All Forum Posts by: Lauren C.

@Dustin Lippy We won't be finished until mid October so I'll reach out then and we can discuss further.

Thanks!

Hi @Johann Jells I'm in a similar boat. I have a rental finishing renovation soon and would like to take nice photos for the listing. I have an old Lumix GH2 and am looking to maybe rent a wide lens as my current one just doesn't cut it.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a wide angle lens that works on a panasonic? I know some would require an adapter. 

Although I did just do a quick google search for professional real estate photography and the prices are $100-$200. Not bad so that may be an option. 

Hi @Dustin Lippy ! Such a great offer! I'm actually finishing up renovations on a duplex that I will be listing for rent soon and was looking into photography. Sadly, I'm almost 3 hours away. 

But I hope other people in your area take you up on the offer. Good luck!

Hi @Ty Martin, from my experience, you want to be as close to campus as possible  and near Landmark Americana and Chickie and Petes. Below is an outline I did of the area I knew students to live in. When I was a student, we didn't even consider houses East of Delsea Dr or South of High Street. 

I can't speak for all students but all of our friends lived within 1-2 blocks of campus. The desirable area is smaller than one may think. 

This was 5 years ago so this could be different now and as a female, we didn't want to walk through more residential areas to get home after night classes because Glassboro outside of campus wasn't the nicest place back then. So maybe male students might not mind being further out. 

Another thing to consider. We had A LOT of break ins over winter and summer breaks when students went home. I stayed in a house with a security system and we still got broken into twice over break.

The thing with Glassboro, while its developing into a great town, they don't offer efficient public transportation into Philly. (No trains) and so I don't know many people who stay there after graduation and I definitely don't know anyone who moved there post college where Manayunk seems to be a popular area for those working in Philly. 

Hi @Ty Martin ! I also attended Rowan. I think the "big boom" somewhat already happened with the expansion of the Rowan Blvd project back in 2012-2014. Of course, Rowan is consistently expanding the campus and the surrounding area so I'm sure values will continue to grow but property has definitely increased since I graduated in '12. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. I rented off campus housing so I'm familiar with the concept (charging per bedroom/person, rather than for the house) and the desirable areas as a student.

Good luck!

Hi All! 

Great thread! I recently purchased a HUD property with an 89% bid.

The house was listed at $124,000

89% NET to HUD would be $110,360

I added 6% (close to $7k) for agent commissions

I put in a bid at $117,341

And it we won!

I do owner occupy this property and so I was able to get in during the first round of bids. Folks on BP thought perhaps the threshold might be lower for owner occupied but I didn't want to risk the property and try. 

If I do bid on another HUD home, I'm going to try say 86% and see if it takes.

Thanks!

@Account Closed Hey William! We're wrapping up our first reno but we're hoping to have another project in the pipeline soon. I'm interested in learning more about your construction company.

Thanks! 

@Mike Cumbie I didn't even think of DTI in terms of this decision. Thanks for bringing it up!

@Mike H. Wow thanks for all of this. I didn't realize that the amount of mortgages would effect the HELOCs.

And thank you so much for such a detailed explanation of how to calculate DTI. That was super helpful and I'll remember to ensure the underwriters calculate it correctly as well.

@Mike H. Awesome way of looking at it! 

You are correct in assuming that I will be holding this property for a while. 

In regards to choosing the HELOC because money is cheaper on a primary residence, the next property I buy will most likely be my next/new primary residence (another small multi) in which I can rehab and do a HELOC on that one.

Can a person have two HELOCs? For example, if I do a HELOC on this property and then move to another in a year or so, can I not do a HELOC on the second, and at the time, current primary residence?

If not, then wouldn't it be better to do a cash out refi on this current property and then HELOC the second?

Just trying to fully understand all of the options. Thanks!

@Brent Coombs

Thanks for the advice Brent! 

Looking back, yes I could have/should have went with an FHA rehab loan. Since we were doing a lot of the work ourselves, I was nervous about the drawing of the money from the rehab loan and since I had most of the cash to do the rehab, I opted not to. But definitely a lesson for next time.

The credit card debt is less than 10k so even pulling out just 30k would be enough to cover the pay off and another down payment. I've narrowed it down to two lenders and both offer 80% LTV.

If the rate on the refi wasn't lower than my original mortgage, I think choosing the HELOC would be an easy decision.