All Forum Posts by: Elyse Douglas

What we are hearing is that the tax returns are all they will use. We live in Central Oregon. We have owned a retail store downtown for almost 20 years. We had a big sale in Dec. 2016 to pay cash for a big remodel in Feb. 2017. We wrote off all the expenses associated with it in 2017 and so we showed a $4000 loss because of the remodel. It doesn't matter that we put $4000 per month in  a savings account. They wouldn't look at the other 15 years of tax returns. The other thing that made them nervous is that we bought our duplex last year and didn't have 2 years history. 

I haven't given up just yet. But it really pisses me off that I might have to wait 2 years to buy another income property if I want to borrow money. I will have saved the downpayment for a new property by then!

How is it that we can be turned down for a $250,000 HELOC when we own our home (no mortgage) which is worth $550,000, a duplex we bought last year with $80,000 equity that's worth $240,000 and a business that has been rock steady for almost 20 years? We want to invest in another fixer property and want to use the HELOC so we can pay cash, fix it up and rent it out. Our credit scores good and very good.

Let me know if you have worked with any lending institution out there that is friendly to business owners and can think outside the box, that gave you a HELOC. We went to Chase & Northwest Credit Union.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) other investment in Prineville.

Purchase price: $239,000
Cash invested: $59,750

1800 s.f duplex, each with one car garage built in 1979. We painted interior, replaced blinds and installed flooring ourselves in one unit immediately since it was vacant and got it rented by the following monthFrom

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Our good friend that owns rentals in california inspired us to use some cash that we inherited.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We called the agent randomly.

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional mortgage. But it wasn't easy because we have been self employed for over 30 years, owning a retail store in downtown Bend, OR.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The challenge was mainly that we are self-employed and even showed a loss on the books because of a remodel we paid cash for at our store. We were turned down by 3 other lending institutions.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Century 21 and Guild Mortgage professionals made this happen against all of the odds.