All Forum Posts by: Peter Skobic

As a newbie, my goal is to buy three houses this year. That's not counting the one that I just bought in the afternoon hours of December 31st, 2014 hehe! Maybe I should have waited a few hours and made my new year's resolution easier to achieve.

@Jeremy Shepherd  thanks for the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Act info! This changed my thinking on flood plains.

Elizabeth, thanks for your response. I didn't think of it that way, but it makes sense. Got a good chuckle out of it too!  @Elizabeth Colegrove 

If you have a 14% ROI on a rental and the investment is projected to break even in 7 years, what are your thoughts on that break even point? 14% is not bad and it's after deducting a huge cushion for expenses to reduce any chance of a surprise, but it will take 7 years to recoup the downpayment. How much weight do you normally put on the break even timeframe when evaluating an investment?

My agent says that 7% commission is normal in Georgia so as a buyer's agent her share of the commission would be 3.5% instead of the 3% that I'm used to seeing. Has anyone seen this before?

Thank you all for a quick reply; this helped with my decision! @Joe Villeneuve @Michael Barbari @Jacques Magloire @Shaun Weeks 

Hello - since cash buyers have more negotiating leverage in real estate transactions, I am thinking of making a cash offer on a few properties and then getting financing later. Recently, a lender told me that the property has to be in my possession for one year before they will consider putting a mortgage on it or doing any type of a cash-out refi or HELOC. Is this an industry standard? Has anyone been able to have a quicker turnaround on this and get financing within a month or two of making the purchase?