All Forum Posts by: Travis Sperr

@Charles Townsend -Welcome to Denver. Our company hosts a number of free classes and networking meetings for investors if you are interested in joining us check out the events on our site.

I would be much more interested in the quality/durability than color. Without knowing the price point of the property it is hard to say. I have painted existing cabinets white with a durabable product and they clean up nicely.

I read that incorrectly, I thought you were looking for multiple FHA loans.

I would not be concerned about obtaining an FHA loan with the intention of it being your primary residence, getting relocated for work and renting out the property.

@Scott Thompson I think it will be difficult to find a straight forward answer on this topic, probably why there hasn't been a slew of reply's. In my limited knowledge on this matter I believe you would have to more or less plead your case to a HUD/FHA rep as to why you need another FHA mortgage.

One option you may consider - if you have the available cash to put 3.5% down twice is to just put 5% down and go conventional, FHA loans have become very expensive when you consider the PMI that stays for the life of the loan.

A second option (and better one) just keep building capital until you know where you will eventually end up. The last thing you want to do is buy a property in Dallas and California, then end up in Boston, with two properties that have low/no equity in them.

@Mina G. without knowing any local laws or regulations with renting property in your area (city inspections, requirements, etc).

I typically have found that if you do not have legal bedrooms with egress, closets etc. I would market it as 2 bed, 2 bath, plus office/study/den. With ample pictures in online marketing you will find that the prospective tennats will decide what to do with the space without you having to decide if it is a bedroom or not.

I tend to agree with @Jon Holdman but in any case, I was in a similar position just a few years ago. The fist thing I would recommend is to build up and set aside ample reserves to handle any challenges with the current properties and really focus on what your monthly net cash flows are for planning and analyzing.

From there, assuming it makes sense in your area, keep buying great deals to increase monthly cashflows of your portfolio.

@Krystyna Fennelly

I have used a strategy to buy more properties with little out of pocket. If you send me a note and can share a small booklet I have on it. My best 60 second description below.

Using Hard Money Financing - I buy properties below value (70-75% of ARV minus repairs), repair, fill with a tenant and refinance. The hard money loan is 70% of the after repaired value including repairs.

After putting a tenant in place I refinance the loan with a conventional lender at 75% of the ARV (or no as is value because it is already repaired).

Rather than putting 20% down , you create 25% equity buy improving the proeprty.

@Malik Roley it depends - without knowing the details (and don't need to), see below.

If you have less than perfect credit, it is probably ok depending on your strategy. As a hard money lender credit isn't terrible important. But you mentioned buy and hold, so depending on your financing options it could be very important- you probably want to be 680 credit score or higher with no recent derogatory reporting.

As to the debt - Also important in buy and hold because you will need to fit within debt to income ratios.

You will find that the most important part of this business is liquid assets - the less debt you have, the easier it is to save money.

If you wanted to jump in and do some wholesaling or bird dogging for a fee, none of the above really applies.

Why not wait for a 12 mo+ tenant?

two problems other than the deposit:

You wont want to fill a vacancy in September.

If you lose a month in the transition and pay some to do any work or find a tenant you are likely blowing a few months of cash flow.

Public records are typically the best place to start, a lot of times what you need is available online via the county site. This is usually a great start because if the house is bank owned you can tell pretty quickly and not waste time trying to mail it.

You can also try mailing the vacant house and request forwarding information if is available.

The best way to get information but also the most time consuming is to knock on neighbors doors - find the one who knows everyone and you might find what you are looking for and more!