All Forum Posts by: Brian C.

James, thanks for the welcome. I also sent you a PM.

Emily, thanks for that info. I learned something new with sober living homes.
You're also right with someone not taking advantage of your good credit if you didnt have it. Lol, but I won't suggest that to her. Thanks though!

What other options do you guys suggest or know of that hasn't been covered?

Jon, Ill look into Chase as well, but if you're local or near long beach, do you have a loan officer you deal with on a regular basis that you'd recommend, or do you, and investors in general, deal with the bank directly?
Yes, my aunt has cash to be able to afford her two mortgages. She owns two restaurants that are doing well. But I wouldn't recommend her paying for two mortgages just because she has to. I'd rather have her create some income on one of her properties, or at least break even.
WIth the speculation of the market going up in the next 24 months from Bruce Norris' seminar that I went to, I would think her best bet is to refi to a fixed mortgage, and ride it out, sell the property if she doesn't want to keep it at the peak of the market.

Jon, to answer your first question, no. The relationship has soured and she's getting screwed from it, unfortunately. So i'd like to help her because she is a good person and getting screwed from doing a good deed for someone else.
I don't understand the relative's concept in life either. She's done nothing but good to them. It's mind boggling to everyone. But the bottomline now is to get her out of the situation and move on.
The relatives just plan to move out without any liability or obligation. The only agreements made were verbal. I informed her it's best to talk to her lawyer regarding the legalities of kicking them out. I'm not familiar with the legal rights or aware of the agreements they made to each other. It was before my time, nor do I want to know because I want to be a real estate investor, not Dr. Phil. Lol! All joking aside, I care for my aunt and i'd love to get the best outcome for her and turn this negative experience to a positive one.
"Your aunt has been subsidizing their living arrangements, not just helping out someone who can't get a loan."
That is the type of person she is. She goes above and beyond for people and she does NOT deserve this in any way.

Kathy, I'll look into FHA and see where she qualifies. Now, does she need to have an FHA loan currently to refinance to an FHA? She's had this loan since 2006. So I'm sure she meets that requirement at least.
No, Im pretty sure she won't break even if she rented out property B because of the amount owed. Rent around here is roughly 2k and up for that size unit.
What details would you like? Im new to investing so I'm learning as I go. If you have any other ideas and different possible options with the property, I can get more info that's needed. Let me know. Thanks!

Hello everyone. My in-law has a special situation and I'd like to help her out and look out for her best interest. She has been a great help and a positive influence in my family's life and I wan't to help her out on finding a benefitting solution for her, if possible. So, I come to you guys for your help.
Now, on to the issues. My aunt owns two properties just to help out a relative who couldn't qualify to purchase his own home. She resides in property A, and relative resides in property B. Relatives are moving out and the mortgage is under her name thru Chase. Relatives makes the pmts which is an interest only loan (adj) and was opened in 2006 til present. (I read up on Harp 2.0 but have a few unanswered questions.)
I'd like to know what her options are from an experienced and knowledgeable investor's point of view on how she can get out of property B being upside down.
My thoughts are refinance property B (would property B be categorized as an investment property?) to a fixed mortgage (with who, what, where) renovate property B in hopes to increase value in the future, move into property B after renovation and hold til value catches up or exceed and maybe cash out, Rent out and hold property A in the meantime. I think the mortgage pmts on property B will be too high to try to break even as a rental unit.
What do you guys think? I don't know what other creative strategies you savvy investors do, so I bring this situation to you guys in hopes I find a solution and learn from this experience. I am open to anything and everything and will look at all options that you guys send my way.

Below is a list of details I have for now about the properties. Let me know if you guys need more information to better paint the picture.

Property A
Owes (???)
Mortgage pmt (???)
Guestimated from Zillow $280K (I know Zillow is not an accurate figure. Im just using it to get an idea.)
No late pmts

Property B (Alhambra, CA)
Owes $520K
Mortgage pmt $3K (adjustable) thru Chase
Guestimated value from Zillow $420K
No late pmts
Excellent credit
Sufficient income to qualify for a new loan

Thank you all in advance for your inputs and I greatly appreciate every single one of them.

Thanks Timmy. Maybe we might see each other at some seminar around here.

Welcome to you, too, Gary.
Thank you for that link Karen. I wasn't sure how much info I should share, but I have no problem with it. So here goes a little something about me...
My name is Brian Cruz and I grew up and lived in San Fernando Valley for most of my life. I'm currently living in Long Beach, CA. I say currently because in the past five years, I've moved five times, and depending how my first year turns out with real estate investing, I might move again, which is out of my apartment. Lol!
My background in Real Estate was a loan officer prior to joining the Navy. I got started as a loan officer because I wanted to learn about the industry. I read lot's of Robert Kiyosaki's books and since then, my views in life went thru a paradigm shift and never looked at life the same way again. That's when I knew I wanted to be a Real Estate Investor and be on the I and B quadrant.
Right now, my enlistment in the Navy is almost up. I was up for re-enlistment, but I decided against it and just do the rest of my time for many reasons. My first and foremost reason is my wife and kids. There's just no way to maintain any family being gone on a 10 month deployment, come back for a few months, and be gone for another 10 months. It just wasn't going to happen. I served, and served proudly without regrets, but it was time for me to move on and turn my dream into a reality not only for my self, but primarily for my family's future.
My ultimate goal in real estate is financial freedom to enable the money I would make to buy me more time to spend with my family. That is one of the reasons why I want to pursue this career.
I came across BiggerPockets by random. I went to a seminar to watch Bruce Norris speak held by FIBI and I was close to purchasing his bootcamp course because I didn't know how to get started. That's when I came across this website and read "The ultimate beginner's guide" in one sitting. Not saying Bruce Norris' bootcamp wasn't worth it, but I'm glad I read the beginner's guide because it explained to me how I can get started without having to fork over a lump sum of money that I need since I'm separating from the Navy soon. I still plan on taking his bootcamp course in the future because I heard he is one of the best in Ca, but for now, I'll have to be a very fast learner. Thank you everyone in advance once again, and hope to meet some of you in the next seminar event.

-Cheers!

Thank you all for you welcoming me to this site, and thank you Karen for those quick links. Ill check them out right now.
As far as foundation, I read "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing" and I'm thinking of starting off with flipping and/or wholesaling to build some capital, and venture to where i'd ultimately want to be which is "Buy and Hold" to reach my goal to financial freedom. What do you guys think? By no means, I'm not a know it all if it seems that way, I just want to put out my idea so I can get different point of view from people that are experienced and been in for a long time. Thanks again everyone!