All Forum Posts by: Victoria Monahan

My husband and I are currently living in a 2-family in NY (Long Island) and have been house hacking for 3 years.  I’m a speech therapist and will be doing travel therapy in Savannah GA for the next 3-5 months.  We will be renting both units of our current house and were thinking about doing our first fix and flip property in Savannah.  I’m looking for some good contacts to get a deal done quickly...investor-friendly real estate agent, wholesalers, contractors or even just other investors familiar with the market.  We would like to do a cash purchase on a small property (thinking a 3/1 because I think a 2/1 might be hard for resale).  Any input on specific areas to look for properties or people to connect with would be much appreciated!

@Brian Nordman - any idea if the Home Possible loan needs to be used on homes that are REO or Freddie Mac financed already? I'm doing some research and there seem to be a bunch of different (albeit very similarly named!) Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae loan options.

@Jason Little we are planning to invest locally for now

Hi all, 

I recently put in an offer on a 2-family investment house and it was accepted!  I currently live in one half of a 2-family house and rent the other half.  For my current home, we used conventional financing with my local credit union and got really great rates with minimal fees.  I am reaching out because this is the first time we will be using a broker.  I have been shopping around and wanted to see if I could get some advise re: fees.  Are there specific fees that are negotiable?  I know the interest rate is set but I am trying to see how to make the best decision/save the most money upfront.  We live in NY (Long Island).  Thanks in advance for all your advice!  

@Dustin Beam - what you describe as your method for determining capex seems to be the "right" way from what I am reading (although the % seems like a much easier way to come up with a number, I think a more formal spreadsheet would be much more accurate)  I just wanted to verify - this method essentially takes every big ticket item and assumes it will at some point need replacing? So even if you have a brand new roof, you still include it in your capex spreadsheet but just with a longer lifespan left on it?

Thank you so much for such well thought out and thorough responses!  We have recently spent some time looking into single family homes (to purchase on our own rather than with an investor).  I have been spending a considerable amount of time working out numbers...being new to this, there is certainly a learning curve.  

How do you all best estimate rehab costs without actually having a full inspection done?  Is it possible to do an inspection before even making an offer?  Do you simply do a walk through with a contractor?

Thanks again!

Hello BP members.  I have read every BP article that comes my way and can't get my hands on enough real estate books.  It's been my obsession for the past 2 years.  We recently purchased a 2-family home in NY (long island) and are living in one of the units, renting the other.  We are looking into purchasing our next property and have the following 2 options:

1. purchase 2-family unit with conventional 20% down, investment home 30 year loan...our home budget being about $300K-$350K

2. purchase single family unit (all cash foreclosure buy of about $130k) with an investor under the following conditions: we put down 20%, he gives 80%.  We put the money in to fix up the unit and he helps obtain tenant (section 8 low income housing so potential for tough tenants but semi-guaranteed rent payments from government).  He owns 20+ section 8 properties so I like the idea of having someone to mentor us through the process.  After 6 months grace period, we pay him monthly 1% of the money he has invested.  After 1 year of ownership, we would obtain our own bank mortgage, pay him back his initial investment and the home is ours to rent/sell as we wish.   

I know there are likely so many more details necessary in order to make a decision but I figured I would put it out there and see if anyone had any opinions right off the bat.  Thanks!