All Forum Posts by: Matthew Porcaro

There's no such thing as an "FHA approved" general contractor requirement for 203ks.

This is a common misconception that for some reason keeps getting perpetuated. 

The HUD 4000.1 states that the lender just needs to verify the contractors experience, credentials, references, licensing and bonding required by the local building depts.

Virtually any licensed and insured contractor will qualify to do the work. 

Now, it’s nice if the contractor has experience doing renovation loans. Or, if they’ve done any kind of commercial work or insurance work it’s very similar. 

But, I’ve helped several hundred people do these loans successfully over the years and the majority of them used contractors that had never done a 203k before. 

The true success metric is hiring reputable contractors from references from your personal and professional network. 

Find general contractors that have a legitimate outfit. A back office to handle paperwork. Not a handyman that works out of their truck. 

It also depends highly on the scale of the renovation. 

I know that Cross Country mortgage has an "unlimited" VA reno program.

I don't know the details, but Cross Country is a reputable renovation lender, and has the VA product. It's worth reaching out to them and ask!

203k is how I got my start into real estate investing. I bought a deeply distressed duplex, and used the 203k to purchase and fully renovate it. Built a nice chunk of equity and also lived for free/cash flowed after I left. 

What questions do you have about it specifically? 

I can make lender recommendations, but one piece of advice I tend to give is check out the 203k endorsement summary (just google it)

HUD each month puts out a list of lenders that have written 203k loans in each market. Just search for Indy on the list, and look for the lenders that did the most.

Then call their brokerage and ask who heads up their renovation lending dept. 

Another way to do it is lookup 203k consultants in your area. I can connect you with those as well. 

The most active 203k consultants in the area will know the most active 203k lenders. 

Also know that the 203k is less and less popular now, since most renovation loans have moved to the fannie mae homestyle. But which reno loan you use ultimately depends on your financial profile. They're very similar in terms of guidelines and process. I've done both personally. 

Quote from @Tanner Pile:

Hey! I have a friend looking to house hack in Fort Lauderdale area. Is it possible and what expectations should he have? 

He is graduating soon and planning to get started in real estate. 

Let me know what advice you have!

As Rick said, it's possible everywhere. 

The main "goal" of house hacking is subsidizing or completely eliminating your housing expense through renting out other portions of your home. 

The better deal you find, the closer you can get to living completely free, or even cash flowing while you're living there. 

What people tend to think is that you can just buy a move-in ready property at top dollar and expect to live for free. 

That's rarely the case, That's why the focus always needs to be on deal finding. Especially if you want to be a RE investor long term. 

@Steve Davis

Depends on the project and the agreement with the contractor. You also need to make sure your insurance accurately covers the situation you decide.

Not sure if you know or not, but the 203k has an option where you can wrap up to the first 6 months payments into the principal of the loan.

Now, obviously that will increase your loan amount and consequently, your monthly payment amount.

But that option is available to help against having to pay for two places to live if you’re doing a big renovation and can’t occupy the property you just bought and are paying for.

@Jake Andronico

Any licensed and insured contractor can qualify to do the renovation on any renovation loan. It helps if they have experience but by no means mandatory.

Now, of course, like anything else some contractors are better than others.

For these programs you want a GC that has their ducks in a row. They have an office, support, etc.

This isn’t the type of situation where you hire your aunt Sally’s handyman lol

Hope this helps.

@Josh Ricord

Hey Josh, congrats on graduating with an impressive degree while also being a college athlete. That’s a lot to juggle and you should be proud of your work ethic.

I’ve seen a big commonality between real estate investors and them being collegiate athletes. I think it’s the fact that college athletes are coachable and execute quickly. They also tend to understand delayed gratification better than most haha.

To answer your questions:

1. The best way to maximize your strategy is to ensure that you build significant equity on your first house hack. Using the 203k will 100% help you with this. Just focus on building as much equity as possible. Ideally you want to be all in (purchase + renovation budget) for less than 80% of the after renovated value of the property.

This will give you the ability to tap that equity later if needed to go purchase additional properties.

2. Best advice about jumping in is just that. JUMP IN. do not make my mistake and consume too much content or videos or podcasts. Just trust the numbers and make tons of offers. Don’t be afraid of rejection. Just go for it. You will learn the most by doing. Not studying. Again, something a college athlete would know well.

3. The way I would use your MLS access is to just peel through the MLS daily looking for distressed assets. Look for properties that need work. Set filters for: as-is, fixer upper, 203k, handyman, motivated, negotiable, TLC, cash, etc.

Those keywords usually mean there’s some motivation there. Motivation to sell ideally will get you into these properties at a lower cost basis which means more cash flow and equity.

Also, look for long days on market, expired listings, etc.

I think you’re definitely on the right track and are definitely way ahead of where I was at when I started.

Just know with something like a 203k, you’re putting such little down, it’s soo hard to lose.

Especially if you stick to your numbers.

Biggest piece of advice I give on 203k’s is just make sure you use the right team and use them in the right order.

Get a DEEPLY experienced reno loan lender. Most will say they can do them, but not many are experts. You want to get the experts.

From there, once you get under contract, get your 203k consultant in the property immediately to do their inspection/schedule of repairs write up. Only then, bring in your contractors to bid that scope of work.

This is one of the biggest mistakes I see people make. They get their one contractor they know to give a bid, and if it’s off, it makes it tricky to solve. Get multiple contractor bids 3-5 ideally.

Then you’ll know that your pricing makes sense.

Hope this clarifies a bit for ya. Best of luck!

Quote from @Dominick Persino:

Hi Caroline. Commercial is downstairs. Can I message you the property for a quick glance?

Even in a 203k scenario, forgot to mention it be a 203k.

Thank you

If you're adding square footage to make the residential space larger than the commercial space (51% minimum residential) and it is shown on the 203k SOR report, and reflected on the appraisal, the bank should approve it. 

The only way to find out is talk to a lender. Common misconception is that you need to have all your ducks in a row BEFORE talking to a lender. 

A good lender or loan officer will see your specific financial profile, tell you what is and isnt possible, and ultimately should give you suggestions on what to aim for and focus on so that you can get what you need to eventually be ready to purchase. 

The guidelines state that if you are licensed and insured and experienced you CAN do some portion of the work yourself, but it's ultimately the banks' decision and they rarely let it fly. 

But the most common misconception of people starting out is that they can do "some of the work themselves" to save money. This almost never works out the way they intend.  

I've seen it go south countless times. Just hire the right people for the job. It's easier to save money by getting a better deal when you close than to try to cut corners on the rehab. I have worked in construction for 20 years, but I still rarely do any work myself. I sub out everything to the guys that do it daily.