All Forum Posts by: Veronica Haniger

Hello BP!  I've decided on the Dallas/Fort Worth market for some out of state investing.  I connected with a Realtor and a contractor out there and they both went out to check out a fixer I sent them today.  Contractor stated that rehabbing a historical house is NOT a good idea as we'd need approval from the city for each step of the way, adding more time and costs to the rehab budget.  

Two things:

•  I'd like to connect with another contractor to get a second opinion. Anyone know of anyone out there?
• Has anyone out in that area rehabbed a historical home?  What were some of your learnings?  

Thanks in advance!  

@Ronald Bowser Thank you SO much for the detailed response.  I'll keep the bedroom number in mind as I start looking at properties.  Would love to connect further. We're looking at pulling the trigger here soon.

Hey everyone!

My husband and I are starting to look at Allentown and Bethlehem for some small multifamily units. A few questions for:

Property managers:

• Is there a major difference in rent between 2 and 3 bedroom apartments? How about the difference between 1 bath and 2?
• What are some areas that you would steer away from (i.e. higher crime, higher vacancy rate, difficult tenants)?

Investors:

• What utilities are you paying for?
• Are any of you hitting the 2% rule in these markets

Real Estate Agents:

• Anyone out there working with investors from CA/West Coast? Would love to connect and get this party started!

Hey everyone!

My husband and I are starting to look at Allentown and Bethlehem for some small multifamily units. A few questions for:

Property managers:

• Is there a major difference in rent between 2 and 3 bedroom apartments?  How about the difference between 1 bath and 2?  
• What are some areas that you would steer away from (i.e. higher crime, higher vacancy rate, difficult tenants)?

Investors:

• What utilities are you paying for?
• Are any of you hitting the 2% rule in these markets

Real Estate Agents:

• Anyone out there working with investors from CA/West Coast?  Would love to connect and get this party started!

Thanks so much for diving into this. I'm currently in the process of pulling a HELOC on my duplex here in the Bay Area and using it to start investing. I read your post a few times last night (some of us take more time!) and it helped me so much as I thought through things this morning. Excited to get started!

Thanks @Jaysen Medhurst! This was very helpful. The $41k would be used to supplement some savings. I'll look more into the HELOC!

Thanks @Shaun Weekes!  Ok, I'll get in touch with a few other lenders to see how low I can get that new rate.  Yes, I have found a couple of properties via PropStream and have run the numbers on the calcs provided here on BP.  Both properties would offer good cash flow and cash on cash return if I can get my offer accepted. 

@Jaysen Medhurst Yes the refi brings me to 80% LTV. The HELOC is another route that I'm looking into. I think the piece that I'm stuck on is the adjustable rate but I can get past that since I would plan on paying that balance back once I rehab and refi. The other, longer term, thing that I'm thinking about is the affect on my debt to income ratio but maybe I'm just overthinking things (?) Would I look just like a cash buyer with the HELOC?

Hi BP! I'm new to the real estate world and am thinking that in addition to some of my savings, I'd like to use some equity from my primary residence to purchase an investment property.  I'm not a math whiz and it seems to make sense to me to do the below cash out refi but I know there are smarter people on here that can hopefully offer some input.  

Current Loan: 

• 30 year fixed rate @ 4.25% (just closed a refinance in April) -Monthly Payment of $3325 + $900 taxes and insurance = $4225 monthly

Cash out Refi: 

• 30 year fixed rate @ 3.875% - Monthly Payment $3375 + $646 taxes and insurance (lower as I'm adding an Escrow account) = $4020 + $4773 in fees + $4715 total prepaids (taxes and insurance).  
• Cash out = $41k