@Kevin O'Brien I am investing in multi family properties in Atlanta (Gwinnett area specifically). I have done my first deal as a house hack using a very similar loan to the 203K where I have to live in the home and money is tied into the loan for repairs. Said all of that to say although I ma a newbie I have some experience in this area.
1. Sellers will definitely still work with a buyer that has a 203K loan in this market if they me these requirements(in general). (A) Have proof the loan is already approved and not applied for. (B) Your loan can compete with the bidding process in a hot market and can win the bid ( if there is one). (C) your Close time is close to 30 Days which is standard. Most of the time, with this type of loan, it will only go beyond that if your repair paperwork is not ready to go. You can always ask for extensions if you go beyond the 30 days that they can improve but the main obstacle is to win the bid. and a bidding war always eats at cash flow faster than PMI will.
Saying 40-45 will be less attractive during the bidding process IS less attractive to a seller so I wouldnt recommend it BUT if you really want to give yourself that time AND still be competitive to win the BID use the "cash upfront " you have for a higher earnest money amount to show you are serious try to offset it. EX: if avg earnest money is 1K then I would put 2.5K
2. IMO, keep your cash for when issues come up like a sudden repair or a tenant moves out and you have to pay for rent yourself. The tenant not paying is what is happening to me right now!
I bought this home to live for free not necessarily make cash flow when I move out so your objectives may be slightly different than mine. Im single, bought a duplex, for 175K, which is super high( Avg is 130-150K i think right now) but seller market so I found the best deal I could. So one side pays 850,my mortgage+ insurance +tax= 1200. Adding in costs for repairs,moveouts , management, all that fun stuff total per month came to about 1700. So i would have to pay the other 900!(no way).So to live for free instead of buying a 2bed/1bath duplex that most are I bought a 3/2 and 2/2. I live in the 3/2 side. take 1/1 and rent out the other 2 rooms at 450 each they share a bath. split the other side and rent each 1/1 for 500 they share a kitchen. Brought my rent up to 1900. Manage myself(for now), fix small items myself, use loan repair to fix major issues before they are a problem (i.e. instead of adding basic stuff like paint i improve foundation of home) , and without getting to far into the numbers I get like 12 bucks over living for free currently.
Some things I forgot to mention usually the 203K loan has a limit on repairs amount. I am not exactly sure on the percentge for 203K but My loan repair limit was 10% of the current value of the home. so i bought for 175k I got about 17K for improvements. And also I know 203K has limits on the current status of the home. for example it has to be "liveable" at time of purchase(because you have ot move into it within a certain amount of time after close) with no major issues like code violations or missing a wall. Look into that as well. If im wrong someone correct me and let me know.
So like the post you referenced, if it is a liveable but only 30K you wont have much 203K loan range of improvements to add as I can really assume no conventional bank is gonna front 60K when the current value of the home is only 30K..or 50% for that matter. So that wont work for you (IMO) and if its that low unless your in the country not the suburbs in Atlanta a 30K is NOT liveable.
They are right in the other post as well. Its all about a great contractor that already knows the process and paperwork will really make the process smooth! but a professional contractor giving quotes for quality work will be pricey, so it was best for me to have a home inspector ready. as soon as i get the house under contract ( same day or that weekend) ,I immediately sent the report to my contractors to evaluate and estimate price for each issue basically sight unseen. My contractor added fluff (obviously to protect themselves) but my advantage was getting paperwork significantly quicker so to keep my close date on time and that is whats important to limit that 60 days estimation to 40 days or even 30.
If you want more details about my experiences, numbers and process we can talk directly as well.
