All Forum Posts by: John Barrett

@Clayton Bray I have used @Adrian Chu for my lending on a number of properties and been very happy with the results and process. I would give him a call.

If you need lending that is based on the property / project then I would contact @Nghi Le with Certain Lending. I haven’t had the opportunity to use them yet personally but have heard good things from folks that have.

Regards,

John

@Bryce Henson First off welcome.  Secondly, I would suggest you spend some time thinking about what area of real estate investing is most interesting to you.  You can always broaden your interests but for me personally, it was easier to get started by targeting a specific type of property.  This will help you identify which meetup or Facebook groups will be most beneficial for you.

John

@Ken Lim My take is that it really depends on if you are able to negotiate with the seller on the price.  Clearly the condition of the property would justify price concessions.  This along with higher costs to finance the property will make your return in the short term smaller.  This is less of an issue if you plan to hold the property for a number of years.

I do like the idea of having a number of properties in close proximity as it does make management easier and allows for some economies of scale.  That said, if the property does not meet your required return either due to the purchase price, scope of work or associated risk, then you have your answer even if it is not the one you would like.

John

@John McNeill This is an unfortunate situation both you and your tenant.  From your post, it does seem like you have been trying to work with him to resolve the situation.  However, if your tenant has been unable to find employment during the tightest job market in years I think there is a larger problem here.

As others have stated, you need to turn this over to an eviction attorney.  The non-profit organization paying his back rent will help him to get current, it will not address his ability to pay future rent without a job.  Some organizations like VoA will generally only provide rental assistance to tenants once.  From what I have seen the ERPP mediation step seems to be the current bottleneck in most eviction cases at the moment.  The sooner you start the process, the sooner you will reach the other side of this issue.

John

@Jenna Lee I am sorry that you are dealing with this situation. Loosing rent is never a good outcome, but so long as you are able to make changes (either PM or tenant screening) something positive could come from this.

As others have suggested, I would ask your PM to explain why back rent is not collectable.  Depending on where the units are located, it could be the result of COVID restrictions that are still in place.  If that is the case, there may not be any options available to you to collect.

John

@Andrew Lingle You should look up @Nghi Le with Certain Lending.  They have a bunch of different products and one of them could be right for you.  I have met the team a few times at conferences and have always come away impressed.

Best of luck.

John 

@Alex Omo depending on the location, you should have some options, but will likely need to look at the greater MSA.  Another alternative might be to consider getting a condo to start with the plan to sell it in a few years and trade up to a house.  While this plan takes longer and roommates in a condo would be tighter, it does allow you to get started now. 

Best of luck,

John

@Brandon Kessler Unfortunately, the answer to this question is really personal, so it depends on your goals, desires and level of risk tolerance. In general (standard financing, nothing creative) for a loan on an investment property you'll need 25% down for investment properties and lenders will consider your debt to income (DTI) ratio to qualify you. The higher debt your are carrying both mortgages, HELOC & personal debt will impact what funds you can qualify to borrow.

You want to manage both your credit score and your DTI to get the best financing. DTI is less a factor if you have low outstanding balances or a really high income.

There are lots of lenders here on BP that can walk you through the what financing options are available to you and once you know that you can map out what investment strategy will make the most sense for you (based on your goals and sensitivity to risk).

John

@Michael Wallimann There haven't been that many in person meetups in the Everett area / north end following the pandemic.  There used to be a number of events, my wife and I attended a meetup at Bob's Burgers in Marysville but that hasn't happened for over 2 years.

Feel free to reach out if you ever want to chat about real estate investing.

John

@Sven T. We have used both WLA & RHAWA leases and both are good organizations.  I would suggest to you that the value of the RHAWA or WLA memberships are worth more than just getting the latest legally compliant leases.  Though avoiding an issue with the lease can save you a lot of money. Both organizations provide a lot of other benefits / value / resources. 

We started with the WLA membership and moved to the RHAWA.  The RHAWA training classes have been really informative.

John