My dream home
Hello everyone! David Here. After becoming disabled, investing is about all I can do these days. And I can't do that well. LOL But we have invested in a few properties in the Ft Lauderdale, FL area and in my old home town of Winter Haven, FL. We closed on a 1894 sq ft, 3 bedroom, two bath lake front home with dock, boathouse and lift located on Lake Howard in WH. (Closed 4/24, rented out at $1500 a month on 5/5) Then snagged a 1344 sq ft. two story. 3 bedroom, 2 and a half bath, 2 car garage town house on Lake Hartridge in WH. We closed on it 5/15/15 and have 3 people wanting it. Carpet went in today. $1050.00 a month was the last price I heard on it. It might bring in $1100 which would shock me. Then just today, an offer was accepted on a 1148 sq ft 2 bedroom 2 bath condo on Lake Buckeye in WH. We close on 6/1 if everything is ready. It has all kinds of new stuff in it and only needs some paint on the inside and then it is ready to go. A family illness forced the sale. It should rent for $850 to $900 and go pretty fast. All 5 of them paid off with no mortgages. Sounds pretty good right?
Well, it does until you run into your dream home! I was born in Winter Haven, FL and I have always had my eye on a few older homes I would love to live in. OK, historic homes. Lake Howard in Winter Haven, FL, is where some of the first homes of the city were built on a lake. The city incorporated in 1911 with about 440 citizens living there. Well my dream home was built in 1920, and in my opinion, is a grand old home. I want it bad. But, we just bought 3 properties cash to put the cash to work. Enough to buy my dream home outright. LOL We have a home in Pompano Beach, FL that would sell for about $160k. I got a cousin looking for a place to live for him and his two sons. They don't stay with him all the time. They would in this home. LOL. He pays $1000 a month right now and has for 6 years or so. He thought he was buying a house but he did not have it locked in like he thought. So he has been paying rent for all these years.
I would like to put a deal together for about $200k to $250k. The house will appraise for well over $300k. I think more like $400k. I have not bought anything on credit in forever and it has hurt my credit score a bit. Bad enough I don't have a FICO score right now. LOL I opened a credit card to help get one. Cash is king but it don't help the credit. I had a 740 earlier this month but this new credit card dropped it 66 points. That really bummed me out. But it is climbing back up. I am trying to figure out which way to go if I really want this home? Which way do I go for? Do I sell a few investment properties and buy it outright? I like the properties we have. Sell one and put a mortgage on the rest of it? Or just put 20% down and let my cousin make most the payment and I kick in the rest? This way I can keep the Pompano Beach house which will go up in value. I kind of need to stick around the Ft Lauderdale area a while longer. But I hate to lose my dream house in Winter Haven, FL.
Is there a lender or investor that would be willing to take a chance when I don't have a FICO score and the other credit scores close to 700? It will be back over 700 before too long. My cousin owns a aquatic weed control business with a business partner. But he went through a divorce about 7 years ago or so and we know how that usually goes. It was not pretty. LOL I want to help him build his credit back up as well. Any suggestions on helping me or us get a loan for my dream home and helping my cousin rebuild his credit? OH, I don't owe any other bills. Well a cell phone bill and a utility bill. I think I got a decent income coming in. LOL I have a little SSDI coming in as well. Tell me what you think or what you would do?
Thank you for your time and help!
David