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All Forum Posts by: Jim Blackburn

Jim Blackburn has started 26 posts and replied 267 times.

Post: Primary Residence vs. Investment- Refinance

Jim BlackburnPosted
  • Lender
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL based. (programs nationwide)
  • Posts 311
  • Votes 118
Ameer Eddin she could file a tax amendment with the primary address listed on page 1 of tax return and reapply after IRS receives her return. 99% success ratio.

Post: Newbie from NYC - Looking to relocate to the DFW/North Texas area

Jim BlackburnPosted
  • Lender
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL based. (programs nationwide)
  • Posts 311
  • Votes 118
Hello James L. Do you already own real estate in NYC that you will be vacating and keeping as a rental? Or will you be buying a primary residence in Dallas? Were you interested in multi family properties also? Jim

Post: How do I reverse engineer an offer for a 4-plex?

Jim BlackburnPosted
  • Lender
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL based. (programs nationwide)
  • Posts 311
  • Votes 118
Hello Brian Varbel One of the best ways a new investor can get started, in my opinion is by purchasing a 4 unit property as their very first purchase. San Bernardino ... Here the county loan limit for a 4 unit property is 729,800. That enables you to buy around 760k with just 3.5% down payment. The seller can cove closing costs & escrows. That's about 30k cash. Plus we need to be sure to have another 3 months in reserves. Call it 15k. So you need about 45k total. We live in one unit, and rent out the other 3. In some cases the rents from 3 may be enough to cover the living expense in unit we live in. In most cases, the rental income will make our cost of living in our unit much cheaper than it ever would be if we bought our own condo or single family house. This is an FHA loan. Typically you can only use FHA one time. Unless you have a really good letter of explanation that details the reasons why you are moving out of your current primary and into a new house using FHA a second time. (Ie. having a baby, moving to other side of town for job, etc.) If the exception is granted, then we get to use FHA twice allowing us to control more real estate with only 3.5% out of our pocket! Where many investors make a big mistake, is buying single family or condo first... then trying to acquire a 4 unit later. It's much more difficult to convince the underwriter that you are moving out of a comfortable private space , and into a building shared with 3 other families. Then you are stuck putting down 25% to acquire that 4 unit as investment VS the 3.5% FHA as primary residence. Long story short.. by purchasing the 4 unit as your first property, you're able to acquire, control, and benefit from the appreciation of 4 units with just about 27 down (3.5%) vs about 180k (25%). How long would it take us to save up 180k? My vote is a 4 unit purchase with FHA on our very first buy. Ask anything. Jim

Post: When to sell an investment property? (Honolulu, HI)

Jim BlackburnPosted
  • Lender
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL based. (programs nationwide)
  • Posts 311
  • Votes 118
Hi Sean Sakaida It sounds like you might need a property cash flow loan that does not require tax returns, pay stubs, or W-2s… Instead, this kind of alone with on the look of the cash flow on the property… typically we will qualify based on 90% of the appraisal rent schedules… Ask anything. Jim

Post: Northwest Chicago Neighboorhoods

Jim BlackburnPosted
  • Lender
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL based. (programs nationwide)
  • Posts 311
  • Votes 118
Hello Luke O'Connor One of the best ways a new investor can get started, in my opinion is by purchasing a 4 unit property as their very first purchase. Cook County ... Here the county loan limit for a 4 unit property is 703,250. That enables you to buy around 730,000. We can acquire this property with just 3.5% down payment, and the seller can over the closing costs & escrows. That's about 27k cash. Plus we need to be sure to have another 3 months in reserves. Call it 15k. Let's round up to 45k cash for some cushion. We live in one unit, and rent out the other 3. In some cases the rents from 3 may be enough to cover the living expense in unit we live in. In most cases, the rental income will make our cost of living in our unit much cheaper than it ever would be if we bought our own condo or single family house. This is an FHA loan. Typically you can only use FHA one time. Unless you have a really good letter of explanation that details the reasons why you are moving out of your current primary and into a new house using FHA a second time. (Ie. having a baby, moving to other side of town for job, etc.) If the exception is granted, then we get to use FHA twice allowing us to control more real estate with only 3.5% out of our pocket! Where many investors make a big mistake, is buying single family or condo first... then trying to acquire a 4 unit later. It's much more difficult to convince the underwriter that you are moving out of a comfortable private space , and into a building shared with 3 other families. Then you are stuck putting down 25% to acquire that 4 unit as investment VS the 3.5% FHA as primary residence. Long story short.. by purchasing the 4 unit as your first property, you're able to acquire, control, and benefit from the appreciation of 4 units with just about 27 down (3.5%) vs about 170k (25%). How long would it take us to save up 170k? My vote is a 4 unit purchase with FHA on our very first buy. Ask anything. Jim

Post: Where to find preforeclosure deals

Jim BlackburnPosted
  • Lender
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL based. (programs nationwide)
  • Posts 311
  • Votes 118
Cornelis Uys have you checked our auction.com ?

Post: Lenders for loans under 75k in Maryland

Jim BlackburnPosted
  • Lender
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL based. (programs nationwide)
  • Posts 311
  • Votes 118
@Erick I know of banks that can do a minimum of 60k loan. minimum purchase 75k. Ask anything. Jim

Post: Does Getting Up Early Have Anything to Do with Your Success?

Jim BlackburnPosted
  • Lender
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL based. (programs nationwide)
  • Posts 311
  • Votes 118
Scott Trench Why don't you do an experiment and write a journal for two weeks? Week 1 - wake up 5am. Week 2- wake up at noon. Report back to us. We'd love to hear what you find! Ask anything. Jim

Post: Living Trusts To Avoid Capital Gains Tax Perpetually

Jim BlackburnPosted
  • Lender
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL based. (programs nationwide)
  • Posts 311
  • Votes 118
This question is for seasoned Real Estate and/or Trust Attorneys.... Is it possible to avoid capital estate tax and/or capital gains tax in perpetuity by owning a piece of real estate in a trust, and never re-recoding the deed in a new name each time ownership is passed on? Instead, simply updating/removing/adding new beneficiaries and or trustees when needed? So for example, a king from 1500 years ago passed on his 100 million estate to his son, which could trigger estate taxes and capital gains taxes.. the assets get passed on over 7 generations and never get taxed once because the recorded ownership never changes, since the property is always titled in the trust. Is this really what some Bank & Trusts are? --- simply massive wealth transfer vehicles to avoid taxation, and to keep wealth in the family, and to continue generating income on that wealth by lending it out to the public fora profit? Am I understanding this correctly? Thank you. Jim

Post: Line of Credit in FL?

Jim BlackburnPosted
  • Lender
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL based. (programs nationwide)
  • Posts 311
  • Votes 118
Charles Mullins most banks go up to 80% max CLTV. We have one that goes to 89% CLTV. The Disadvantage of a Home Equity Line Of Credit (HLOC) is variable rate vs fixed rate. Ask anything. Jim