Got pre-approved! Time to find that one great deal...

Got pre-approved! Time to find that one great deal...

Manville, NJ · Member since 2015 · 141 posts · 87 votes

Hello everybody!

I have not been on here much lately. I spend most of my free time now trying to save as much as possible for that downpayment. I'm sure you all know how "fun" that is... Well just recently me and my wife got serious. We started driving around and looking at properties we found online to get a feel for different areas. We found quite a deal in East Orange that was close to transportation but a few days later that property turned out to be under contract. It was back to the drawing board and we decided to go and get pre-approved first before we do anything else. Long story short, TD Bank pre-approved us for $100,000 at 3.865 for 30 years. As a matter of fact that was done on the spot. Pretty exciting. No skeletons in our financial closet so hopefully the bank won't say no once we go back. They are also letting us put 10% down with no PMI. The program is called Right Step.

We spent the whole weekend looking at properties that are affordable and will generate good consistent cash flow and I must say that being in NJ it is not easy! We found a few interesting ones in Roselle, NJ. Not the best area around but we gotta start out somewhere and with a limited budget that little town appears to be an option. If anybody has some experience with that area please share your thoughts. 

I looked through craigslist and the rents seem to be up there at around $1000 to $1100 a month. If everything was to go according to plan it is possible that one unit would pay nearly all expenses and we would be able to live almost rent free and keep saving for the next REI. It sounds almost too good to be true and... That scares us. Quite a lot actually.

Anyway I'm gonna go back to running numbers now. I just wanted to share and thank you all for getting us hooked on investing! I was thinking at first that I will be asking a bunch of questions on here, but truth is that the questions have already been asked and all I gotta do now is to just use the search function on the forums! :) 

I hope you all have a great week! 

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  • San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Jake Recz:

    Hello everybody!

    I have not been on here much lately. I spend most of my free time now trying to save as much as possible for that downpayment. I'm sure you all know how "fun" that is... Well just recently me and my wife got serious. We started driving around and looking at properties we found online to get a feel for different areas. We found quite a deal in East Orange that was close to transportation but a few days later that property turned out to be under contract. It was back to the drawing board and we decided to go and get pre-approved first before we do anything else. Long story short, TD Bank pre-approved us for $100,000 at 3.865 for 30 years. As a matter of fact that was done on the spot. Pretty exciting. No skeletons in our financial closet so hopefully the bank won't say no once we go back. They are also letting us put 10% down with no PMI. The program is called Right Step.

    We spent the whole weekend looking at properties that are affordable and will generate good consistent cash flow and I must say that being in NJ it is not easy! We found a few interesting ones in Roselle, NJ. Not the best area around but we gotta start out somewhere and with a limited budget that little town appears to be an option. If anybody has some experience with that area please share your thoughts. 

    I looked through craigslist and the rents seem to be up there at around $1000 to $1100 a month. If everything was to go according to plan it is possible that one unit would pay nearly all expenses and we would be able to live almost rent free and keep saving for the next REI. It sounds almost too good to be true and... That scares us. Quite a lot actually.

    Anyway I'm gonna go back to running numbers now. I just wanted to share and thank you all for getting us hooked on investing! I was thinking at first that I will be asking a bunch of questions on here, but truth is that the questions have already been asked and all I gotta do now is to just use the search function on the forums! :) 

    I hope you all have a great week! 

     That's fantastic!  Congrats on qualifying for a decent loan and good luck on your adventure :-)

  • Manville, NJ · Member since 2015 · 141 posts · 87 votes
    11y

    Thank You! :) Your post just reminded me of a question I was going to put in my initial post. 

    We asked the bank for $100,000 and that's what we got pre-approved for. Is there a way to find out what the maximum is that the bank would approve us for? We do not plan on buying anything over $100,000 but the curiosity is killing me. 

  • Saint Cloud, FL · Member since 2015 · 1 post · 0 votes
    11y

    Just ask the loan officer.  He or she should be able to let you know very easily.  Congrats!

  • Investor · Titusville, PA · Member since 2015 · 298 posts · 150 votes
    11y

    Usually, banks will loan around the amount that would make payments coincide with about 33 to 34 percent of your household income.  Not all of them are the same, but many of them seem to be like that in my experience.  So, in order to find out how much I might be eligible for, I would use my 10bii financial calculator to figure it out.  If you put 360 in the "n" spot for 360 months, the interest rate that was quoted to you in the interest per year (i/yr) spot and put the amount that would be equivalent to 33 or 34 percent of your monthly income in the payment (PMT) spot, then, by tapping the PV (present value) button, it should tell you an approximate amount that you should be approvable for.  

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