All Forum Posts by: Chris Szepessy

We refinanced our house using a home equity loan a few years ago. No closing costs. 15 year with 3.25 interest rate. The only difference is that taxes and insurance are not escrowed in. Might be something to look into to save the $2500 in closing costs.

@Engelo Rumora

I must have read this article 10 different times in the last year or so. It's very inspirational. Just for fun, I looked quickly at some properties in the bahamas. They seem to be extremely inexpensive. 1/1 condos for $35k? Studio for $25k? What are HOA fees and other expenses (insurance, etc.) like? I'm sure they differ by location and whatnot, but just on average. Thank you!

I have two owner financed mortgages. Neither one shows up on my credit report, but even if I didn't disclose it on an application, they'd see my tax returns and notice it then. 

I wouldn't worry about the $150. I don't think it's worth the time and effort to go to court and hopefully win. Good luck with the next tenant!

You will probably lose two months rent between the vacancy and any repair costs (paint, flooring, etc.). You can most likely  keep their security deposit which will make you only be out one month's rent. Like @Eric Mayer said, they'd paid for 6 years and I'd assume they were pretty decent tenants if you kept them that long. I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it and/or try to collect any more than that. It probably won't be worth the time and effort.

@Russell Grevler welcome to the site! What city/town in the “Catskills” are you in?

We had several different companies in our area a couple years ago. I don't know how to say "no" to someone trying to sell me something so I let them all in (at different times of course) and heard what they all had to say. I did some quick math on it and the break even point was somewhere around 15-20 years. Now I do plan on being in my house for that period of time, but it just didn't seem to be worth the hassle since I'm pretty frugal with electricity anyway and my bill is pretty reasonable.

Health insurance alone will take a large chunk out of your income. $100k/year +/- can be a lot to one person, but just barely scraping by for another depending on lifestyle and general cost of living since certain areas are more expensive than others. You have at least two years left at your job...are you in a position to buy another couple rentals in that time period? Doesn't necessarily have to be in all cash, but just make sure they cash flow after ALL expenses.

Invest in educating yourself in RE for the next couple years. You can't buy RE until you're 18. Read books, listen to podcasts, read the forums, etc. You also might be able to find an investor in your area who will let you shadow them in return for doing some sort of work for them. 

Since you have no experience, I would recommend a 1-4 family house first. If you don't already own your own home, you could live in one unit and rent the others out. You can learn the ropes with less risk than if you were to buy a 15+ unit.