your walls?

We are looking to have a new central air system installed in one of our houses. Can anyone here recommend a good one here in the Dallas area?

 Not real sure. What is normally required when purchasing by owner with conventional financing?

Just met with a couple wanting to sell their house. The ARV is around $160K. They owe about $80K. It needs almost no repairs. Really is in great shape. I asked why they wanted to sell but they seemed very skittish about sharing any information. As I understand they already have another house under contract and need to sell quickly.

So our situation is we already have 2 other deals in the works. Our cash is spent on one and our credit is spent on the other. So not sure what we can do here.

My wife asked me about a lease option. I don't know much about it but her thinking is secure the right to purchase now without having to put up much cash right now.We could maybe put 20K down to help them with their down payment for their new house.

But what I want to know is would doing this disqualify them from the loan they're trying to get right now? Or would having tenants in their existing property count as income rather than an expense?

Any other thoughts on this?

We're in the process of buying our first property. Learning a lot right now. The title company told our lender that we need to order a survey. Should we just Google a survey company or is there something more specific we should be doing here?

We are buying a property in a C neighborhood in Garland, TX where most of the houses do not have central heating and air. However, of the 3 houses for rent in the area, 2 of them had central ac. Our property has only window units and gas heater with floor vents. 

So I am wondering if we should consider installing central ac in our rent property. How much more rent income should we expect to get if we did install one? 

One thing to note is we are considering section 8 as an option. I was told that window units may not qualify for their standards. Is this true?

So when trying to get a new loan, I know lenders want to see the applicant's debt to income ratio below a certain figure. I am curious how rental income is calculated in the eyes of the lender and how that plays into the DTI.

For example, I know a rental with positive cash flow can report as a loss for tax purposes due to depreciation. Do lenders use the tax statements (which may be showing a negative income) when calculating DTI or do they use other means?

I am making an offer on a property and the seller and I have agreed to split the closing costs. Now I am filling out the TREC 20-12 agreement and not exactly sure how or where to write that out.

For the survey, the only 2 options are Buyer pays or Seller pays...No option to split.

Same thing goes for title insurance.

Can someone please help clarify?

Thanks!

Can someone tell me if I can stipulate in my offer that repairs be made by a certain company? The company being mine or my father's company.

Yes, I believe the repairs need to be made prior to closing. I am wondering if there is a way that we could structure the deal in a way that they hire our company to do the repairs and we can reimburse them the cost of the repairs at closing. Or reduce the cost of repairs from the price of the house. Is that possible?