All Forum Posts by: Christopher Oliva

Does anyone have any advice on how to move forward with repairing the foundation on an occupied duplex? I own a duplex (I live in one side and rent the other), the foundation is starting to show signs of shifting so I'm going to get a few foundation companies to take a look at it. I'm hoping it's not too expensive of a fix since I'm catching the problem early, but I'm concerned on how to deal with the tenant if the repairs require the tenant to be out of their unit for multiple days. Do I discount the rent for the days the tenants aren't in their unit? Do I cover the cost to put them up in a hotel for the duration of the repairs? What if they decide to be difficult, would I need to wait until the unit is vacant to make foundation repairs? 

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks for the input, everyone! @Will Pritchett I'm in San Antonio as well. I'm pretty sure the foundation is a concrete slab. I appreciate the offer on the foundation contact, especially because I hear that it's easy to get involved with shady foundation companies.

@Rick Pozos I'm willing to bet part of the issue is the tenants not watering the yard. I added dirt in areas that needed it when I purchased the duplex, didn't do gutters though. I've thought about having a sprinkler system installed to water around the foundation, but I wonder if the tenants would complain about the sprinklers affecting their water bill or if they'd turn the sprinklers off all together?

I own a duplex that is unfortunately starting to show signs of foundation issues (floors becoming uneven, cracked tiles, hairline cracks in the wall, doors won't close, etc). The issues aren't bad right now, but the signs are certainly there. I bought this place a few years ago with the intention of keeping it as a long-term buy and hold, but now with the foundation issues starting to slowly show themselves I'm wondering if I should sell before the foundation problems get worse and make the Duplex hard to sell.  

What do you all think? Should I look at selling and moving on from this duplex or am I over thinking the foundation stuff?

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to get the take of some seasoned investors on this deal. I'm currently on the hunt for my first investment property, and i'm looking at Multifamily properties. I'll be using an FHA loan to make this purchase, which i'm starting to become a little concerned about because my cash flow won't be nearly as good compared to if i could afford to put 20% down. I'm looking at a Duplex in Texas, obviously since i'll be using an FHA loan, i'll be living in one unit for at least a year.

• Property type: Duplex
• Potential Offer: 180k
• PITI: $1455/month
• Current Rents: 875 per unit (1750/month)
• Water: Tenants pay $70/month for water
• Electricity: metered for each unit
• Taxes: $4100
• Repairs: Advertised as being is good condition but i won't know repairs until I have the property inspected
• Property management: 10% or 175/month (i'm guessing the management is going to be around 10%, i have to do more research on this)
• GRM (gross rent multiplier): I'm told by my realtor that the current GRM for the area is 9.28 (based on annual income, not monthly income). If i get this property at 180k, the GRM would be 8.57.
• Cap Rate: At 180k, my cap rate would be 9.79%

Any input on this deal is greatly appreciated!

Does anyone have any experience working with Caliber Home Loans?  If so, how was/has your experience been thus far?  

I'm looking to buy my first property (multifamily), and i'm talking with a loan officer from Caliber Home Loans who seems really knowledgeable and on his game, however the company itself has iffy reviews online.  They have a 2 star rating on nerdwallet, 1.5 star rating on yelp, 5 star rating on zillow (i don't know about the zillow ratings...i noticed that a lot of lenders and realtors on zillow have close to perfect ratings.), "A" rating on BBB (although 80% of the comments left for caliber on the BBB website are negative, apparently customer comments are not taken into consideration for BBB ratings), and a 4.5 star rating on consumer affairs.

I know when it comes to online reviews, people are a lot more apt to writing a negative review when something goes wrong versus a positive one when everything goes as expected.  So i figured i'd see if anyone on here has any personal experience they're willing to share.

Thanks everyone!

Hi all, I'm a first time home/property buyer in Texas and i've got a few questions i'm hoping to get some help with.

-How many lenders should I be getting quotes from?  Currently i'm just working with one lender (i was referred to them by a few different people), but i'm hesitant to get quotes from other lenders because I don't want my credit dinged by too many inquiries.

-I'll be purchasing a multifamily property (likely a duplex) and I'll be living in one unit for least for a year, while the other side will be a rental unit. With that being said, would i be able to qualify for any sort of down payment assistance program? I asked my lender about this, and she says that she thinks the grants are only for SFR. From the googling i've done, I can't find anything that is specific on the type of property that qualifies for down payment assistance.

Thanks in advance!

I just realized that I completely messed up the title to this post!  Whoops!!

@Anthony Susco We will be funding the purchase of the property using Seller Financing.  The property owner owns the house free and clear, she had it as a rental property for a long time.  Now it is sitting vacant and she doesn't care to put the work into it herself.  

The ARV of the property is 160k. Seller is looking to get 90k. estimated repairs are 30k. the setup we have for the owner finance deal is pretty straightforward: monthly payments of 1k for up 36 months, after 36 months the remainder of the balance would be due in a balloon payment, also there will be no prepayment penalty.

Our plan is to refinance the property after we have completed the repairs, and then pay off the seller and pay off the loan for the rehab.  We've identified a small bank in the area that will refinance a property with no seasoning period.  Right now we are just trying to figure out what the better option is to secure the money for the rehab.

Our primary exit strategy is to flip the property, but we are also considering turning it into a short term rental property.

My business partner and I are in the process of securing a property for a fix and flip.  its looking like the estimated repairs are going to run about 30k.  What would be the better route in order to get funding for the rehab, getting a personal loan from a bank for the amount or using a hard money lender?  

I've already applied to a local bank to see if i could get pre approved for a 30k signature loan, however they came back approving me for 20k.  I feel pretty confident i could go to another local bank and get approved for the additional 10k.

I've never used HML, but i was wondering if it might make more sense to get a HML for the repairs or if it would be better to get the funds through personal loans (if possible).

Any constructive feedback is appreciated!  

@Account Closed I found this deal via direct mail.

I'm going to look at a house today, and i may try to structure an owner finance deal with the seller, i just wanted to get everyone's opinions on what i have in mind. 

The ARV on the house is $162500, it needs a lot of work from what the owner tells me. Bathrooms, kitchens, flooring, paint, siding, probably HVAC, as well as possibly plumbing and electrical. the owner also mentioned that someone who gave her some estimates for repairs found mold in part of the duct work. The owner doesn't live there, it was a rental property that fell into disrepair, but she's motivated to get rid of it. (no tenants currently)

The owner told me that in its current condition, they'd like to get no less than $90k for the property.  They have said they'd be open to an owner finance deal if the terms were right.

 I'm thinking of offering a price between $90k-$100k, 3 year term with balloon payment at the end, with no prepayment penalty.  I'd like to not put any money down, and instead pay a higher interest rate ( and also possibly a higher total purchase price, which is why i may pay up to $100k).    

My hope is that I can get a hard money loan for the repairs, turn the property into a short term rental, and then refinance with a traditional mortgage in 6-12 months (knowing that it should appraise for atleast $155k, hope for $160k-$165k) so i can pay the seller the balance owed to her and then also pay off the hard money loan.

What do you all think of this, does it sound smart?  This would be my first deal of any sort, and i may actually wholesale the deal, but i'd like to present the owner with 2 options.  option 1)i'll wholesale the property, get them cash for the house, but not close to the 90k they want.  2)i'll get them the 90k or maybe a little more, but with owner finance terms

Thanks for everyone feedback!