All Forum Posts by: Phillip Syrios

 Those sound like pretty good terms, the 30 year amortization is nice. Did they loan on appraised value or on cost into the property? We have really enjoyed working with Great American Bank. They have served us well and always been easy to work with. They have the same terms as just about everyone else but after we have owned the property for awhile they loan on appraised value which is great for us since they normally appraise for more than we have into the property.

Feasible or Crazy? Why not both? :)

Im sure there are good investments, probably mostly flips. I don't know the market well at all but being one of the most expensive markets in America I think its going to hard to find a duplex for $400K that rents for for $4,000 a side, but again I don't know San Diego.

Hey @Cliff Harrison

 how has working with Arvest been and what kind of terms are you getting? We tried to work with them a little over a year ago but we couldn't make anything happen together.

 This is correct although the 3x thing is just what most property managers do. Everyone can make up their own rules as long as they are consistent and that includes rules regarding roommates. As long as they follow the same rules for everyone they wont get in trouble with fair housing.

a year or two ago we were usually getting 6.5% interest, 15 year am, 5 year term, .5% origination fee, no prepayment penalty and 75% LTV.

Now our target is 5% interest, 20 year am, no origination fee, 5 year term, no prepayment, 75% LTV. We don't always get that but we have been getting pretty close on our more recent refinances.

There is no reason not to have it. Even if its somewhat mentioned elsewhere its nice to be able to point to a specific and obvious portion of a lease to let people know something is not allowed.

We usually have a policy letting people hold the property for 2 weeks with a full deposit paid. That deposit is not refundable after 3 days and only about 75% is refundable after they put money down period. We sign agreement with them stating this so they know the money is not refundable if they back out. We also do not stop renting the property until we have this agreement signed and money in hand. We will continue taking applications even if they are scheduled to come in and bring the deposit because we never know if they will.

If they want to hold the unit longer than that and not move in we are fine with that but the lease must start 2 weeks after they put down the deposit meaning they must start paying rent.

We could not hold properties at all but moving is a difficult thing for our prospects and we feel giving people 2 weeks is enough to make them feel comfortable about applying rather than being worried someone is going to snatch the property from them before they are ready to sign the lease.

I realize you are working with a PM company but hopefully what we do can give you some guidance on your situation.

I am active for buy and hold investments

Don't partner with your sister.

This is a pretty thin margin for a Condo but it is also very cheap so it wont have much financing costs (if you are financing it.) I often just take out the HOA of my rent amount and think to myself if i could make this property rented out at $495/month ($675-$180) rent.

You also need a bigger margin than normal because HOA's can often go up without your control and they also can do special (or year end) assessments and tack on more charges you are unprepared for. These can heavily effect your return when you are dealing with such small numbers.

We have a similar property we bought for $23,000, rent for $750 and pay $187/month HOA. Its been working for us so far, but its a pretty small margin.