All Forum Posts by: Vijay Chadalavada

Hi,

There are quite a few new listings of condominiums in the Kansas City Downtown. However, in the current market across the nation, the demand is for single-family homes, and not sure if the condominiums are worth buying. They are hard to sell and hard to appreciate.

I did the math for one of the listings in the Kansas City downtown condo ("The Manhattan") and there is no positive cash flow. The apartment is like 150k and there doesn't seem to be having positive cash flow. Rents are in the range of $1000 but not more than that.

@Damian Bialonczyk Thank you for your response.

Yes, it is for personal use. 

Hi,

I'm a first-time homebuyer. I'm planning to buy two properties -- one primary and one secondary. I'm splitting the capital between these two properties with 20% down each. 

Since my primary home is new construction, although I can sign a contract now (after pre-approval), it takes another 6-8 months to get closed. Meanwhile, I planned to buy a second home in a different state. The second home is a resale property and is most likely to get closed before the primary residence.

Should I time it differently? By the time, my primary residence is about to get delivered there is also a change in credit so my loan approval criterion may change drastically. I planned my budget such that overall DTI is under control even with two mortgages but the lenders may have different rules.

Any suggestions? I don't have an option to do it in a different way. Like closing primary first followed by secondary home.

@Jon Schwartz I'm in Northern California (near SF-Oakland) area. I found a duplex in Hayward city. It looks great but it is on market for 57+ days which is quite unusual for a typical listing in the bay area. The property fell through a couple of times and the seller agent told that it was because of loan contingency and nothing to worry about. Didn't know the exact reasons. There are few more duplexes that are also on higher DOM.

I'm in dilemma and didn't make a decision faster because of the following reasons:

1. One of the duplex houses that I saw, didn't appreciate enough ($500k in 2005 to $1.1m in 2020) while other SFHs in the bay area almost quadrupled.

2. Getting the loan approval can still be a problem for me. The property is technically considered SFH but it's a duplex. So, I don't know how the bank appraises. Interest rates are a different story.

3. If the house doesn't appreciate enough then I'm cannot sell it in few years say (5-7 years by taking ARM) and I need to hold. I don't know my future plans. So, I should follow your suggestion by hiring a property manager to take care of even if I move out-of-state.

4. One property where I almost put an offer (but too late), has a considerable amount of repairs to be done, min. of $40k maybe more. Perhaps the owner didn't live in this place and mostly rented out.

I'm still looking for both SFH and duplexes at the moment.

I currently live in California. Currently, Single-Family homes are in great demand. Houses are getting sold 50-60k (sometimes 100k) above the market price.

Since I cannot bid higher than the market rate, I'm thinking of buying a duplex house. With such a home, I can get both privacy and rental income too. Any thoughts on buying duplex homes?

I heard that duplex homes are old style and currently there is no demand at all. So, they do appreciate slower. Is it worth buying? 

I really don't know how my life changes in terms of the job (moving to a different state) etc. so I can't really decide if it's worth buying a duplex home. If I move to a different state for work and the duplex isn't worth selling, how do I manage the property if I don't live there?

Will the bank interest rate be higher for duplex homes?

@Russell Brazil Are you saying 5 years is the ideal time to re-inspect the house after initial treatment? Or a yearly inspection is preferred? Also how much damage do you consider too much?

From the termite inspection reports from the prospective property, it is not clear to me whether there is a structural or joist infestation. I understand some inspection might be limited.

Hi, 

I'm planning to purchase a duplex home and it is also my first home purchase. The reason I choose duplex is that I live in California and Single Family Homes are in high demand and often expensive. With a duplex, I thought I can cover some costs with rental income and still have the privacy that I need. So, I found a duplex and it looks good and spacious enough. But my hopes plummeted after knowing that the house is termite infestation (basement/crawl space, exterior railings, etc.) My agent is pushing me to take the house as it has rental income and is listed at a good price. 

Once termites infest then it is permanent. Even if you treat them, they come back again. I'm worried I have to deal with in my entire life.

Can termites prevention acts such as ventilation, dehumidification, etc. in the crawl space keep termites at bay?

Any advice?