All Forum Posts by: Alma Mills

I understand your challenge, I live in an expensive market, I am also self employed. I have helped a friend who was in your same situation writing off lots on taxes. He was able to change his financial future by reducing the write offs and after a year or two he got a loan and bought his first house. It seems counter productive, but one year of paying more taxes may allow you to get 90% financing on a property. In my market, that could be easily $900,000 that a bank is giving you to invest in Real Estate. Way more than your gonna spend on taxes.

Of course, you could also go to bridge lenders or hard money folks but if you want cheaper money it would be better to be able to qualify for traditional financing.

@Brandon Turner I was kind of wondering the same thing as I am analyzing Hawaii investing and huge portions of the islands are only zoned for single family or max 2 units. Since i wanted small multi family my realtor will send me properties that are listed as single family with 3 bedrooms or more and you have check to see if there are more units. Sellers might give cues that the house is sub divided like listing "separate entrance."

Locals say they would never crack down on these illegal units but ther Oahu government just cracked down on short term vacation rentals, they could do the same on monster houses. If there is enough political pressure they could severely damage your investment. This has made me concerned about buying one of these nonconforming units.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) other investment in Culver City.

These were actually two homes that we built for my parents about a block from the new Expo line Metro train station in what is now called the HUB in Culver City. Several HUGE developments are going in right across the street from the Station including one called Ivy Substation. We tore down the old small duplex that was on this property and put in two 1700 sq. ft. 4 bed/3 bath houses. They include luxury features like rooftop decks, huge quartz Islands and the like. see at culvercastles.com

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) other investment in Culver City.

These were actually two homes that we built for my parents about a block from the new Expo line Metro train station in what is now called the HUB in Culver City. Several HUGE developments are going in right across the street from the Station including one called Ivy Substation. We tore down the old small duplex that was on this property and put in two 1700 sq. ft. 4 bed/3 bath houses on the lot. They include luxury features like rooftop decks, huge quartz Islands and the like. see for yourself at culvercastles.com

I have used stacksource and they were great.   Huber Bongolan was my broker and he is so on top of everything.   Very cordial, organized, and knowledgeable.   I have know him for years and have given his info to my brother and friends. 

BTW the guy is an eagle scout like I am.  :)

I am sorry I have not been clear.  I have been looking into rates for a refinance on my Ohio Duplex for about 6 months (pre-pandemic) and I have been consistently finding rates that are over 1% higher on the exact same product (2 unit, cash out) as my CA mortgage broker.   Has anyone who invests in multiple states seen discrepancies like I am?

@Chris Mason and @Zack Karp

I am aware of the hit I get for a cash out and a 2 unit vs a single family but these hits should not come out to 1.75% (175 basis points). It should be maybe 50 basis points don't you think?  At the same time I was quoted the 3.15% on the non owner occupied single family I was quoted a 3.65% on a Jumbo cash out duplex here in Los Angeles.  Due to the penalty for Jumbo I would have guessed that I could at least get the same on smaller cash out non-owner occupied duplex in Ohio.  I have contacted several lenders in Ohio and they have quoted me rates that seemed about 100 basis points (1%) too high compared to what I was offered in CA.

I do understand that right now the rates are bouncing all around but I am just wondering who can help me get competitive rates in Ohio?   Maybe lenders in Cincinnati, Columbus or Cleaveland might know.  My mortgage broker here is not licensed in Ohio so they can not help me.

I own property in Ohio and California and have been refinancing several of them.  I have been surprised that the rates I am getting quoted in Ohio are significantly higher than those I have been getting in CA.  The Ohio Lenders say that the rates they offer should be the same as in other places in the country, but they don't seem that way.  For example, I just funded a refi of a non-owner occupied Singe Family for a non-cash out in CA at 2.99%. ( I bought it down for a little less than a point but the base was 3.15%). This was not a jumbo, the debt was 356k.  I admit I did lock this before the pandemic.  The lenders in Ohio have been saying that for a cash out non-owner occupied duplex I would be looking at something in the high 4 percents.  

I was hoping you savvy lenders and investors could shed some light on this for me.  Why would interest rates be higher in some states over others?  Or do I just need to shop around more?  Any recommendations would be appreciated.

I have a place in the neighborhood of Pleasant Ridge and Kennedy Heights. The cap rates are much better than in Los Angeles, where I live but buying and managing from a distance is challenging.

My general advice is make your place something 90% of people will want 90% of the time. Meaning, if you do something unique make sure it won't be disliked or turn ppl off. I am reminded of rooms my parents painted in a rental that were green and blue. When walking potential tenants through they would comment on the color, at times asking if they could paint it. You usually get the best rents if the largest pool of tenants likes your place, thus more are compeating for your rental.