All Forum Posts by: Anna Johnson

Wow really nice voice on that guy. I don't see why not renting to him if he's got a steady income. I can't see this man of the church being too much of a troublemaker!

I find that they are motivated to get you the sale because they won't have to share their commission.

We are thinking about buying a 3 family house in Rockland County NY. The price is $420k and we have $140k saved up. Only eligible for a 30 year loan based on our high DTI. The RE attorney that I've talked to told us that the closing costs would be around $18K. Are there any ways that we can save on closing costs in NY state? How much should we put down and how much keep for reserves.

As long as we put money back into the property for maintenance, new windows etc I don't know why it couldn't continue?

thanks for your replies, all questions that i will keep in mind when we look at the house on saturday. We didn't actually visit yet but once I see the condition the house is in and the people that live there I will have a better idea. From what I understand the owner won't want to go down in price either which makes it a tougher decision. I really don't see a lot of investment opportunities in this area, other two family houses I've seen have been way expensive (like 650 for a beautiful 5bedroom 2 family house or 450 for a dump in a flood zone)

We got our kitchens at IKEA, paid less than $3000 for the cabinets.

We got a 2 family house 5 years ago where we live in one of the units. we've saved up some money to buy another property and thinking about what would be our best long term move. It's enough money to buy a decent 3 bedroom in the area but since I'm home with the kids I would like something more of an investment thinking ahead. I got in touch with a realtor who sent me this property as an option and I would like to hear your input. It's significantly more expensive ($530K) than other 2 families on the market I guess justified by the higher rental income. The difference is that it's a 3 bedroom on the first floor (where we would live) and upstairs are 4 bedrooms that are rented out through a boarding certificate. They have cooktops and are all sharing one bathroom. According to the realtor there is no vacancy and claims there's even a waiting list for the rooms. We are in Bergen County NJ close to NYC so with the high taxes and prices we're just not getting the same deals as if we lived somewhere else, since rents seem to be similar anyway from other parts of the country.

Here are the numbers:

http://tinypic.com/r/5ls579/5


Since we would be living in the apartment the $1900 would not apply. Does this still seem like a good investment? Too much risk? We would apply for a $430K mortgage over 20 years at 4.5%.