All Forum Posts by: Drew Castleberry

Technically it is a walk out basement, if you can exit the house through a normal size door from the basement. It's different from what I've had for a walk out basement. My last house that I house hacked was a walk out basement, but it exited to the back yard that was on the same level as the basement and also hand several windows as well. It would also be considered a "day light" basement. So I don't know if you could market it as a walk out basement, but as long as it could be used as regular entry/exit point for the house and the basement is liveable/finished, I don't see why not. I'm sure people more knowledgable on this than me can chime in and provide clarity.

My recommendation is to speed up the renovation on your primary residence and then sell it, cashing in on all that equity. Find another fixer upper for you to live in again and then invest that equity you cashed out for your down payment. In my opinion it's a much better starting point as you'll be able to get into another primary residence for little or no money down and you'll have the extra cash to start your investments, rather than utilizing a Heloc. A Heloc can be great way to go as long as you get favorable rates and terms AND the property you purchase can cover both the mortgage against it and the debt payment for the Heloc AND have a little left over, but my opinion is to cash out your equity and then use it as a down payment, but I wouldn't say it would be a bad choice to use the Heloc. I guess it might just come down to how good of a rate you can get on your Heloc and how much you want to stay in the house your in. Either way good luck!

@Jason Hatfield

Great hope it works out for you. Makes it even better than he already has properties in the same neighborhood, it'll make it easier for them to keep an eye on your property if you choose to use them. Good luck!

There's nothing difficult about it as long as you have the 20-25% down payment for a conventional mortgage. The only thing that would make it difficult is if there are issues with the property that would keep it from getting financed conventionally, or if you already have hit the max amount of loans your current bank will finance (sometimes 4-5). Some banks like Wells Fargo will loan up to 10 and local/regional banks and credit unions will typically go up to 10 or more if they are a portfolio lender.

But assuming there isn't anything wrong with the property at all, its just another real estate investment, nothing out of the ordinary there won't be any issues to get a loan as long as you meet the lending requirements. Personally, the fact he stated that when he's an REI and its his own property, I'd be sure to do as much due diligence on the property as possible.

Correct you can purchase a multi-family property as long as you live in it for at least 1 year. USDA loans are also used for single family homes as well. The qualifications generally depend on the location of the property and whether or not it is in a USDA approved area. There are some other qualifications as well, generally the seller will advertise if the property is eligible as it opens up the market to more potential buyers. It's easier for SFH rather than MFH, as for MFH there are more stringent guidelines.

@Nicholas Spohn

Congrats on the deal! So you ened up paying the $75k @ 4.25% and had a down payment greater than 75%? What's the amortization and balloon payment? That's awesome that you're able to utilize your loan of credit and the extra down payment will generate more cash flow for you as well. If you don't mind me asking, what are you going to cash flow after you add in the debt payment for your line of credit?

@MaryAnn Morelli

I was quoted 8%, no up front fees

Sure thing I don't mind at all. Good luck!

@Jason Hatfield

Even though I haven't personally used them to management any properties for me, I will be as soon as I get my first SFR in Greenville. I would recommend calling Alpha Property Management and talking to Carlos. I've called about 8 different companies to get market analysis on prospective rental properties that I'm pursuing and he's the only one that was responsive and more than willing to help me out. He's worked hard to analyze several properties for me with only the hope that I buy one and use them to manage it. Very stark contrast to many other companies that I even have a hard time talking to anyone, or even getting a response back in a quick timeframe, or even at all. I don't know yet from experience if they're good PMs but from my experience dealing with them I'll be using them on my first property. Plus their fees are lower than others as well.

Welcome! I'm fairly new here as well and the amount of information and participation is awesome! I love Chattanooga and the area, great place! Good luck!