All Forum Posts by: John Chace

Do you recommend going to a broker for the refi or go to different banks myself? Do banks ever pay for the closing cost?

I would like to get rid of the PMI and eventually switch to a conventional loan instead of FHA. My rates are good right now but there are a lot of fees that come with FHA and trying to decide if the timing is right for the switch.

Also, potentially considering and cash-out refinance for a down-payment on another house (if that's allowed). 

I bought my first house (owner occupied 3 family) last year and starting to wonder if I should refinance it since I bought it using an FHA loan with 3 percent down-payment. Per Zillow it is estimated to be worth an additional 100k right now. I also did some work to it so I know it's worth more. My current rate is 3.25 percent. How do you go about deciding when to refinance? When is it not worth it? Do you use a broker or pick the banks? Or any other useful tips I should know? Thanks in advance.

@Colleen F. Thank you for the feedback! I agree that new tenants might be needed because of the smoking issue. Being new to this whole thing I feel bad about interrupting their way of being but then again its necessary for our health and well being. Do you think it is necessary to have a real estate attorney look over the letter? I'm afraid they will give me a hard time about using it specially knowing I cannot evict them at the moment because of the virus. 

@Patricia Steiner Thank you for the feedback! Do you recommend going to a real estate attorney for the lease to make sure it is fully legal? Or is this usually not required?  

I am in MA and from my understanding the bill will last for 45 days after the emergency is lifted. This being said would you advice waiting until then and do nothing now? Or should I give them a month to month lease now with defined terms (parking, no smoking, etc) while I wait for the pandemic to be over and raise the rent then? 

Hi everyone,

In the midst of everything going on I was finally able to purchase my first house which happens to be a three family apartment. I’m going to try to keep it short but also while giving you the full scenario. My family and I will be occupying two units and rent the other one. The current tenants have been here for over 20 years so the previous owner kept their rent fairly low. Per my realtor the current market rate is $1100 and they are paying $850. The tenants seem like good people but are all heavy smokers (stair case reeks cigarette smell), they are also using the attic for storage (I have no access) and occupying the majority of the side lot for parking. How should I best proceed from here knowing that I cannot evict them (due to covid19) should they stop paying rent or give me a hard time for trying to implement changes? They have no lease.