All Forum Posts by: DJ Thompson

Hey John,

Welcome to BP! As for house hacking in NJ, were you looking more the condo/apt route or a SFM/multi unit?

DJ

if you dont mind me asking, how long have you been in birmingham and who is your current PM?  

I only ask since I am looking in that area soon.

DJ

As long as it has been recently purchased through FHA (as of 2014ish) PMI must be paid on the ENTIRE length of the loan, unless of course you refi out of it once you reach 80/20. I am currently going through the same thing on my current house hack.

DJ

Hey guys,  

No the deal did not go through.  I was out bid with an all cash offer.  Hard to argue that.  However I am one week away from closing on a different property in my hometown.  Purchased with only $4200 down and had the seller cover all my closing costs.  I am going to live in it for two years then house hack another condo or 2-family.

DJ

As stated above, depending on your equity position in your current house and rates... why don't you take a HELOC out and pay off the prosper and student loans? The LOWEST prosper loan is in the %7's. I know my student loans were 6.55 until I refinanced them through SOFI at 3.22 (highly recommended). I invest in lending club on the side for the last 3 years and it has helped me (along with the stock market) be able to invest at an earlier age.

Hello everyone,

So about three months ago I was out bid on a wonderful opportunity to house hack a two family in a very desirable town.  Since that fell through and I've been hunting around for awhile, I decided to try a different and smaller approach.  

By the end of this month I will be closing on my very first property! With that being said I think I came out with a great deal this time around.  It is a 1 bedroom, 1 bath appt that are currently being rented out for $1375 a unit (not including a garage.  Mine has an oversized 1 car garage with loft for storage)  

The figures break down as follows

Sale Price: $120k

Taxes: $3544

HOA: $235

Ins: $445 yr

30 yr fixed FHA at 3.875.

$4200 TOTAL down  (seller paid all closing costs)

Monthly mortgage is $1166 currently all in.

I purchased it off another investor who I knew in the area and he is retiring (88 years old, kids don't want the property). The property appraised for $139500. It doesn't need any work to be habitable however I plan on spending about $5000 to update the electric, paint, floors, kitchen and appliances. We plan on living in it for 2 years, refinancing it to drop the PMI and renting it out while we move onto another condo. The garage was rented out separate from the condo (the are detached) for $150 a month. I am 26, and my business partner is 23. We have considerable working income for our age (170k a yr combined so far) so we figure in 5 years we should be able to complete this 3 times over while still being able to cover expenses god forbid there is a lapse in rent.

Any other suggestions or ways I should be looking at this investment that I'm missing?

Thanks 

DJ

@Alex W I actually found out about it from a man who currently owns it (I am on the rotary club board for two separate towns with him) it hasn't even been posted to MLS or anything yet.

No the house is not in a flood zone at all which was my biggest concerns.  both are a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath set up with family room and separate dinning room.  Separate utilities Water would be paid by me unfortunately.  however I figured that into the rental price. 

I submitted my offer to him today, now the waiting begins.

Hey folks,

So the time has come to finally move forward with a home/investment purchase. I am currently looking to house hack a 2 family home in a town next to my job. Was wondering if this looks like a good deal on paper. I have already been pre-approved for a FHA loan. I would live in the one side and rent out the other, then eventually rent out both sides when I purchase a single family home to start my own family. I would not be using a property management company since I would be living on site. The town this is in is Wayne, NJ. A very wealthy great town with a great school system and no major crime. Last year the properties appreciated almost %9 here overall.

Asking price $349,000

My offer $330,000

Appraisal came back at $358,000

Monthly mortgage amount $2029.23  (includes property taxes currently set at $5987)

Yearly Insurance (est) $1100

30 year loan, 15k down (closing costs an estimated 8k more) @ 4.14% APR

One side Is rented out currently for $1700 and the other i could for maybe $1600-1800  ( its a little dated). 

Anything I am missing anything here or just does this seem too good to pass up?

DJ

Personally I don't see how this would work. I don't know of any investor willing to front 350k cash to purchase the property to do a lease to buy option for another would-be investor. Plus tying up 350k cash to make maybe 30k over the total course of 2 years just doesn't make sense from an investor stand point when you could get cash on cash returns in double digits for 1/10th of the initial investment. You are better off improving your credit, saving a small down payment and closing costs and applying for a FHA loan or some other first time home buyer program through the state. Just my 2 cents though!

BTW if you and your significant other have a combined income of 6 figures you should be in good shape in regards to your DTI. Unless you are saddled up with credit card debt..

I was wondering what are some books you pros recommend a newbie to read?  Any and all input is greatly appreciated!