Property Manager · Windsor Locks, CT · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
Hey Y'all.
I've been working hard to find the right investment property, and I think I have found the one at this point. It's not on the MLS - older gentleman is selling off his units. The cash flow is great. He is asking for $205,000 as the sale price. I need to hit 25% for the downpayment to be able to qualify for a conventional loan. This is right around 51K. I'm about 5-10K away from having this, depending on what the closing costs are. My question is - how do I get the remaining 5-10K? I have enough to cover that in a retirement account, but I would prefer to keep that as a safe haven / "reserves" account of sorts.
I'm afraid of not having the money in time to "seal the deal", as they say. I have thought of a few options, but they are drying up:
1) Close friend. He's all tied up in equity and mortgages though. So no go. 2) Family: Eh, didn't work out, when I asked. They are anti-real estate. 3) I own my car out right. It's valued about 2x the loan I'd want. So perhaps pull a bit of credit on that? 4) Cash advance on a credit card. Holy expensive, no? 5) Hard money lender. Would anyone even take on such a small loan?
Thanks in advance for your advice and thoughts. :)
Real Estate Broker · Manchester, NH · Member since 2014 · 630 posts · 420 votes
10y
If he's trying to minimize his capital gains tax, why not trying to negotiate a seller-financed deal @Filipe Pereira? You could get a lower downpayment, but pay a higher monthly rate so as to make up for it.
So this deal is still in the works....unfortunately. The seller tried to terminate the deal once or twice and we've been able to bring it back to life a couple of times now.
Some updates:
I've decided to go Owner occupied, so now I only need 20% down (to avoid PMI)
The seller and I agreed to a purchase price of 200k after the property appraised at 180. I agreed to bring the 20K to hit the agreed price of 200. The bank was OK with me getting a personal loan so long as it did not affect my DTI a significant amount.
I applied for a personal loan, but because I just graduated, I have a fairly short employment record with my current employer. Combine that with the fact that I've only had credit for 5ish years, and the outcome is that they were not able to give me what I needed.
Since then, the underwriter at the bank decided that the appraisal wasn't good enough ("too many mistakes", so they are ordering a second one. Hopefully it appraises higher. Waiting on that. Meantime I essentially pulled a loan on my car (woohoo for paying cash for cars) to free up some cash. The monthly payment is so low (stretched it out over 5 years) that it should not affect my ability to get the mortgage.
Mortgage Broker · CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 643 votes
10y
@Filipe Pereira Typically you can't use an unsecured loan or line of credit as your down payment. I'm surprised they told you a personal loan would be ok for your down payment (even though you didn't end up getting the personal loan).
Property Manager · Windsor Locks, CT · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
@Stone Teran I agree. This thread is largely irrelevant at this point. At first I was going to go NOO, thus requiring 25%. But since I went OO I only needed 20%. I pulled a loan on my car because I didn't want to touch a brokerage account or my Roth IRA. There is enough in those accounts to pay off the car loan right now if I wanted to, so I'm far from my last dollar. The interest rate on the car loan is SIGNIFICANTLY lower (1/10th) than the rate of return on my Roth at the moment.
@Stephanie Medellin I thought the same. The only reason I could come up with is because the bank is only requiring the 20% of the mortgage they are providing me, not 20% of the sale price as a downpayment. What I pay above the mortgage is sort of null to them, as they never actually "see it" (goes straight to seller at closing). So the loan is for 180K. 180K * .2 = 36K Which I have in liquid assets. The personal loan would have been to cover some of the gap between the 180 and 200.
Developer · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 904 votes
10y
Filipe Pereira what happens if there are major capex repairs shortly after you buy it?
If the seller is an experienced investor ask him to think back to when he was starting out and then with your best puppy-eyed look ask him if he would like to start a similar young investor just starting out by seller financing part of the deal.
Another option is to bring in a partner for part of the deal.
Property Manager · Windsor Locks, CT · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
@Percy N. then I will have to dip into my Roth and brokerage accounts. But- the roof, furnaces, and water heaters are all pretty new. Not to say they can't break, but just saying it's unlikely.
He's doing me a solid as it is. Similar properties go for 250+ based on income. I already asked him about seller financing, and we both agreed it's not something either of us were interested in. Plus, like I said, he doesn't have much equity in this, and is already losing 60+ on the property.
Real Estate Agent · Sisters, OR · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
I'm sure someone has already said ask the owner. The other thing would be to go to prosper.com. Get a loan a little less then credit cards and just pay it back with cashflow until it is done.
Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
10y
Wait...if it's a 4 unit, why not just go with a conventional 5% down and live in a unit and rent out the other 3
your rate of 3.375% or whatever already signaled to me that it wasn't an investment rate but rather an owner occupied rate.
youre young enough that living there for a year wont kill you. However I'm also worried you wont get a loan period, because your income history is sooo short. Just thoughts to consider
Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2016 · 200 posts · 87 votes
10y
The credit cards can work. Call up the cards you have and ask them if they have any promo deals for either cash advance or convenience checks.
If they all say no then call discover and get a discover card and get convenience and/or balance transfer checks. Deposit the check. You should be able to get 0% interest for 12 months at a cost of 3 pts.
Property Manager · Windsor Locks, CT · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
@David Zheng: 1) PMI 2) I am getting a lower rate through my lender because of a first time buyer discount, which requires 20% down.
Yes, I am planning on living there and house hacking. I should be able to qualify without any issues. I was pre approved for 400K. Time will tell though!
Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
10y
Honestly if PMI is the only concern, I would just do the 5% route and refinance later or continually put in extra per month to the principal until the LTV hits 78%.
Which would you rather have...lose a deal to someone else because you couldn't get 5-10k for the 20% downpayment quick enough or end up closing the deal with PMI and just paying the other 15% to end that PMI when you end up making that 5-10k in a couple more months
Property Manager · Windsor Locks, CT · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
@David Zheng not to sound rude, but there's also the #2 reason I provided, regarding the lower rate. Either way, this post is rather irrelevant at this point. Like I said, I went OO instead of NOO, so I no longer needed to worry about the extra money, because it dropped it to 20% down payment.