All Forum Posts by: Uuri Koh

Mike Welch, thanks for such a detailed and informative reply. Everything you say seems to be absolutely true and does make me think my investment $ would be best spent else where. I have a job interview next week for a company based in Morgan Hill, CA. The only town I am interested in living in near there is Santa Cruz and although I was able to find nice houses there in a price range I wanted a few years ago, that seems to have changed a bit. Much more affordable homes are around Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Salinas, and of course up North in San Jose but alas, those are much less desirable to me culturally and in direct relation, I'm less than convinced they will hold or gain any property value. this is all with a SFH for myself in mind. I'd be interested in hearing insight into this. Of course I don't have the job yet, but the real estate market nearby is of course a factor in which job I take, as commuting several hours a day to and from the right house or buying an affordable but less exciting house in a less than favorite area because it is close to work is a decision anyone with a 9-5 must face.

Thanks for the warm welcome and bothering to read my whole intro everyone!

David Niles, yeah you are right and I have come to terms with the fact that I should move out before beginning my renovation, especially since it's so small. It's just a matter of reluctantly paying rent/someone else's mortgage somewhere else in the meantime. I guess I am still kind of young at 31 and definitely very green behind the ears. Hoping to turn that into green in the hands :)

Brandon Turner, thanks for the encouragement. I'll check out your site.

Brandon Foken, nice to meet a fellow SF member here. I'm in Russian Hill :) What meetings do you go to? I have only been to a few BAWB meetings so far. I picked up a part time bartending gig recently to save up for my down payment faster that is busy on Thursdays so I can't make it very often.

Jon Klaus, no my personal business doesn't look that great on paper yet. You are right it will definitely take a few years for that to look impressive. I have made a pretty decent amount of cash income with my friends' entertainment businesses and buying and selling selling car parts. Unfortunately that doesn't help me much in securing a loan though. I did get some leads on near shoe-in salary jobs today though. I guess if all else fails I could stick that out for a year or two just to get approved while I grow my own business on the side.

I don't have an attorney. I've been slogging through doing the probate in pro per, myself. I will try to research that. Doing this probate has not been easy or fun, so I may just have to bite the bullet and hire an attorney. I've been trying to see how far I can get on my own though. Those attorneys dont come cheap and that's money I'd rather spend on an investment!

Thanks for the reply Bill. That is exactly what I am concerned about. It is first time home buyer financing I am primarily interested in. As far as I can tell though, it is still totally legal for me to renovate and rent it even if it is not in my name. So perhaps is is in my interest to go ahead and get a salary job and buy my first SFH with first time byer FHA and transfer the inherited condo title later.

Excellent information Mark, thanks again. Yeah, I have personal and business accounts with Chase right now but have been gradually pulling my money out from there and depositing it into a local credit union savings account for my down payment. Chase were the ones who told me I have to get a salary job to show a years salary on a W2 before they will ever consider me even though my self employment income is more than enough to cover the mortgage expenses I am applying for. I'm hoping these regular deposits with the credit union will help me get approved for a mortgage with them instead.

Thanks Mark! What kind of hoops do you think I may need to jump through?

I inherited a property and I am paying the mortgage which is in the estate name while I live in it and am doing the probate in pro per and am planning to renovate and rent it. In the meantime I'm educating and preparing myself to buy my first SFH. I am getting close to having a decent down payment ready for my purchase goals, and I can probably do even better with FHA. If I complete the probate first the property will be in my name, so will I still qualify for FHA? If not, should I try to delay completing my probate and buy the SFH with FHA first? It seems as if having the inherited property in my own name is one of the best assets I can have when applying for a mortgage loan but will that make me unqualified for FHA?

Hi BP community! My name is Uuri and I live in San Francisco CA. I joined BP because I want to learn more about real estate investing and could use some more open and specific advice for my goals than I've found in the seminars and reading I have done on my own.

I'll cut right to the chase of my goals and situation:

I am currently living in a condo that I inherited (along with the mortgage/debt) and I am preparing to renovate while struggling through doing the probate myself. Once that is done I plan to rent it for income. The property is in a prime location with relatively stable property values and rent. It has a lot of potential and just needs some basic updating and TLC. It's just not the ideal living situation for me.

I want to buy a single family home soon and am getting close to having a decent down payment for it (without counting on any first time home buyer benefits). I'm just trying to decide exactly where and want to make sure I know what I'm doing before I make my first actual purchase of my own. In addition, I want to own income properties for passive income, fix and flip, and just about any other viable investment.

I'm in the tough position of most likely needing to move out while I renovate, am still a bit hesitant to buy another property yet, and am not eager to throw money away on a rent lease. I have started talking to my banks about a mortgage but despite a sufficient self-employed, plus part time job income and assets to cover my purchase goals, they are basically telling me I need to go out and get a full time salary job for a year or so to get a nice looking W2 for them to consider lending to me. I'm trying to launch my own business right now and am not interested in getting a low paying, time-consuming salary job right now just to make the bank happy when I know my rental income and own business can cover that. If I have absolutely no other choice I guess I will, but not unti I am sure that's the only way.

That's a long intro, maybe I need to to start another thread that will get more visibility but I'm 100% open to suggestion and information. Thanks and I look forward to communicating with the forum!