All Forum Posts by: Colin Gearity

I don’t know your market but the closing costs seem really high at over 10% of the purchase price. Are you paying extra points for a lower rate? What did the other bank quote for closing costs?

@Bill Ward you mentioned moving out in 2018 which was 3 years ago. Assuming you lived in it for the 2 years prior to 2018, you may still be able to sell and not pay any capital gains. Lived in the property 2 out of last 5 years. Something to keep in mind.

Quartz is the most durable but also more costly. However, granite is very durable as well. I would recommend googling some companies around you that do countertops and visit them. See there options, get to know the costs (huge price swings in quartz and granite) and tell them what your looking to do and they will point you in the right direction... at least it’s worked out well for me that way. You may also see if they have any slabs of a color they can’t get anymore that they might be able to make you a deal on. Also, like someone else mentioned - know your market and tenant base. What do they expect? They expect a marble looking quartz or a builders grade granite?

I don't know of any down payment assistance programs. In essence that is what an FHA loan is. It allows you to purchase a property when you don't have the funds for 20% down, or would rather hold onto the cash.

I understand the desire to avoid PMI but one thing to consider is that $60k you need will more than likely come with a cost. So you may be able to put 20% down to avoid PMI but you'll be paying that instead on the cost to borrow $60k. Another thing to note is the lender is going to want to know where the money is coming from for the down payment. If your using another source other than your own accounts, that could cause some challenges.

You can always buy a house that needs some cosmetic updating and look to refinance out of the FHA loan after a few years. The updates and today's environment may cause you to get that 20% equity through appreciation relatively quickly.

If you are looking at an FHA loan, a deal won't change how much you will get pre approved for. That's based on you as a borrower.

I would definitely get pre approved first as most ask for it when submitting offers in today’s environment .

New garage door if you have one and it’s facing the front of the house. We replaced a faded tan garage door with a wood look door that had windows last summer. Threw on some black magnetic hardware from Amazon for $20 and it was a dramatic change in curb appeal.

We use Cozy and found it to work well for our needs. The only drag is that the processing time to get payments into our checking account can take up to a week. However, you can turn that into 2-3 days if you upgrade from the free version. We stick with the free version :) Cozy also helps with managIng tracking of expenses and listings. Overall good tool for the smaller investor.

I think it has been identified that this is not a chicken or egg scenario :)

You mentioned having some friends that may be interested in investing with you.  Feel them out.  Let them know what you are looking to do, what you would need from them and what you will be able to provide them in return (or what they would want in return).  Understanding the capital you have available to you, and the cost, will help you figure out your next move.

I would say the golden rule is do what is right for you and your family and don’t listen to anyone convince you otherwise :) Smart comments aside, our first property was a live in flip and when it was time to upgrade I sold and took the money. We were growing our family at the time and I had no desire to manage tenants and newborns at the same time. We invested the cash we made from selling the house in other passive investment options. The returns weren’t amazing but it required none of my time and was easily accessible if something came up. If you go the rental route, the basic math from what you mentioned looks solid. Do you know of any big ticket items that will be coming up soon? New roof? Hvac? This stuff may pop up in an inspection as well if you sell, but if you are in a hot market than this may not impact the sales price. I’m more conservative than most people on BP but that’s my two cents.

This was entertaining.  Now back to reading about how I can get the government to pay off my mortgage if I owe $650K or less!