All Forum Posts by: Carlos Valencia

I would recommend Single family unless the town home does not have any HOA then it would not be a bad choice. Just try your best to stay away from investing in properties with HOAs which most of the time are condos. HOA will eat some of your cashflow especially as they increase it every year. Hope that helps. Good luck on your journey.

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan @Kin Meng Sio

Hi Amir, 

Congratulations on your decision of beginning your journey and even considering it at such a young age. Good time to start. I wish I started at the same time but I was busy with other stuff. I would recommend to continue your research go to as many RE networking events to pick peoples brains and potentially find your mentor at an event. If you find someone you want to learn more from offer to help them in their business to help you gain more insight knowledge. As for financial literacy make sure you understand how loan products work and how they calculate your DTI (Debt to Income) this way you know where you stand and are more aware when deciding to taking on debt like car payments, or other major credit lines with min payments as those will affect your borrowing power. Usually 45% of your DTI to be conservative is a good benchmark. Some programs can allow you to go beyond that. Example if you make 10K per month gross this means that your window for debt including your mortgage and other credit responsibilities has to fit inside that $4,500. Meaning mortgage with tax and insurance can be 4k plus a $500 car payment. Then you can decide if you want to use that $500 for more buying power or that fancy new car. As you are more expose to RE investing you will start seeing everything more clear. Good luck hope this help.

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Hi Josephine,

The best way is to save up some money for your down payment at least 3.5 % down. This will allow you to get in wit FHA financing. Theres also other programs that allow you to borrow the 3.5% or give you a grant for that 3.5 % where you dont have to pay back to using FHA. The only con is that it is a little more expensive rate wise to use those programs but hey at least they get you in. By going FHA you can buy a single family and start house hacking. It can be challenging house hacking when having a baby in the house. But to give you more space maybe look for a duplex where you can live in one unit with your family and your tenants live in the other unit. Once you feel more ready I would suggest to reach out to a lender and get pre-approved to see what your budget options are. Hope this helps.

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Hello Candice, 

Are you already preapproved? do you already have a game plan and ran the numbers? That would be my suggestion to get pre-approved and work with a mortgage broker that their niche is helping investors like yourself and that they themselves are investors too to get a good scope of your scenario. This way the broker can give both point of views from the financing side and the borrower side. Hope that helps. 

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Hi Raysa as a former Solar sales rep. I would highly suggest not to lease any panels. If you decide to add solar panels definitely purchase them cash which is actually cheaper or via a loan but make sure you are owning them. Lease will create a headache for you later especially if you decide to sell you property. Yes you can transfer the lease to the new buyer but many buyers dont want to assume that lease especially if for them it doesnt make sense to pay ex-amount of money per month. This would just add another hurdle for you when selling. If you own the panels you would have to pay the solar loan off upon sell of the property. Just make sure you add that to your sells price so you dont come out of pocket. Avg solar system depending on size will run you about 30-40k. Lastly from what I was told leasing panels does not affect your dti because you are replacing your utility bill with lease payment of solar panels. That I would verify with a solar company. Hope this helps. 

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Hey Justyn thats great! Theres many ways to start out and many different loan programs available for you to use. Best way to make sure your money is invested in your best interest is by speaking with a mortgage broker that helps investors with their mortgage planning.  This will allow you to learn more about different scenarios and what might be the best option for you. Hope that helps.  

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

If possible avoid condos with HOA. I currently own one and live in it since 2017. Since then my HOA went from $320 - $450 in 5 years. What does HOA do for the community nothing other than maintenance outside. We have a pool and jacuzzi but its nothing fancy. I get inflation might have something to do with the increase in monthly charges but I'm sure its still going to continue rising. Only advantage is that my property did appreciate almost twice for what I bough mine. The only reason I'm still here is because everything in my area is more expensive than what I pay now even if I were to rent. Lastly I'll leave you with this. If you fail to pay your HOA they can actually foreclose on your property and take it away from you as they put a lien on your property. Thats how much control they have over your property. If you decide to buy a condo research the HOA and try to find out how much its been increasing YOY this way it can give you a sense of how rapid their fee will increase. hope this helps.

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Thats the issue when using FHA product. The home needs to meet their guidelines what they consider livable property as that what that product is intended for to buy your primary home with low upfront down payment. The lender should have advised you on this scenario. You might have to switch to conventional or look for another property that will pass FHA inspection.

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Hey Jack, 

Sounds like you are flexible with where you will live since your considering using FHA for your first investment. Not many people are as lucky due to their job or family. I would suggest getting pre approved first and then start exploring loan products and areas your thinking of investing. This way you can run more solid numbers and get a better sense if your investment is gonna make sense. Hope that helps. Theres many real estate networking events I attend in OC where many people share their investing experience. Feel free to DM happy to share those details.

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Hello Miles you can use business tax returns. Jut be careful how much you write off if your looking to qualify. The more you write off the less income you will show which will make it more challenging to qualify for a good amount.

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan