All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Styer

Have you spoken with a lender and if so do they know you are using your HELOC for a down payment? Generally lenders do not allow that. You could have the money just sitting in an account for a few months but that is going to affect your credit and your ability to take out a loan.

Lenders do not want you to use a loan to get a loan. They want you to have some actual skin in the game. I would work on figuring this out first before you start looking at deals. 

I would buy 2-3 single family homes in Columbus Ohio and get a great mix of appreciation and cashflow, you can beat the 1% rule here still and we are seeing 10% year over year appreciation here, better in some areas. 

You do not need to refinance, you don't need to do anything except change your address where you receive mail with your lender and update your insurance company. Don't mess with an LLC, just get a good umbrella policy and you'll be fine.

Based on what you've described I don't see enough meat on the bones at a $240k price point even with you doing the work yourself. Your time has value as well. If you were talking $200k then it sounds like a go, as a rental. This is not any where near a flip at this price. 

For me it would depend on how old the furnace is. If you've still got a lot of life in it then I would go for the less expensive option. If it's at the end of its lifespan then I would do the big job. 

I wouldn't say it's impossible but you are going to have a very difficult time finding a lender to take a 2nd mortgage on a multifamily investment property. I would maybe look into hard money or private money for the buy side and then refinance if you're looking at any value add properties. 

If you've sealed up any mouse hole entrances with steel wool and spray foam, laid down traps then its time to tell the tenant in writing that if they don't stop leaving out snacks for the mice they'll be asked to leave. 4 grand is crazy, you're problem is the tenant. 

What is an accredited investor? You shouldn't need any accreditation to invest? 

You might be able to use it as a starting point but I would never trust that number without doing due diligence to verify it. Sometimes it's spot on and sometimes it's way off one direction or the other. 

It really depends on the property. The biggest issue, at least here in Columbus, OH, that causes damage to properties is simple grade, gutter, and downspout maintenance. If water is running away from the property you should be fine in most cases. There are areas of the city where the sewage infrastructure cannot always handle the water but generally that is not a problem. 

That being said, I like slabs because it's one less thing to worry about. I wouldn't walk away from a property with a basement by any means and I own properties with basements and on slabs.