All Forum Posts by: John B.

@Henry Clark Wow, just read this whole thread now. Very interesting from the start. Do you have another update or I assume you are still on hold with this project with current rates and material costs?

Also, care to take a look at my Rochester and Syracuse, NY area to see what you think for the contractor garage concept I am interested in?

Thanks

 Sorry, I mean to say the sba bank does not want me to refi and take equity out of the property. Thank you for the response. Any comment on my main question of other options that I may not be considering?

I have a significant amount of equity in my personal residence that I currently cannot access due to an SBA lien from a business purchase 2.5 years ago. This lien is currently sitting in 3rd place behind my primary mortgage and a heloc (with zero balance). The SBA bank does not want to refi and take cash out as it lowers their equity stake. Now, when I orginated the SBA loan, my equity in the home was x, now it has grown to 1.7x. I would like to access some of this for outside investing but cannot find a solution. Am I missing some way to make this happen or some alternate solution?

Secondary question, does the SBA lien have access to the full amount of equity I now have or just the original amount from the loan start?

Thanks in advance

Follow-up:

I had a lot of interest and four qualified tenants to choose from. I was able to sign a lease for the full asking price in ten days on market. Only one agent contacted me to show her clients and she stated up front that she "understands I don't pay agents," which I never said either way (they ended up canceling the showing however because my place was too small). And I never got around to advertising my willingness to pay a possible finders fee. This hot market made it easy on me this time around. We'll see what happens next year if I have to advertise again. 

Also, because this was a nicer rental home with premium rent prices, I had a drone video made of the surrounding village area and how my home fits in. It came out really nice and I think it certainly helped my marketing. The cost was only $220, so very reasonable.

My SFR will not be available until Sept 1st but I plan to sign lease much sooner. How do I "hold" this for the tenant and safely take it off the advertising market. Can I / should I go ahead and ask for the security deposit now, along with the signed lease so that I can take down my listing? Then collect 1st months rent on move-in day? Just trying to manage the logistics of this since we're over a month away from availability. Thanks in advance everyone.

@Matt Ziegler I actually just listed the property so let's assume pricing is accurate for the market. Mainly just wanted to be able to post listing on social media and offer an incentive to share or promote. Also, would like to tell real estate agents that I could offer a flat $500 versus whatever % they make want. Your thoughts? Thank you so much

Is it a good idea to offer a $500 finders fee to anyone who refers tenants that sign a lease for my SFR? I would like to offer this to anyone, friends and real estate agents. Pros/cons or issues? (monthly rent ~2600). If you don't like this idea, please offer me your alternative ideas or best practices. Thank you!

@Richard Alvarez you're right, I should probably bump up the M&R from 5 to 8 or 10%. That still leaves a little cash flow, which I don't absolutely have to have now as long as I breakeven, then take the total return over 5-10 years from appreciation, mortgage paydown, equity build, depreciation. Thank you so much for the input and time, I appreciate it.

@Jeff Copeland yes, I will be property manager. Losing my job may be a godsend, lol, but the W-2 income is good. If I break my leg, my wife and my teenage sons will take up the slack (they are interested in helping). As for reserves, I have keep a cash cushion to ride out any downturns and have factored in 10% vacancy. In our market, unlike much of upstate NY, we have a very desirable, old, stable village with excellent top-ranked schools that should always bounce back from any major downturns. This would be a long play for me. Thank you so much for your input and time. BTW, I love the SP/TB market but can't wrap my head around the long-distance property owner idea.

@Steven Luttman taxes do not include garbage service, but tenants are responsible. Water & sewer separately billed by village (tenants pay). And I estimated $150 insurance based on the $80 I pay in same village for a $300k SFR. I thought this was conservative but will certainly need to confirm with my agent. Thanks so much for the input, I appreciate your time. Short term rentals over there in Saratoga are probably getting crushed this year, right?