All Forum Posts by: Carlos Valencia

Hello Mike, 

I would look into conventional loans to compare with a HML. Conventional you have to put down 20-25% for investment property. But it depends on what kind of property you will be investing in. HML is more for flip deals not for long term rental. In that case conventional is better option. Start with getting pre approved for conventional loan. If you ware able to make your multi family your new primary thats another scenario to look into and go over that loan approval process. Hope this helps you start.

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan 

Gary this is an awesome plan! The greatest advantage you have is that you are flexible in where you live. Many people dont have that luxury to move every year or do not want to, which means if they want to do the same plan they will need more than 5% down for an investment property plus rate would be a higher compared to buying another primary. Like many said above you can use 75% of your rents to help offset the PITI for the other properties. Good luck Gary!

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Welcome Emilio, 

This a great community to learn from. Theres so many different avenues to achieve your goal of supplementing your income with real estate. Biggest thing is you have to be patient and live conservatively so you can achieve your goal a lot faster. The more expenses you create for your self the more passive income you will want from your real estate portfolio. Meaning you need to get more units. Happy to connect feel free to dm. 

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Hello Oscar, 

Welcome to BP community. Theres so many ways to begin your real estate journey. You just need to ask yourself why you want to begin investing and what is your long term goal. I would love to connect send me a dm. Theres so many networking events in Orange county which is south of LA. Happy to share those with you. 

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Hey Jimmy congratulations to you both on your engagement and current careers. Its ok to invest in real estate with debt as long as your total DTI including your new mortgage with taxes and insurance does not exceed 45% of your total income. If we use 200k as an example for your income that means 200k/12 = 16,666 X 45% =7,500 is what your total debt can be including your mortgage and any minimum credit, student loan and car payments you may have. In order to have a higher borrowing power you might want to pay off which ever minimum payment is the highest to qualify for more. Thats some insight on how debt works against your income and what to look after when deciding if you should pay something off.

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Hey Gabriel, 

I would continue saving and do more research on markets that can be more affordable to house hack. Also ask yourself how flexible am I to move to another state or area within CA where it can be more affordable to house hack. House hacking is probably the most affordable way to get into your first investment. Could be a single family or multifamily. Once you have good idea of how you want to being get in touch with a lender and get pre approved so you can start analyzing properties in the are you want to buy and run the numbers to see if it will be in your benefit. Otherwise you will be guessing based on your savings and your income. There are so many lending programs available that speaking with a mortgage broker can help you navigate which program would be best for your scenario. I'm in Orange County CA south of LA and we host real estate networking meetups once a month in Anaheim. DM if you would like to connect for more info. 

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Hi Michael, 

I would also recommend buying an investment property and live in it to house hack it like many mentioned above as long as your ok sharing your living space with your tenants. It will help offset your mortgage and lower your living expenses and allow you to continue saving money for your next property. Thats if you want to continue growing your real estate portfolio. Stay away from condos if you can. I tell you from experience as I currently own one and my HOA is getting ridiculous. When I bought my place in Santa Ana Ca in 2017 the HOA was $320 and now its $450. Its a gated community but still not worth $450 HOA services. At this rate I can't even imagine what it will be in the next 5 years lol. By the way we host real estate mixers here in orange county feel free to message me so I can share with you more information regarding those real estate mixers.

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Welcome to BP Karac. Congratulations on taking the first step to your education in real estate investing. Not sure what kind of job you have at the moment that pays 80k but it sounds that your not a fan of working there for too much longer. If I were in that scenario I would keep the 80k salary to help speed up the process to at least buy the first couple of deals. This way you can learn from your own process and run the numbers to see if you should continue to keep that 80k salary to continue using it as a financial tool to keep investing or you learn that your time is better spent in focusing fully on real estate. Income is a big part of getting approved for mortgage loans and the better you look to the lender the easier it will be to qualify even if you can live off your wifes income. Good luck Karac looking forward to seeing your shared success in bigger pockets. 

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

FHA pros - Great way to house hack and or buy a 2-4 unit with minimum down payment. Higher DTI ratio to qualify. lower rate.

Cons - It has to be primary for at least 12 months, Pay MIP (mortgage insurance premium)

Just run the numbers on all 3 scenarios to see which makes the most sense to you so you can feel confident with your decision. 

@Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan

Hello Benjamin, 

Unfortunately this is a common problem I have seen with many contractors. Thats why when you find the right one try to keep them if you can. I personally have not gone through this but know many people that have gotten ripped off by contractors like your friend. I believe that contractors should get paid but in a form of a deposit maybe half or 20% then pay the rest once the job is complete. Preferably not pay at all until they are done. Which makes more sense to me just like many services we pay for we always pay after. I think construction is the only service we pay in advance. Another option is making a deal with the contractor that you will pay for all the supplies and pay them for their labor afterwards. Taking the contractor to small claims court might cost more time and money. This is a tough situation and more than likely your friend probably lost all his money. I hope that is not the case. For future jobs I would suggest avoiding paying the full amount before hand. @Albert Bui @Matthew Kwan any suggestions on this scenario since you guys have hire contractors before. how would you handle this?