All Forum Posts by: Chad Clanton

So, I'm somewhat familiar with 203K, and know that Fannie and Freddie have their own renovation loans; are there any other loan programs of note out there that are relatively "user friendly"?

Thanks Steve, appreciate it. I'll be looking into those.

Hi Timur, I'm not a contractor or a roofer, but on the materials side (here in VA), regular asphalt shingles run about $1/sq ft, not sure about underlay, and 7/16" OSB roof sheathing on the high side is around $10, or $.31/sq ft, if you need it. I have no idea of labor costs in your area, what kind of roof, or anything else. When in doubt, call up a contractor and get a ballpark, most I've spoken to will give you that over the phone if you can give the actual roof area and what kind of roofing you want. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful...good luck!

@Zach Schaar I know that FHA 203K loans incorporate acquisition and renovation costs into one loan, but are limited to owner-occupants (unless there are exceptions with which I am unfamiliar). That said, if you don't own a home, it may be a viable option: purchase, renovate, sell. That said, there's no absolute requirement (of which I'm aware, please someone correct me if I'm wrong) that you retain the home for any particular length of time, unless specified by whoever sells it to you. That said, I'm interested to hear any other input anyone has.

Hi there everyone; for starters I just want to thank everyone for all their fantastic input on all my questions, etc. You folks are awesome! My question for today is, what are some of the various types of residential/small commercial renovation loans for non owner-occupants, their average rates/terms, and are there typically any available with lower than 20% downpayments? Do any of them incorporate the acquisition price into the loan? I don't need full details, just perhaps what some of them are generally referred to as and how they're used, and I can dig up more info myself. Thanks all!

I agree with Ellis. I've been thinking about structure (i.e. distracting myself) for a few months now, and have decided to just move forward and work it as I go, at least for a time. That said, I've got a friend who has been doing residential and commercial properties for decades in the sub-100k to multi-million dollar range, and he still separates his properties out into individual LLC's. I can see how this could get to be very cumbersome over time, and am personally trying to figure out how LLC's gathered under a "parent company" behave, but it's worked for him for years. Whatever you do, just don't paralyze yourself with the details. Good luck!

Hi Andrew, I meant to mention this earlier, but if you want some help navigating some of the assessors' sites, feel free to contact me via PM. I'm not an expert, but as a matter of course I use them fairly regularly. If you have or are willing to try out skype, I can show you via screenshare until you get the hang of it. Just let me know if you're interested. Take care Andrew.

Hi Mike, and welcome to BP. I don't know the going rate for a pier, but $5,000 sounds high for simple labor and materials for twelve piers. Does that price include doing any other work to the foundation? I.e. leveling, etc? I was looking at a completely totaled foundation here in VA (interestingly, the three center piers kept the weight balanced just so, so that the house was still in pretty great shape), and they were looking at tearing out all the footers and existing foundation and replacing it for around 23k, after 15k to have the house professionally lifted by a house moving company. I know that's apples and oranges, but hopefully it'll give some perspective.

Eric, it's fantastic that you're set on making it work the way you are. I think that's one of the most important things you could have going for you. It's good that your mentor has good intentions, it certainly beats the alternatives! That said, I don't know the specifics of the deals you're bringing him, but if he doesn't like them, try to find out why. Some things are legitimate deal breakers and some simply don't work for some people while they do for others.

Here is something regarding wholesaling, at least the way that I see it and through my limited understanding of the process (anyone with input, please do chime in): as long as your contract is written right i.e. your contingency clauses (financing, inspections, etc), then getting a good property under contract is the most important thing. Again, if the offer is written right (adequate time, satisfactory funds arrangements, etc), then I don't see where there is a problem with tying it up under contract for further study, then letting it go if it doesn't suit after further study. I wouldn't want to do this as an all the time thing, but it is an option. I think I've missed out on 2-3 good properties (quite a few considering I'm still working on my first deal) simply because I wanted to do too much due diligence up front, before putting in an offer. I don't know if this is relevant to your situation or not, just food for thought. Take care, and good luck!

Hi Eric, welcome to BP! I understand your position; I'm still trying to get started myself, and got the mentor T-shirt. Long story short there, he taught me how to utilize the internet for things I already knew how to do or understood after a five minute conversation, and kept "filtering" properties I thought looked interesting through his personal prism. Lost quite a bit of money (well, more than I'd lost before, anyhow :-/) for no return but a non-love of gurus :-P In any event, you can learn all the things you need from here or from just doing. I'm a fan of "I have some free time, so why don't I go bug/call the folks at the (title company, realtor's office, county assessor's office, etc) and throw some questions to them? For instance, what do they DO?" For me, I know it can be frustrating "not knowing what I don't know" to the point of not knowing what question to ask... so I ask a bunch of questions. That said, you probably don't want to bug them TOO much if you plan on working with them ;-)

In any event Eric, if you're like me, you know where you want to go, but are still working out how to get there, especially when still learning the basics. DON'T get discouraged. You're a medic, you know it doesn't always "happen to someone else"; same holds true with success as it does with trauma. Just keep your eye on the goal, and get as much of that real world, first person experience that you can. Good luck, and don't hesitate to ask if there's anything we can do for you here.