All Forum Posts by: Eric Swope

@Samuel Pascal as a recent college graduate I understand partially where your coming from....but right now I am in the process of closing on my first rental property within two months out of college. Using a FHA loan with 3.5% down and seller assist on 5K of closing costs...I am purchasing a duplex in a "house hack" situation. Per FHA rules I need to provide my college transcript/diploma and 30 days of pay stubs to qualify. I recommend you read Scott Trenche´s book Set For Life and Brandon Turners book on buying and managing rental properties for more tips and advice on your situation. I was fortunate to have paid off all my student loans in college while working multiple paid internships part time jobs and being a RA. I am also fortunate enough to live in Pittsburgh Pa which is a very affordable market for some one fresh out of school with an engineering degree. However, I would be more than happy to share my lessons learned as I close in the coming weeks and provide some sort of value to your situation. Feel free to shoot me a message and we could chat. Best, Eric

Alex Deacon thank you for the advice! That makes sense and I will most likely do the $50 radon test myself since I will be living in it and renting out the other unit. If it comes up above the EPA limit I will have to negotiate with the seller.

Hello BP,

I am a new investor starting out in the Pittsburgh area and I have an off-market duplex I am getting under contract this month. I would like suggestions on lead paint and radon inspections. The property was built in 1978 and is located near New Stanton, PA off of 119. 

Do you recommend that I sub out a radon test and a lead paint inspection since the property is built right around the EPA 1978 limit? Or, buy a radon test kit and do it myself.

Also, does anyone have a good referral for a home inspection in Westmoreland County?

As a soon to be college graduate, this is my first real estate transaction and will be a "house-hack." I will be using a FHA loan as well.

Thank you,

Eric

Hello BP- I am getting started outside of Pittsburgh, PA and currently looking for an insurance broker for umbrella policy's on 2-4 unit rentals and a great CPA who also invest in real estate. The property will most likely be in Westmoreland County in/around Greensburg, Irwin, Youngwood, Murrysville, or Delmont. Does anyone have some suggestions? Thanks for any help!

Ryan,

Congrats on graduating college and getting accepted into PA school! As a college student myself, I am looking at financing my first investment property right out of school using a FHA loan. I was pre-qualified with PNC Bank for a FHA loan using my offer letter for full time employment after graduation, a credit check, and bank statement to show cash reserves. I will be getting pre-approved closer to graduation (this May) so I can start making offers right out of the gate. You can use a FHA loan on properties with 1-4 units.....however...you need to reside in one of the units to qualify. Also, I am unable to "close" and/or move into the property until I have 30 days of pay stubs to back up my offer letter that I provided for pre-approval.

Since your still in school and/or recently graduated with your bachelors degree... you just have to provide the bank with college transcripts to get past the standard (2) year work history requirement. Your best bet would be start reaching out to banks/credit unions that provide FHA or 203k loans to see what they require based on your work/school situation.

If you have any further questions.. feel free to shoot me a message.

Best,

Eric

@Mark Fedorov Thank you for the advice! 

BP Community,

I am planning on using a FHA loan for a "house-hack" situation in the Pittsburgh area after I graduate college this spring. My intention was to purchase a duplex with tenants on 30-day leases so I can reside in one unit after closing and satisfy the owner-occupant FHA requirement. I was planning on using an umbrella policy on top of all other insurance for some additional protection. However, since I have to be an owner-occupant per FHA.... I can not put the property into a LLC.

So...Do you think it is a wise decision to create a LLC to use for future deals and treat this LLC as the property manager of my house-hack property? In another words, the lease agreement and all tenant correspondence would stay XYZ LLC as the entity in which payment is directed to instead of my own personal name. I understand that property records would still show that I am the property owner but I am curious if this would be a step in the right direction for future deals and having the tenants view me as a "manager" of XYZ LLC instead of owner/landlord .

Thanks!

Dillon,

I am in the process of acquiring my first deal which will be a "house-hack" situation using a FHA Loan. Now that this post is a year old, how did you end up setting up your entities? Did you keep the FHA loan in your name and create a LLC for the property management side of the business?

Thanks,

Eric

Anthony Angotti thank you for the tips and links. The goal is for the first property to be a "house hack". Something where value can be added and my mortgage could be paid by tenant(s). An ideal situation is rent out the place I am buying for a couple months while I build up more capital for the rehab. That allows me time to get adjusted to my new job/relocation/living with my soon to be fiancé and network/establish boots on the ground for the rehab. Once I qualify for a FHA loan and/or 203K for the rehab ...I could go through with BRRR strategy. Then I could repeat the process and use the multi as my primary residence while I am in my early twenties and have excess income to acquire more units.

@Chris Pasternak Thank you! I will be sure to reach out later in the process.