All Forum Posts by: Jason Morton

my girlfriend of 4 years and I just had our offer accepted and the earnest money has been dropped off.  If everything goes well we will have our first home by Christmas.  

     We live in Vancouver Washington and neither of us believe in marriage.  But considering we do get this house, would we make more money if we were married?

     I have a friend that got married in Portland Oregon and 3 years after he was married the government started requiring them to pay more taxes. They went to a tax consultant which told them that marriage was set up for people to either have kids or buy a house.

Thanks for the responses everybody.  I guess I understand that credit Karma score and USBanks Mortgage Loan score are 2 different things.  I wouldn't be so worried about it if was a difference of 20 or 30 points.  But when it is a difference of 60-100 points I have to wonder.

Here is why I was so worried

Me and girlfriend spent 5 months backpacking the PCT, we finish and want to buy a house instead of rent.

I have over $100,000 in liquid, No Debt, 700+ credit rating but I had to quit my job.

Girlfriend has No money, $5000 of school debt, 550 credit score, but an awesome job.

We call 2 different Loan officers at 2 at 2 different banks and they tell us they can not loan to us.  Because I have no income I can not get a loan, and her credit is to low and she can not get a loan.

Next day we go into both banks that denied us on the phone, and get them to run our credit. low and behold her credit is now 648 and they will loan us $200,000 and we can get a house.

Now do you see why I was so frustrated by Credit Karma?  Its not off by a few points its off by 100 points.

I was made aware through one of Brandon Turners podcasts that Credit Karma was a free way to check your credit score.  So last month I signed up and logged in.  Low and Behold my credit score was 732 low-748 high  I was happy.  Today (a month later) without any missed payments or debt credit Karma had me at 722-724.   Freaked out I went into USbank and they had me at 765-805. As I'm typing this post Credit Karma still has me at 722-724.  USbank a company that made it through the housing crash by being very conservative had my credit score 40-80 points higher than credit Karma.  Yesterday my girl friend signed up for credit Karma and had a 550, when we called the bank they said they would not loan us any money until we raised it 100 points.  But when she went to the bank today she had a 648 and we were able to get a conventional loan.  Is credit karma  legit or a fraud made to scare you into signing up for credit cards with high interest rates?  Has anybody else had this problem?  

@Luke Holcomb. It sound like you already have a winning lottery ticket.  if you PM me I could get that money (and warm hugs) no problem.  I be interested in looking at some deals that you have to offer.    I would need a good recommendation for a property manager.  

@Account Closed thank you.  I understand the 2% rule better now, and that it is possible for some people to find.  The book made it seem like it was a deal you can and should follow.  But in some markets, like here in Vancouver/Portland houses would never give you that kind of return.

But if you know of deals where I could spend $50,000 and get $1000 rent, PM me I'd love to chat about it and to buy several.

I don't see many economists weighing in around here. As somebody who is new to the idea of real estate all I hear about outside of BP is talk of another collapse, yet I don't see it brought up much in conversation. With China tanking and, federal interest rates at 0% where do we go from here? Also 5 out of 10 of the last cover stories in The Economists magazines outline a collapse. I'd also like to hear real estate success stories that happened in 2008.

The economy. Is it really a good time to take risks in real estate?

this sounds like just what I need.  Can I bring 3 friends that are interested for a total of 4?

complete newbie here but, I'm reading "the ultimate begginers guide to real estate investing" (the free book you get when joining bigger pockets) and I stumbled across the 2% rule which states your monthly rent should be at least 2% of the purchase price.  So basically if you buy a house for $100,000 you should be able to rent it for $2000 per month.  I live in Vancouver where the vacancy rate of rentals is 2.4% way below the national average of 6.8%, and houses out here are renting for way less than 2%.  My mentor is renting his properties at about the local median and for his $240,000 homes he is renting them for $1500 per month (.6%) according to this book this is a terrible investment. this book states that he should be renting this house for $4800 per month which would be impossible.  Am I missing something?  Maybe this rule is more for people buying MFH's in the ghetto?

I just backpacked the entire 2700 mile the Pacific Crest Trail and and had a revelation.  I'm tired of working paycheck to paycheck as a 37 year old chef.  Yesterday in our local newspaper the front cover headline caught my attention "CRISIS IN THE RENTAL MARKET"  the article talks about the local rental vacancy rate being at 2.4% where the national average is 6.8%.  I know nothing about real estate but I have a small inheritance and I'd like to learn how to make it grow.  As I was finishing the PCT I heard a DP podcast where a guy made money investing in multi-family homes and recommended the book "secrets of a millionaire mindset."  I read it and it changed my way of thinking.  That was my Eureka moment, going from being a few thousand in debt to having enough to put down on a house I realized I needed to change my whole way of thinking and spending.  I am 100% dedicated to learning about real estate and how to make my money grow.  I would like to get as much information on rel estate as quickly as possible and would love to buy my first house this year.  But right now I have very little to no knowledge in the subject of real estate except that I'm in a great place to give it a shot.  I am excited to be a new member of such an awesome community.