All Forum Posts by: Ryan H.

Some time ago I opened a business checking account to separate out my rental income and expenses from my personal income and expenses and because I thought that, from a tax perspective, my rental activity would qualify as business activity.  However, in the eyes of the IRS, my rental activity is not a business.  While I still want to keep a separate checking account for my rental activity, should I move those funds in to a personal checking account, or does it not matter?

I bought a primary home (condo) in Portland, Oregon in 2019.  I've since refinanced and have a 30-year loan on it at 2.75%.  Expenses are about $1600 per month, and there is no income.  It's a small space and I'm not willing to house hack here.  Although I really don't want to move, I'm at least exploring on paper what it would look like to sell my condo and purchase an owner-occupied duplex to house hack in.

My question is whether this really worthwhile?  If I take the money from the sale of the condo and use some or all of that as a down payment on the duplex, am I any better off?  It seems to me that with home prices as they are in Portland, and interest rates where they are, I'd probably have at least $1600 per month still going out after offsetting my total expense for the duplex with the income gained from renting out one side of the duplex.  I could also keep my current condo (funding the down payment for the duplex via existing savings) and rent it out, but it would probably cash flow negative.

To come full circle, what if I just I remain where I am and continue purchasing new cash-flowing rentals out-of-state (of which I already have two)? Although I could get a low-down payment (as a percentage of the purchase price) FHA loan for an owner-occupied duplex here in Portland, I could also put very little down (in dollars) for an out-of-state rental property.

Curious to hear your thoughts!

Agree with @Nathan Gesner  I've also offered to pay several folks for a more regular coaching relationship.

Hey @Chris Hull - I don't know much about Aven but from what I see on their website they're going to want to verify income.  Have you had a different experience or heard otherwise?

Jeff Stephens over at https://www.thoughtfulre.com/ loves to talk about seller financing and I've learned a lot about it from him.

Hey @Joe Martella - 

Kerry Baird created a list of lenders who do HELOCs on investment properties over on this thread:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

I went through the list last week and confirmed that many of them still do, while others no longer do - but I only called those who lend on properties in Arizona. You'll need to contact those who lend in the location your property is in. I also came up with some just by doing a Google search using keywords "non-owner occupied", "rental", or "investment" along with "HELOC" and "Arizona".

Hi @Mark Ainley - would love to receive your recommendation for a PM as well!

Likewise with Mountain America CU.

@Kerry Baird and others - contacted PenFed today and they are no longer offering HELOCs on investment properties.

Will they do HELOCs on investment properties?