All Forum Posts by: Connor Maloney

Welcome to BP John!  Keep learning by doing exactly what you are doing, but don't overwhelm yourself and then become scared to buy your duplex or other property.  Run your numbers and if they look good, pull the trigger!  Good luck!

Kenneth,

Correction: for the 10% AHFC and 5% AHFC loans, you will have to pay mortgage insurance. For a $430k property and 10% down, my PMI is about $100/month. Sorry about that.

- Connor

Kennith,

I have been investing in Anchorage, but financing in Fairbanks shouldn't be much different accept maybe the banks you work with. There are several options available to you for financing. The best ones if you don't have $100,000 just lying around is to finance a fourplex with an FHA loan. It is 3.5% down, but you have to pay mortgage insurance for the life of the loan. The mortgage insurance on FHA loans has come down a bit since 2013. It will be about $300/month for a $500,000 property. Make sure to add this into your calculations for cash flow.

If you are a veteran or currently enlisted, you can get a VA loan which is 0% down and no mortgage insurance. This is a sweet one for those in the military, which is definitely deserved for the sacrifices they make in defending our country.

After you buy your first fourplex, I have heard that you can upgrade to another fourplex with anther FHA, as long as your next fourplex is an upgrade from your first fourplex. For example, if you buy a 2 BR, 2 BA unit fourplex, your next one needs to be 3 BR, 2 BA. Like I said, I have only heard about this and never done it myself. Talk with people in your area to find a mortgage broker or bank that is familiar with this process.

What I did for my next property after I purchased my first fourplex is bought a duplex using the AHFC 10% down loan which is 10% down conventional loan with no mortgage insurance. They also offer a 5% down loan, but the interest rate becomes variable after 5 years. In hind site, I wish I had purchased my duplex with the 5% down loan, because by the time the 5 years was up, I would have at or close to reaching 80% LTV (loan to value, 20% of the 80% being equity) and I would have refinanced to a conventional loan with a fixed rate and had more money in the bank to invest in my next property.

There are also many other ways to finance including seller financing, private lenders and others that I don't know too much about, but many other people on BP can tell you how to use those methods.  

Buying a fourplex was one of the best things I ever did!  Good luck on your journey!

- Connor 

Hey Rob,

I am a buy and hold investor living in one side of a duplex that I own and managing two other fourplexes in Anchorage.  I am hoping to continue to buy properties 2-4 units properties until I have enough cash flow to quit my job.  Then I would like to start flipping houses, take on other rentals through master lease options, or find other ways to earn capital to continue to buying and improving my properties and scale my business.  I would love to hear about what other people are doing and what their future goals are!

And Merry Christmas!

Welcome to BP William!  Good for you for getting started with a duplex.  That is good if you are only -$100 + utilities with your duplex!  Keep saving up for your next property with the income you save by not having to pay your whole mortgage.  BP is a great resource for anything you want to know about real estate!  Good luck with your goal!

Welcome to BP Nick Fernella!  Try calling the "We Buy Houses" signs.  That might help you get in touch with a wholesaler.  However, from what I have seen so far up here, most of the wholesalers are real estate agents, but that doesn't mean you won't find a good deal working with an agent.  

Whether property prices will drop or not with the drop in the oil price is the big question for all of the real estate investors here in AK now.  As far as I have seen working in the oilfield up, there has definitely been some major budget cuts and layoffs in the oilfield for the slope and things will likely be pretty slow next year.  This will eventually trickle down to the rest of since our state government gets 90% of it's revenue from oil.  So, considering that, it seems to me that there is a chance that property values could start to decrease next year, but as @Michael Boyer said, anything could happen that may bring the oil price back up in a year or two, so this is all speculative.  We'll just have to wait and see and be ready to buy if the prices do drop!  Good question @Rob King.  

Welcome to BP Sarah! You made a great decision! I have been involved with real estate investing for two years now and it was the best decision I ever made! It has opened up my world to finances, wealth building, new and exciting relationships and the road to financial freedom. Congratulations for taking the step forward into real estate. I know several agents at Keller Williams in Anchorage. It seems like a great broker to work for. They also run a great REIA group called REX that meets about once a month. Check them out on Meetup.com or Facebook.

Welcome to BP Cassie!!  It sounds like you have the right enthusiasm and persistence to be successful in real estate.  Good luck!