All Forum Posts by: Don Jackson

Zip code 53216, on 54th Blvd. Do you have any thoughts about that neighborhood?

Thanks Dawn. I was just looking for another set of eyes to look at the deal. It all makes sense on paper, but it can't hurt to get a little help from my friends here at BP.

Can someone please poke a hole in this deal? I'm nervous about my first new purchase after years of sitting on the sidelines.

3/2 in Milwaukee, 1590 square feet

Purchase $42k

Rehab $25k

Closing and carry $3k

All in at $70k

Rent should be at least $1000, hoping for more.

I put it in a rental spreadsheet and after taxes, insurance, vacancy, property management, repair reserve, mortgage at 5% I'm getting $233 net

Nice neighborhood, just outside the downtown crime area.

I don't think Milwaukee is going to bounce back any time soon, but I don't see any huge problems coming either. If I can cash flow after keeping reserves for vacancy and repairs, then it seems like a decent deal. My strategy is long term buy and hold.

If you see any obvious problem, or something I'm not thinking about, I would love to hear it.

Thanks,

Don

Hey Mike H, I've got some number crunching to do. Thanks for such a well thought out post! I'm going to talk to the bank again and see how they are calculating the numbers so I can verify they aren't dinging me twice for the mortgage payments.

Hello BP folks,

I currently have a HELOC that is 10 years old and is expired (I can't take any more money out of it, just pay it down). It is with Chase bank. They contacted me and asked if I want to get a new HELOC. My home has gone way up in value and has a lot of equity in it, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to get a much bigger HELOC and start buying some new investment properties. My plan is to get the down payments out of the new HELOC. I have cash, but I've learned (the hard way) to always have a cushion in my real estate bank account.

It turns out that my debt to income ratio is too high because of the current mortgages I have. One on my home and three on rental properties. I can easily pay more in payments, but there are new stringent policies in place since I purchased my properties in 2007. I'm self employed so that's another strike against me.

I guess my question is: should I shop around for a HELOC with other banks or are they all going to have the same formula and say that my debt to income is too high? Is there any other way to use the equity in my home to help me buy a few more income properties?

Thanks for any thoughts

Thanks Aaron. I didn't consider the fact that the property will need to be rehabbed and it will appraise for less when I first buy it. After I buy , then rehab, it should appraise for more so I can get more from the refi.

Hello BP folks,

I currently have 4 mortgages (my home and 3 single family rentals). I’ve read on BP that many banks will allow me to go up to 10, depending on my finances, etc. I just talked to a lender and he tells me my finances are fine and that he could easily get me another loan, with 25% down. My strategy is simple buy and hold.

The three rentals I purchased in 2007 with my HELOC, and then I refinanced each one. A lot has changes since then. My question: Does it still make sense to purchase a property with my HELOC, and then refinance? Or have all the changes since 2007 made it better to just go straight to the lender to purchase the property?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Don

Hello Bigger Pockets community.

I've held several properties in Charlotte NC for about eight years and I think its time to start looking for a few more. I'm happy with my PM and maintenance team there.

I talked to an investor in my area and he said I should sign up with BP and start learning and networking before continuing. I'll start reading posts and getting to know the web site.

If you have any thoughts on what I should read and learn, I would love your feedback.

Thanks!

Don