All Forum Posts by: Seth Williams

It check local town law, it differs a lot in every state to my knowledge. Being in Mass, Boston has something thats within 3 hours of storm stoppage I believe, or 3 hours from sunrise. I would follow that standard and just communicate with the tenants that you may want to do that. Obviously if you are plowing and want to keep up with it, I think your policy is great. I typically wont sand / salt until the end of the storm or if there is an actual active slip hazard. I also leave Salt / Sand / Shovels at every egress. 

I dig some digging into Ma Law, but couldnt find anything concrete other than towns can have their own. Here is a link to Boston's, which essentially is what I try and follow. https://www.boston.gov/departments/311/rules-clearing-snow

Hi @Web A. - I have a few questions and Ill leave my thoughts. Are you looking to use the LOC to finance the down payment portion, or the whole amount of the purchase? What defines Great Terms?

Personal lines of credit are often un-secured, and therefore by definition, really BAD terms lol. The interest is fixed or variable and high. Often these personal lines of credit are also underwritten to make sure you, in the terms - loan depending , cannot use them to buy real estate. For instance, SoFi, its a great personal loan company that will often write a line of credit, income and credit depending, personally for up to 100k. That being said, you need to sign something saying that you cant use it to buy real estate. 

For business lines of credit, you have to obviously have a business, typically be in business for 1-2 years minimum, and show substantial revenue in order to qualify to be lend $ - especially on this cash basis line of credit. That has less restrictions, but depending on who you are using to finance the rest of the property if you are only speaking about the down payment, might take objection to you essentially 100% financing something with the LOC and a mortgage. Hopefully this helps...

What I would tell you is google around where you live in NJ and find a small local credit union as they are a little more flexible with terms. You may find a portfolio lender that wont sell its loans, so might be more liberal in its underwriting terms. Make sense? Good luck! 

No one said it was easy being a landlord! You did good. What I would tell you, is take a look at the calendar, and keep things in mind like holidays and the time of day. I conduct business, during business hours / days. In all my leases ( I know you didn't have the chance to use one with them ) I put move outs at a specific time. This way in the FUTURE, you wont be doing final walk thrus at 9pm. I have tons of great tenants, and I dont think I would meet any of them at 9pm for anything. Also, in situations like this in the future, bring someone else to so you arent alone. Either way, everyone else already said it, its not your fault, its your house. Always put stuff in writing, and youll feel better about it. Tenants will always take advantage if given the opportunity to, and some know the laws better than you - so study up! Congrats. 

If it’s possible per the town to finish the space with bedrooms or with a unit. You’ll need multiple egresses, Which could be Easy or you may need to change basement windows to egress windows, you’ll need minimum ceiling height likely, and a few other items depending on the town. 

@L. Brown Congrats on being Under agreement ! As far as your strategy goes, do your due diligence, or have your agent do their due diligence on the basement unit. There are a lot of cans / cants with basement units, for bedrooms, your own unit / space, or actual conversion to an in-law / 3 family. The BEST option is 100% legalize this as a 3 family, since that will add the most equity - without question. Every town / state is really different here so make sure you check into what you can / cant do before hand. I do like your plan though! The only other option that you didnt think of is buy a 3 / family or a 4 family first, since going down in units is easier than going up for your second property, but, that doesnt help you! Congrats again! 

Great idea! If it works out and is in your total goals. After owning a property for 10 years what condition is it in? How much will the refi kill the cash flow - all things only you would know.

refinancing or pulling equity to make bigger moves and scale up is a great idea either way. You also could potentially just refi / use the cash in the same loan to jump into a commercial loan ( just one ) for both properties. Best to talk to the local lender you’ll use to figure this out.

Watch out for the Housing crash 

Zach,
no doubt the economy will be volatile, but housing country wide should stay very strong. Based off last several recessions, only a few effected housing, 2008 is obviously an anomaly. Check out this video i did about this topic. 

When you purchased you likely used an attorney, i would ask them to make sure that nothing on the deed states otherwise, but I would think you should be OK. At least up here,  nothing would state otherwise ( Mass ). One thing that gets confusing is the utilities, which you mentioned, and often despite how they maybe physically labeled, the utility company often labels them differently. For instance I have a 3 family that labels the 4 meters for common, 1-3, as HSE for house, and a b c, or another that is hse and 1, 1r, and 3 for some reason. So although I haven't changed the physical #'s like you are saying, its important to make sure that the utility company knows so your new tenants, or a new owner would know. Just my two cents. 

Hey @Charles Clingan, I hate when I hear stuff like this because it gives agents a Bad name. As a Full time agent / someone who runs a brokerage, I would ask if your agent is a Full time agent or not. I often would run into this issue with other part time agents, and there are some good ones out there, that are bad communicators, bad with organization, and cant make commitments due to their FT work. 

Also, how did you find / hire this last agent? If its one of those "friends of the family" type deals, I would move on. I have tons of agents across the country that I network with and would be more than willing to point you in a new/better direction if you are not getting good feedback, or responsiveness. To answer your questions, yes, It is his job he gets a commission for - procuring the buyer, and making your life easier. 

Seems like it could work, I would reach out to the lender you use in the area who would be able to give you a better reply. If the loan limit FHA is close enough to the purchase, you may be able to max out your FHA loan and pay cash for the rest, assuming its less than your down payment gap. IE if the limit is 900k, you could do that, and put down the 80k. You would know the area better.

Rent would go away, since owner occupancy, and you would be able to claim 75% of all the rents, I believe, for the other 3 units as income, so as long as your back end debt ratio is aligned, you should be good. 

Get a lender involved! Cheers,