All Forum Posts by: Paul C.

So I know how to go to greatschools or other websites to see the current ratings for schools, however, for me it is more beneficial to see if these schools are improving or declining(I care a lot less about current rating) as I believe this will help determine if an area will appreciate/depreciate to a certain extent. Does anyone know if there is data out there that has school ratings by year? 

Hi, I'm in the refinance part of my BRRRR project and was given options of FHA vs conventional cash out refinance. I'm using the cash to pay off my HELOC and then use the HELOC to purchase another property. In comparison, my mortgage(includes PMI on the FHA) + HELOC payment will be exactly the same, but I can get an extra $22,000 cash with the FHA. Are there any downsides that I am not thinking of or should I proceed with the FHA?

Hi, I have a SFR in a B/B+ neighborhood and I'm trying to determine who should be responsible for landscaping, myself or the tenant. I want to ensure the yard stays nice in terms of mowing, shrubs, weeds, etc., but i dont want to incur any unnecessary expenses. What would you do in my situation? Make the tenant complete all landscaping maintenance and then put a fine in the lease if certain standards are not met(Not sure how to enforce this). I could hire someone to come twice a month, but then I need to decide whether I would charge the tenant that entire fee or simply add it as part of the rent(It would be ~$100/month so need to be careful about bumping my rent too high)? Let me know what you think and what you are currently doing. Thanks!

Hi, I own 2 rental properties(1 is SFR and other is a duplex that we are house hacking and living in one side) and have a few questions as I try to get a financial system in place to implement as the business continues to grow:

1) What is the best system to keep track of my finances and the health of my "business"? What software can assist with this, should I use Quickbooks or keep everything in my tenant software(Tenant Cloud)? I do have separate bank accounts for each property and try to use those for all income & expense for that specific property. How should I handle the finances of the duplex as I will be living in one side(Not positive we can afford to pay market rent to ourselves for a few months as we have had some random expenses this month). 

2) What metrics are the most important and ones that you know by heart if someone asks?

Hi guys, I got to thinking the other night about what would happen if the housing market crashes as it did in 2008 and how that would affect me personally. My strategy is long term buy and hold so I'm hoping that as long as rents stay strong(I suspect they will since any housing crisis will only increase demand for rentals as less people would be able to afford to buy) I will be fine. Right now, I have a HELOC that I am using to refinance a rehab, a conventional loan on that same property, and a conventional loan on my first property. In a worst case scenario, how would I be affected besides depreciation of an asset? Let me know if any more info would be helpful. Thanks!

@Eamonn McElroy Awesome, that is exactly what I needed to know. 

Hi, I'm trying to figure out what to do with the homestead exemption and how it applies to my situation. We owner occupied a home for 2 years and had the homestead exemption on that property. We then started renting it out this year and I just left it as is because I didnt even think about it. Now, we recently bought another property that we are house hacking and going to live in for a year or two. Do I need to remove the homestead exemption from my first property and apply it to my new one? Am I allowed to just leave it on the property that would provide the biggest benefit or does it actively need to be the property I am living in? My main concern is ensuring I'm not doing anything sketchy when it comes to the IRS :)

Congrats @Jose Perez on taking the plunge! That is the hardest step that I have seen for most wannabe investors(including myself). Couple questions for you:

1) What part of Marietta was this located? I have a duplex close to Kennesaw Mountain so was curious

2) So was your profit just the $224k-$210k? Does this include closing costs, holding costs, etc?

@Jake Zhang Hi Jake, we bought at the same time and were in a similar situation a year ago. We decided to do a HELOC on the home so that we could continue our cash flow on that property, but use our profits to purchase another property.

@Patrick Shea Thank you for this write up! My best friend's family has owned hotels up there for years and we have been going to a lake house on Hartwell for the past few years that they purchased and we absolutely love it. My wife and I have a very similar goal with our families to one day be on the lake and may copy your exact strategy. What part of the lake are you on?