All Forum Posts by: Mark Towey

I will be listing a property and want to create a tiered buyer commission -

- 1% offer at list or below 

- 1.5% offer between 190 and 220

- 2% offer above 220

an additional 0.5% for offers that require minimal or no addressing of inspection issues or other requests that cost seller money

thoughts?

@Diana Reinfeld Yes you can do it and we have done it however recently this NAR settlement has made it an issue. Our experience is it is harder to see a property through the sellers agent, now this may be the function of what the particular market is like. Even if you request to see the property through the sellers agent sometimes someone else shows it and that means a buyers agent agreement for that house or a specific time period. Open houses are a possibility too. Illinois is an attorney state as opposed to a title company state so you will need a lawyer to review the contract anyway so it is a possibility to use one for the offer. You would have to be aware of any specific inspection etc in Chicago. You also want to know the rental laws if you are buying into rent control etc. which even having a RE agent won't guarantee.

Yes you would have to live in the residence to qualify for the FHA loan. They may not come knock on your door but they do randomly audit loans and if they believe there is potential fraud, they will investigate further. Others have mentioned other loan products that have less restrictions that would allow you to do what you are asking.

One thing I would recommend is asking your employer if the housing stipend could be used for anything else. Could it become a general stipend that you could use for food, gas, bills, etc. Could it still be a housing stipend if the house is not campus housing (if you bought a house, could you use that stipend towards your mortgage payment). It is probably a long shot but you dont get what you dont ask for. 

I'm an agent here in Nashville and house hack myself. If you have any questions, let me know! Id be happy to help anyway I can!

It's definitely possible to get a HELOC on a primary home, but most lenders have a seasoning periods which are typically 6-12 months after purchase before they'll allow it. Since you put 5% down and the appraisal came in at $160K, your available equity might be limited since banks usually cap HELOCs at around 80-90% loan-to-value (LTV). You'll want to check with local credit unions or smaller banks since they often have more flexible HELOC options. Have you already asked your current lender? Some will offer a HELOC even if they originated your first mortgage.

@Nate Williams

the terms of seller finance are whatever you agree to with the seller.  so, it could be ( am throwing out random numbers) a purchase price of $350K with $10K down, and then 30-year amortization at 6.5% with a balloon payment due in 5 years.  or whatever you negotiate.  in what I just laid out, you'd make monthly payments to the seller just like you would to a bank for 5 years, and then the remaining principal balance of the loan would be due, at which time presumably you would refinance the house into a commercial mortgage and use the proceeds to pay off the seller.  if you need assistance setting this up talk to some local professionals.

to your point you, should certainly not take on a payment you can't afford - and only you know what that is.  you would need to make monthly payments to the seller during the rehab, just like to any other lender, and then if it were a rental, you would want the rent to cover the payments plus all other expenses.

you'd also need to figure out how to pay for the rehab - either out of pocket, or finance it somehow.  not recommending anything here.  and - if 35K is everything you've got - savings, emergency fund, money for real estate... that is not a huge cushion.  but, we only know what you posted.

hope this helps

@Mark Towey I don't "farm" areas personally, it doesn't really fit the niche I'm personally going after, but what I have heard from some major agents in my market lately is that farming is not near as productive as it used to.  I've heard/had good results with more targeted driving for dollars looking for distress, or to some other comments points here, look for other data points to isolate "needs" to sell rather than "wants".