All Forum Posts by: Matt Smith

@Shane Cloutier Yes I can, the only thing is that I will need to do the math to see if paying the VA Funding fees would be more beneficial to get out of PMI or going ahead with a conventional loan and try to get out of PMI as fast as possible.

The VA funding fees can be upwards of $10,000. In addition to that, the extra scrutiny that VA loans carry with them is a huge turn off for sellers.

@Shane Cloutier

Yes it’s all paid off. I actually made a little bit of money on the sale, not a lot but I wasn’t upside down.

@Philip Ganz Thank you for your input! That is definitely something that I will look into if I need to get heavy into a rehab. Ideally, I would like to cash flow any projects that need to be repaired or updated unless it comes to new appliances.

Matt

For anyone that is interested this is the area that I am currently looking at.

This all makes a lot of sense. I like the idea of increasing the rent based on the pet, I have seen multiple properties that I have lived at do the same thing.

@Joel Florian you've hit this 100% on the head.

Extremists on both ends are of the spectrum are not to be idolized.

@Lien Vuong thank you for your input! I have been through Concord a couple of times and generally like the area. (Close to MHT) 

@Kai Sato-Franks Hi! 

Dave Ramsey states that buying your first home you should go with a 20% down 15-year fixed mortgage. (Baby Step 3B) He understands that owning your home is the quickest path to wealth.

Of course, if you have enough capital lying around to purchase your first home then go for it. But if all you have is 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, etc. then take the remainder on a 15-year fixed mortgage.

He also says that if you plan to buy real estate after your first home then you should pay in cash.

Here are my thoughts:

I need approximately $80,000 for a down payment. 20% of 400,000. this would be a multifamily home in New Hampshire (I plan to house hack) Saving for this would take me approximately 3 years and 3 years of paying rent of $1500-$2000 a month. Or I could use a low down payment option FHA or in my case a VA loan to get out of renting and buy a house much sooner than 3 years from now.

I am a follower of the Ramsey plan, it helped me get back on my feet again. But I can tell you that I am not waiting for 3 years to purchase my first house hack. If you think about it, I would pay practically a down payment to my landlord in 3 years. (40 months x $1500 - $2000 = $60,000 - $80,000 of rent) Instead, I will put every penny leftover into my mortgage and pay below the 80% threshold, likely in 2 years, to get PMI removed. (which is the major reason that Dave Ramsey wants you to pay at least 20% down)

Just my thoughts, tell me if you think I'm crazy.

Cheers,

Matt

@Richard Dale-Mesaros hi thank you for your time.

What is meant by opportunity zones? Is this like section 8?

My only two requirements are that I am not too far from an airport similar to MHT, BOS or PWM as I travel a few times a month for work. And my wife requires a decent night/bar scene as she is a musician. Other than that we are free to be anywhere within the New Hampshire borders.

Do you have any suggested starter towns for us? I read on here that some couples started house hacking in Rochester and Dover but I do not know much about them.

Thanks again for your time,

Matt.

@Jeremy Wirths my two only real requirements are that I’m somewhat close to airport. I typically fly out of MHT 4-5 times a month for work, but I could also fly out of another similar airport such as Portland or Boston. The other would be for my wife, she’s a full time musician and would like to be within an hour or so of a decent night scene such as Boston, Portland, Nashua or Manchester (I am not sure of the bar scenes anywhere else).

I want to be able to attract responsible renters (as I am sure all landlords do) and I have enough of an income so that we will not be under pressure to settle for a shady tenant.

I can do 90% of remodeling/repairs/plumbing/electrical work myself unless I’m away on business.

We plan to purchase and potentially upgrade the unit that we plan to rent out to attract more rent prior to renting it out.

Thanks for your input,

Matt.