All Forum Posts by: Annchen Knodt

@John Cornelius, I've used click2mail.com and been very happy with the service.  I uploaded my graphic for the front of the postcard and a message for the back, where they let you embed fields (like owner name and property address) that you can then populate from a spreadsheet.  I think this option was only available for orders that were to be processed immediately (rather than specifying a custom date), but that worked fine for me.  Definitely recommend checking it out!

Hi @Lauren C. - I've attempted to do a BRRR with delayed financing and was almost to the finish line when it fell through because I had purchased it with funds from my partnership's bank account but was applying for the loan in my name. So be sure that you can document the source of funds and that the source matches up with the applicant (seems less likely to be a problem for you though). Would definitely second what @Neil Henderson said about confirming everything with a lender before pulling the trigger!  

But in my experience the lender didn't care at all about the lease on the house (didn't even want to see it) - they were doing underwriting purely on my credentials.  If that's the case for you too, seems like it might be easier to do it in your husband's name with his W2.  

As far as whether your medium-term rental condo strategy is a good plan - sounds like you have a decent understanding of the market, but you may want to mention where you are to get other input on how the strategy might work there.

Sounds like a creative idea, and I wish you luck with it!

@Dutch Langley I've got the same question - installing LVP over a 1985 wooden subfloor with many irregularities.  Does it work to just install the Luan over top of them - ie. does it retain it's firmness / smoothless and not eventually conform to the irregularities underneath it as well?  I'm curious what your experience was, thanks!

Hi @Paul Savanuck, welcome to BP and thanks for your service!  

I'll second @Gayle Melnick's point that with an LLC you usually have to get a commercial loan, which come with less favorable terms (higher interest rate and shorter term, so much higher payments). Perhaps there are lenders out there who would work with you, but you'd probably need to have an established relationship with them first. I don't know about VA loans though, maybe that would work! However, you may also want to consider simply using insurance for protection (I've seen lots of people on here talk about how that works perfectly fine and that people get caught up in the LLC idea more than they should, especially when your portfolio is still small. Eg see: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...).  Another option would be purchasing a property in your name, obtaining financing, and then deeding over to your LLC.  I've done that on a property after getting advice from folks on here and so far it's worked well (I used a Warranty Deed rather than a Quit Claim deed as many others do, to better protect the chain of title, based on some recommendations as well as advice from my attorney)

I also have recently bought a condo in Germantown MD, and I spent quite a bit of time analyzing condos as investments in the different areas of Montgomery County… so to also echo what others have said on that, I'd be really surprised if you could find something that cashflows in e.g. Bethesda (assuming cashflow is what you're going for), especially with the current low inventory and a less favorable commercial loan.  However it seems like there are more opportunities in surrounding areas as you've mentioned!

You also would have to be careful with planning on refinancing out of a cash purchase on a condo, because there are condos that banks won't lend on (called "unwarrantable"), so if you do go that route you would want to triple check that you'll be able to pull off the refi before making the purchase! And you mention delayed financing vs regular cash-out refi - delayed financing is a Fannie Mae "exception" on a conventional loan that allows you to put a loan on the property right after purchase rather than wait the 6mo seasoning required for a cash-out refi (afaik it's irrelevant if you're doing a commercial loan with your LLC, and I think you may have different options for timelines with that depending on your lender). With DF you get the lesser of 75% ARV or the total amount you put into the property at purchase, and you have to have the purchase funds clearly documented as coming from YOUR accounts (I'm not sure how an LLC would play in here - again i think you wouldn't be doing DF with an LLC)

HTH and congrats on getting started!!!

Hi @Christopher Anderson, welcome to BP and to Durham!  I hope that you, your wife, and your penguin (awesome!) are enjoying NC so far :-)

Depending on what your investing goals are, you may find that you have better luck with properties in the secondary / tertiary markets around the triangle.  For cash flow, lots of folks go out to places like Fayetteville, Sanford, Rocky Mount, Burlington, etc.  But perhaps your CPO can help you win contracts in the hot Durham market!

Also if you haven't done so already, I highly recommend adding keyword alerts for Raleigh/Durham so that you'll get notifications whenever a BP meetup is scheduled (usually second Wed of the month).  Those are a great way to get to know local investors - more difficult now with COVID and colder weather but hopefully won't be too long before things start normalizing again.

Hi @Ryan Cleary, you may want to check out this thread: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Sounds like people are still doing it in some markets, not necessarily sure about post-COVID but my impression is that there are still lenders out there who will do it.

Howdy BP,

I recently purchased a condo for my personal residence, knowing that I'm likely to move in the next few years and will then rent it out.  I kind of nerded out with spreadsheet analyses while weighing my options to decide whether it was a good move, so I wanted to share my spreadsheet.  I've uploaded it to the fileplace here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

The sheet calculates various metrics like time to break even on transaction costs, expenses while occupying, expenses / cash flow while renting, comparisons with renting personal residence rather than purchasing, etc. There are some comparisons with 5% down and 20% down scenarios, though more with 20% since that's what I ended up doing. 

I hope someone finds it helpful - feel free to reach out if you're in the scenario and interested in chatting about it!

Sounds like a great event, Greg!  Thanks for organizing.  Hopefully my parents (who are local) can make it :-) @Tom Knodt

Yep! Since you can get at most 75% LTV (based on the appraisal) OR the full amount of cash you put into it up front (purchase price, rehab costs if they are on your closing docs from the initial purchase, and even closing costs from the purchase), you could say that the sweet spot for DF is if 75% of the appraised value is right around your total up front costs (given that you've included rehab!), since that will allow you to get all of your money back out.

If 75% of the appraised value is quite a bit higher than your total upfront costs, then you might want to wait the full 6 months for a normal cash-out refi, where you are no longer limited by the amount you put in upfront, allowing you to get all your money back and then some!

@Jay Ingersoll you'll do best with finding someone in your area, but if you happen to be investing in the greater Raleigh/Durham area, send me a message and I'll give you my attorney's info!  If not I'm sure you can find someone on here to recommend someone!