All Forum Posts by: Alex Hunt

Welcome from a fellow Pagrovian (current resident of Burlingame)!  My parents bought our house in PG the early 90's for $60k...just a tad higher than that now ;).  If you have any specific questions about the area feel free to message me.  My investing interests are in the Central Valley where the prices are a bit more manageable for a young-professional. 

Cheers, 

Alex

@Dave FosterThanks for weighing in Dave.  That's exactly what I needed to hear.  I want to do this the right way.

@Mark VejnarI could certainly keep a room for myself if that would cover me legally, but I have no intention of living there.  I'm also certainly going to go the traditional investment route.  

Thanks both for the input.  I was feeling that the 25% down and ~0.25 points for an investment loan were worth the reduced risk as well. 

I'm curious to hear what others think.

Hi BP community - I'm just starting my journey in real estate and seeking to buy my first property in California's Central Valley, namely Merced. I work in San Francisco and live on the peninsula where real estate valuations are astronomically high, hence my interest in looking elsewhere. Merced is about a two hour drive from my home. I plan to buy and hold and rent the property. My uncle is a loan manager and has offered to do the transaction for me without some of the associated costs. He says I can list it as my primary residence for one year and I can claim I work remotely (which I often do) to avoid higher rates/down payment associated with purchasing a property as an investment property, not to mention the tax benefits. Do folks in the BP community have any advice about this? Is this off-the-books kind of move common practice? I'm worried about the consequences of listing a rental property as my primary residence and wonder if I'm getting bad advice from my uncle. Thanks in advance, Alex