All Forum Posts by: Phillip Dwyer

Hi Andrew,
There have been several recent threads on this topic, so be sure to search and read through those postings. Keep in mind, FHA loans are for owner-occupants. Also, you can only have one FHA loan at a time. Having an FHA loan won't disqualify you from obtaining a conventional loan for a new purchase.

Hi Justin,
Welcome to Bigger Pockets! It sounds like you're interested in buying sfr rentals. If that's the case, start by reading the blogs and forum posts related to that. I think you'll find that your learning will accelerate quicker by staying focused on one specific strategy rather than a shotgun approach.

Hi Peter,
You have several things to consider. The older homes typically are not located in HOA's, so you don't have that extra monthly fee or the burden of worrying about your tenants complying with the rules and regs. Maintenace cost will be higher. Roofing typically consists of ashphalt shingles which don't last too long out here. I'd really check out the neighborhoods in more detail, so you're aware of the tenant pool. Also, make sure to check out what your competition is doing with similar homes. In your price range, you'll be doing rehab work for sure, so make sure you know where to stick the dollars.

In regards to the newer homes, here's a few thoughts. Most will be located in HOA's. This usually makes for more visually pleasing neighborhoods. However, you have to worry about HOA liens when you purchase. You have an additional monthly expense. Tenants may not follow the rules, so you have to worry about dealing with those violations when the occur. Keep in mind, newer doesn't necessarily mean better neighborhood. Drive the neighborhoods at different times of the day, weekends, ect. With your price range for these newer homes, you'll be doing some work as well.

Be sure to take a look at rental inventory in both areas. Some may have an over supply. Know your competition. Know your client base.

Thanks for the open invitation. Next time I'm in town, I'll be sure to look you up.

Good luck! Let me know how it turns out. I'd like to do something similar in my area.

Could you use a licensed mortgage broker to handle the transaction to fulfill the SAFE act requirements?

Often banks will request an operating income statement and rental survey be completed within the appraisal assignment, so they are concerned about the property's ability to churn rental dollars. The appraiser will have to reconcile the values indicated by each approach developed (sales comparison, income, and cost) to one final opinion of value. It's possible the appraiser could weight the value indicated by the income approach more, but I typically see appraisers putting more weight on the sales comparison approach regardless of what approaches were developed.

Every state and county are different. I'd call their office to ask. You don't have to give them property specific info, so you won't be on the hook for anything by asking for general information.
As far as biting you later goes, it may depending upon how your local MLS is set up. Ours populates property data from the county assessor data.

Charles Perkins do these smaller groups have a structured agenda?

This will depend on your market. In my market, SFR rentals are very common and half the purchases are cash. Usually ample data exists to extract GRM's. In many instances, it would be misleading not to complete the income approach.