All Forum Posts by: Marcus Ko

@Joe Kim, thanks for the insight on your investments.  I'm looking to get started in buying my first property, is MACK the right company for a person starting out?  The equity in my condo is the only leverage I have at the moment and am learning that using home equity for investment purposes is not the right move.  Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

Thank you very much for starting this post @Theo Hicks.  I had the exact same discussion with some people.  It's like nothing in the world is worth investing because of the fear of another downside.  Well then why live if you're going to die in the first place is what I'm thinking.  There is risk in every thing we do.  

House hacking is when you live in a building with, let's say 2 units, and you rent one out while living in the other unit.  

Hi Paige,

I see, so basically wait long enough for the cash refi to make sense, then just repeat what I did but keep the cost of the house the same or lower than what I started with.  That makes sense. I guess I was thinking to buy a higher priced house in the future so that the resell value would be greater.  Maybe that's not the right mindset for real estate.

Another option I wanted to try was renting out my current place, while purchasing another home to live in.  But with a 20% cap on rentals, I would have to wait.

Hey Joe, thanks for the advice, I'll look into the whole cash refi a bit more.

Hi Ned, thanks for input! Yes, I heard I should refinance to get some cash back. I was recommended to use that extra cash and put it back into the loan to try and get rid of the PMI that I'm paying at the moment. I guess I'm just not sure what the right move should be. Sounds like it won't hurt to continue living here for at least 2 more years and then figure out my next move.

Hi Kerry!  Thanks so much for your input!  And this deal was a hell of a journey, but well worth it!   Looks like I'll have to stay here a bit longer to avoid those capital gains taxes.  I have thought about multifamily properties, but my lack of funds is holding me back from looking in that direction.  I'm always looking though, so thanks for that tip as well!

Hi,  I'm basically a first time home buyer, bought a foreclosure for 123K in July 2015, put 5% down.  Other comparable units in the area having been sold for higher, around 150K.  I put in about 11K for repairs and upgrades.  

So my question is actually two fold.  

1) I've heard that at some point I should cash out refinance.  I heard that I should live in the house for a year or 2.  When would be an optimal time to cash out refi?  

2) If I end up selling more than what I paid, say I sold for 150K, that would put me positive 10K.  So my 2nd question is then, what is a good price range for homes to look at to do a 2nd live in + fix up to repeat this whole process?

Appreciate any feedback someone can give me.