All Forum Posts by: Kass Farran

Welcome to BP!

I'm also new but have absorbed a ton of knowledge in my short tenure here. If you need a Michigan local I'm happy to connect.

I agree with @Mike Singer to a certain extent. The average tenure for regular retail refi is definitely on the newbie side, but then again regular refi's are not too complicated and for anything that does get complex they have directors and RVPs that can handle it. 

If you want the biggest advantage to working with RKT, work with a Schwab banker. You will need to have assets in a Schwab account but that isn't hard to do. The Schwab bankers have an average tenure of 10+ years, with most of them working under the Schwab specialty. They handle the clients that hold millions in assets which are usually investors and they have access to products that retail AND wholesale can't touch. When RKT made a deal with Schwab, Schwab got the better end of the deal there. Pricing is great, underwriting is different and the products they can provide are top tier.  

@Devin Peterson

They both will sell the loan as a MBS but RKT does keep and service the majority of their QMs. So RKT will always be your point of contact. It's a nice service but IMO the convenience does not offset the additional cost.

@Damon Vaughan

I worked for RKT mortgage for 4 years on both as an MLO and Revenue Operations Analyst. The "low-to-no cost" and "loan tracking team" is not what they make it seem. Go with the better deal with which numbers make sense. Don't bank on your next refi with RKT to be low-to-no cost because you'll be disappointed to say the least.

Your best bet is to get a broker that will go wholesale pricing for you instead of retail. Not sure where you're looking to buy but I may have a broker for you.

@David Zimmer

The primary benefit being the smaller down payment option and they are more friendly to lower credit scores and higher debt-to-income ratios. If your credit is in a good place and you have the heloc to source an extra 1.5% I would go conventional. The amount of PMI + UFMIP that you would pay on an FHA loan is usually much more than a conventional. Especially if you're looking at the minimum amount down, you will be stuck with that for the life of the loan and eventually will want to refi into a conventional loan.

I'd do the math either way and check if your blended rate by throwing your (FHA P&I payment + PMI Monthly payment) into a mortgage calc, filling in the purchase price and working backwards to get a rate %. Do the same with conventional and see what makes more sense.

I believe the PMI payments are not included in total APR which is why you would have to do it this way.

@David Zimmer-

You can always take a first shot at the loan as an FHA. Have a good reason for wanting a duplex, triplex, quad. Could be moving family into other units, or downsizing from your current home, or whatever. If they won't allow it, your lender could flip the loan to a conventional and ideally be able to take the 5% down route. I wouldn't rule yourself out before you get a verdict on the FHA loan.

Moving into the duplex as your primary could qualify you for a conventional loan which should allow for 5% down payment. Not sure how lender overlays work if it is a multi-unit. 

How long have you been in the 15 yr mortgage on the townhouse? Do you have any equity built that would lend itself in this situation that you could source as a down payment? 

It really depends on the house you get and how much you're going to finance, if you have the 25% down from the heloc i'd go conventional granted your credit in in the right place and you'll be anywhere from 5-7% range on rate. When applying for the loan you will need to let your lender know this is an investment as you don't want to run this as a primary and your story not end up lining up with you intentions. I'd avoid an arm just because of how volatile the market it and you're already signing up for 1 variable interest rate via the heloc, personally i think it's a lot of risk to carry 2 loans with variable rates securing the same property. 

From what i've seen on nursing stipends my wife was getting on average $1500 a week tax-free and those were local contracts so she came home every night.

@Jeffrey Schechter I'm currently doing the same with my first invesment. Heloc sourced my down payment and i'm financing the rest on a conventional mtg. As long as the numbers work go for it. In my case the home will still cashflow even with both payments and we can get the heloc paid off within a year. So it opens the doors to more cashflow.

I used comerica for my heloc which rate plus margin puts me around 7.5% for now on a 89.9% LTV.
Being conservative in your case I would open the heloc regardless and if the payments make sense on whatever rate you are provided then you should feel confident moving forward. Just make sure you pay down the heloc and not just the minimum payment since those are usually interest only before the loan amortizes.

Hey @Spencer Cuvelier

I'm in a similar situation where my wife is also a travel nurse. We bought our home a few years back and when she goes on contract we look to rent it out.

Do you plan on living in that home after the 13 weeks or do you want this to be solely an investment?

I would look for medium term rental tenants so that they cover the time you are away if you plan to come back to your home. Since we do this with our primary that is the strategy I approach.

Either way if the numbers work on a home then go for it.