All Forum Posts by: Andy Thoman

I'm new to REI. I'd like to use some spare time to look around to see if I see any vacants or other probable properties. What do you all look for when doing this?

what are the best guides or blogs to read about this?

 How do you come up with that number? I thought that closing costs are usually flat fees associated with the loan, escrow, and title company?

Wouldn't that mean that a $40k house and a $500k house have substantially different closing cost percentage of the total price?

Or do lenders and title companies usually charge a percentage of the total purchase price?

What are all the costs I can expect on having during closing and how can I figure out normal prices or estimate what it might be?

I want to figure out a ballpark estimate of closing costs before I analyze properties so I can take closing costs into consideration ahead of time to see if its worth it to act on a property or not. How do you go about estimating and ultimately finding real closing costs?

Do many people here utilize the MLS to find deals?

If you do, what strategy are you using it for (BRRRR, Flip, buy and hold, etc)?

Also, when you find a deal, do you have your own agent to feed you deals? Or do you just browse the MLS?

If you didn't have an agent and wanted to make an offer, would you hire a broker or would you just use the listing agent to handle the offer for you?

 I don't currently have a deal lined up, but I want to be prepared for when I find one so I can act on it. I'm mostly thinking about when making offers on things off market.

If I were to do the rebate broker scenario, where would I go about finding a rebate broker to hire? What is a rebate broker?

I have only ever used an agent. So if I wanted to make a formal offer without an agent, what do I need to do?

What documents do I use? Where can I get those documents? What do I fill out ahead of time/with the seller?

Do I just email/mail/deliver a document with my offer and a cover letter?

I've never bought any real estate aside from my residence that I used a agent in. So when I bought it, the agent basically lined everything up.

However, I am wondering what the process is if I wanted to do it without an agent.

Say that I already have a signed agreement by both parties for a property. What are my next steps (commonly)?

1). Who sets up the wire transfer-can I do it myself? 

2). Who sets up the escrow account? 

3). What documents need to be signed?

4). Who does the deed transfer, and how?

Any steps I am just overlooking?

How can i figure out how much of my payments are going towards interest and principal?

I found an online calculator for finding my monthly payments, but how do I know how much each month is for interest?

For example, for simplicity sake if I had a loan for 100k at the interest rate of 5% over 30 years. My calculation says the monthly payment will be 536.82. How do I know how much of that is interest and principal? Is it just even each month? 

Over 30 years it would be total cost of $193,255.78. So the total amount of interest paid was $93,255.78. Are my assumptions correct on that on how the interest is paid?

However, I understand that earlier you are mostly paying interest. So how do I know for each month is interest and how much is principal?

I think the financial side of this makes plenty of sense. However, I'd be concerned on a theological side. It'd be very hard to figure out all the ethical dilemmas up front.
That being said, I think you could implement a system for this. Most churches already have systems for giving money to people in need. The rental system could be similar. 

You often mentioned that this could be a great outreach avenue. I agree, but I'm just curious, in what ways do you see it being an outreach? When I think of this, I immediately think of providing affordable housing for people who normally cant find a place. Or renting it out to another non-profit like to be a half-way house or a shelter for victims of abuse?

All that being said, you also have to think of the sort of message this sends to your congregation. What sort of theology does this teach? I think it could easily teach people to be less generous, because instead of giving towards the mission - they see it as a business that should make its own money for upkeep.
Theologically speaking, I think this could teach your congregation the very opposite of what you want them to think of when they think of their relationship to giving...

All that said, I do not think this is a bad idea - those are just a few concerns I have. (Speaking from the perspective of someone who works in full time vocational ministry).

What do you mean that HELOC funds can be reused?
If I refinance and get 15k cash or if I use a HELOC and get 15k cash, I still only have 15k. How would I be able to reuse it?

If I understand right I think this is how it works..?

If I refinance, I get 15k. I spend that 15k, then if I want that money, I'd have to pay off the loan and take out a new refinance mortgage.

If I use a HELOC, I get 15k. I spend that 15k, then if I want that money, then if I want that I'd still have to pay the principle off and get 15k back?

With the HELOC, am I essentially just saving on paying refinance fees all the time?

So if I used a HELOC, I could pay it off so I wouldn't have interest accrued on anything. But if I found another deal in 6 months, I could just pull that money out without going through any new paperwork or fees?


An additional question I have. Do banks give both mortgages and HELOCS on homes giving me a higher LTV amount for more cash? Or do I have to choose one or the other essentially?