All Forum Posts by: BJ Marshall

How long did it take you to go from one to two rental properties, and what lessons did you learn along the way? I know the hardest move is from zero to one, and I'm about to cross that line; I close on my first rental property on 30 November - only 20 days after my "90-Day Challenge", but I'm chalking the delta up to closing dates. (I can't tell you how daunting it was before I joined BP and how totally reasonable and relatively smoothly it went once I joined BP!)

Now that I'm soon to have my first one under my belt, I have my eyes toward my second. But I have concerns, which may entirely be unfounded:

• Am I going to have challenges securing financing now that I have TWO mortgages (my primary residence and now property number two? 
• Sure, #2 is going to cash flow, but is it going to look scary how much debt I'll have? 
• Should I just sit tight for XX months and see what having a tenant is like before diving further in?

@Steve Morris, I do plan on asking the lender about the charges, so thanks for that advice. I guess before I asked them I didn't want to sound like I was completely off my rocker, so I came here first.

@Rick Pozos, thanks for that insight and perspective. As someone looking for my first deal, maybe I'm looking to pinch too many pennies that don't need to be bothered pinching. I think you nailed it when you mentioned it gets WAY easier over time to pay others.

You definitely helped put it in perspective. I look forward to the time when I'll secure more and more properties to the point where I'll have to pay thousands for tax prep and the like.

@Steve Morris, I'm new at this. I don't understand what the charges entail. In my mind, all they have to do is fill out stock templates, which doesn't seem worth two weeks of groceries.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm trying to find out what I can waive or negotiate.

I need help understanding what these fees really are and where there is wiggle room. I don't need condescension or sarcasm

@Russell, what about the other fees? I enumerated several of them, like document preparation fees. Do I need to pay those, since that kind of sounds exorbitant to me?

ideally I would like a line by line description of which fees I absolutely need to pay, which ones I can negotiate down, and which ones I just need to suck it up and deal.

I don't have any rental properties yet, so my taxes are pretty simple. I also get a discount because I used to carpool with my accountant lol.

Can someone help me figure out which closing cost fees I can reduce or eliminate? 

Here are all the fees I'm seeing:

• Loan Discount Fee - Seriously, *I* have to pay money to get a *DISCOUNT*? What kind of discount is that!?
• Verification Fee (if Required by My Employer) - In what universe could this possibly justify costing $100? I even sent them a copy of my W-2 and my most current pay stub. Isn't that verification enough?!
• Document Pre Fee - $145 for the company to fill out stock templates? I pay my accountant half that much to do my taxes.
• Title - Abstract Fee - If your fee is so abstract you can't describe it, then I don't want to pay the $275.
• Title - Examination Fee - I have no idea what this is
• Mortgage Recording Fee - I get that you need to go to the County courthouse and make the changes. But how is this very easy service worth me paying $115?
• Deed Recording Change - OK, how is this different from Mortgage Recording Fee, and why should I pay $60 more for it?

I'm currently looking to get pre-approved for a 30-yr fixed conventional mortgage to acquire my first rental property. I'm shopping around, and one lender gave me a sample "Fee Worksheet" based on some rough parameters. It had all these fees listed that just confounded me

Thanks for any help you can provide - Cheers!

Does anyone have a checklist or action plan for the 90-Day Challenge for purchasing one's first (like me) or next property?

I searched the Forums for "90-Day Challenge" and got like ten googolplex hits. If anyone has a blueprint for how they did their 90-Day Challenge, I'd love to see it.

This weekend, I plan on watching all the "Intro to Real Estate: Path to Purchase" videos. After that, I'd like to start my 90-Day Challenge in earnest and maybe even blog about it.

I'm looking at Howard and Anne Arundel counties. I live in Howard and work in AA.

I'll take a look at those web sites and see if I can get involved - thanks!

OK, so I failed here as a BP n00b. I *thought* I was replying specifically to a Columbia, MD Real Estate Investment Group I thought I saw under "Local Real Estate." Instead, I think I posted to the entire "Local Real Estate" group.

I'm new to BP, looking to start the 90-Day Challenge to acquire my first rental property, and I'd like to connect with like-minded people in and around my area. I tried searching in the Forums for Local Real Estate groups but I think I kinda failed.