All Forum Posts by: Tristan Church

I would get three different quotes for the roof replacement and present them. I would say that he is responsible for the cost of the roof, or if it's a property you really really want, and the numbers are still working out, offer to split the cost but you will handle it. 

loopnet.com is a pretty good site, they will let you see all types of properties including bank owned, multi-family, and commercial properties

@Stephanie Sicard I have a few thoughts. While I understand what your agent is saying, If you feel that you want to do a duplex, while giving advice is ok, I'm not sure he should try to talk you into, or out of, anything. I think you have a few good options on the table. Home owning is always expensive, things are going to break, you'll need to do repairs and so on, so having a good reserve is always important. Number 1, no matter what property you get, do you due diligence. Even if you have to pay a little extra for certain inspections, do it. The few hundred dollars you are going to spend to confirm everything is good is far cheaper than the hundreds or thousands you could pay in the end. Number 2, I think house hacking may work out great for you. Since you are doing an FHA loan and you'll be living in the house, you could always start off by doing a 3 bedroom style house, get 2 roommates that essentially pay your mortgage while you are saving up. This is a great way to start because not only are you living very cheaply or for free in some cases, it is also giving you the knowledge and skills on how to be a landlord and deal with issues as they arise. Once you save up some more money, I would then go into a multi family. Rent out the room you were living in, move into the multifamily, and rent out the other units. This way the original house be your rental house, and you'll have your multifamily that you can rent out and live in .

So a few things come to mind with this one. Is it just you living in the house? How many bedrooms are there? Are you paying a mortgage or living rent free? There are a few different scenarios. First off, you can rent the house out without it being in your name, so dont let that stop you if you are considering going that route. If you are living there by yourself, I would house hack it for a while. Get some roommates, offset your payment by having their rent cover the majority if not all of the mortgage. This way, you can save for another property, Once you are ready to purchase another property, just rent out the room you were living in and boom, the whole house is a rental while you live in a new property. Another option, if you have good equity in the house, would be to refi and you, or someone else, stated. There is no time limit to how fast you can become a landlord, you can do it whenever you want. If you dont like it and want to sell the property all together you could, but then why not just stay there instead of selling it and buying another place? Good luck!!

In this instance I would keep the security deposit but let them out of the 2 month penalty. Sometimes thing just dont work out and thats unfortunate. This isn't your fault however, if they made the commitment thats on them, it's not your fault their furniture doesn't fit. You should still be compensated for the hassle, and for the time it will sit vacant because of their error. 

If you are house hacking and it's covering your Mortgage Insurance, I'd pay that down quicker so you could net that extra $400 a month, that way, you are living in your house and you are making an extra $400 a month, Then I'd either save up, or, I'd buy another house with an FHA loan, rent out the room you're living in now, and go move into your new house and house hack that one as well. The house you are living in now turns into a rental, and the next one will have a low downpayment, and you'll have people renting out rooms there as well freeing up more money for you. Just my thoughts.

If you aren’t in the position of needing to sell it I wouldn’t. I’d just keep holding on to it getting that extra income monthly. Once it’s paid off you’ll be getting a big chunk a month which will be nice as well. Also, if you decide you’d like to purchase another house and you get a mortgage on that one, the rent you get monthly will help offset your debt to income ratio as well. You do one more property With similar comps and you’d be making 5k a month, not a bad gig!