All Forum Posts by: Warren Golston

near perfect credit, no debt (outside of my mortgage), and I still can't get anything less than 25% down on conventional for investment on a duplex or a quad. Also,the lowest interest rate I've been offered is 4.5% with an option to buy down to 4%. Times are rough.

I'm in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia (Norfolk/VA Beach/Portsmouth). My credit score is 823, no debt (outside of my mortgage), and I'm still only getting around 4-5% interest rates requiring 25% down. I hear of people getting 3.5%-4% no buydown and 20% downpayments and I'm like where are you getting those rates?!?
 

Portsmouth, VA

Hello Biggerpockets. Not entirely real estate related (aside from my loan preapproval getting denied). Without going into too many details, as I need to speak with an attorney, does anyone have an attorney or legal department they would recommend for Identity Theft? Thank you

I return to the states within the next 30 days or so with nice tax free savings i've accumulated in Bahrain. My kitchen is being remodeled in the unit i'm living in currently. Had a flood from the dishwasher which got water damage underneath the linoleum floor. Insurance is covering everything and i'm getting the floor and wood underneath replaced, along with new counter tops and cabinets. I intend to get another multifamily with a conventional loan in the next 90ish days (couple of 4plexs in the area show potential...hope to snag one) and rent that out fully. Closer to the end of year, I would like to house hack a 3rd multifamily property and move out of the duplex using the VA loan. Rent out a fully renovated upstairs unit (courtesy of insurance company of course). Use rental income from quadplex purchase,existing duplex rented out both units, to supplement income of the househack later this year around winter timeframe.

I intend to do the remaining 11 years I have left in the navy east coast if possible. I'm native to Maryland, but have lived in Virginia for my entire tour. I know this market and would like to build up my rental empire here in VA. I'm almost entirely sold on multifamily properties. Eventually I want to upgrade and BRRRR out an 8+ unit later on, but my cash flow isn't where I want it to be quite yet. At some point I may get a SFH when my income supports me buying my "forever home"

If you have the wife onboard big plus! I'm single so that advantage helps immensely and I'm not a super private person (as you can guess with me having 2 different roommates). I have a couple shipmates who want to househack as well, but the spouse is the barrier. The wife (or husband) wants SFH for the space and privacy. I was in college at one point and can understand the shared living quarters with other people. It's a benefit with them all being from the same ship too.

 I think it's important for new investors to realize your first rental or househack doesn't need to be your "forever home." You can scale accoringly. I believe wherever you decide to househack, you will do well. My deal kind of fell into place as there were flaws all over the place with how it ended up. Just do your research, get a nice 2-3-4 unit and flourish from there!

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Portsmouth.

Purchase price: $258,000

My First househack using 0 money down VA Loan and introduction into real estate investing. Me and a friend from m command both picked up E5 at the same time and applied for BAH. I wanted to live for free and not rent so I decided to look for a duplex, rent out one side and live in the other with a roommate. Fast forward 3 years, I have 2 new roommates each paying me 750 for a room, and a tenant downstairs paying 1300 a month producing an AWESOME cash flow.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I made E5 qualifying me to receive BAH from my command. I didn't want to rent out and pay someone else's mortgage and wanted to pay towards something *I* could own. I also wanted to live for free and pocket this housing allowance as extra income. I decided to get a duplex VS a SFH. Rent out one side, and live in the other with a roommate adding extra income on top of a tenant.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Realtor was referred by my chief. She found the deal on MLS and through interviewing seller, discovered he was a distressed seller. I negotiated it with a lowball offer (I thought it was a lowball) offering 15k under market price. He took it immediately. I learned I should have offered lower.

How did you finance this deal?

VA Loan 0 down @ 3.75% interest

What was the outcome?

Bought a duplex VERY slightly under market. Had a tenant in place who remained until she passed away. Had a roommate to turn it from a break even, to a cash flow property. Got a 2nd roommate shortly after and was able to raise market rent to produce a VERY nice cash flowing property.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I would have negotiated a bit more aggressively. While I secured a good deal on the property and the inherited tenant was a bonus (bless her soul, she was AWESOME), I learned after the fact that the seller was distressed. Had I been introduced to BP and more information ahead of time, I would have had better opportunity to negotiate as he took my very first offer without a counteroffer (meaning I offered too high)

Also I would have checked ALL lending options. I only chose my first lender.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I did. I also worked in haste as I didn't really interview her. I just wanted a house, get the closing documents, and submit them to the command to get my housing allowance. Just picked her up from word of mouth. I was lucky as she was excellent, and she did in fact work with more investors as opposed to homeowners. Highly recommend her.

 Thank you for the reply. Page noted and I will interview them all with those questions in mind.

Good morning BP (well I'm in Bahrain so it's morning here). I will be coming back to the states very soon with a nice amount of savings I received while stationed here. I plan on doing a BRRRR project, and utilizing the calculators here, I have identified some nice multi-families worth pursuing. Does anyone have a General Contractor they would recommend from this area? While I may be able to oversee some of the project, my active duty detail makes my time very limited. Thank you for the assistance and recommendations anyone may be able to provide.

Originally posted by @Pat L.:

I love the new concept. You call about a property, have to leave a msg, someone calls back to get all your pertinent info & then tells you they are part of JOE REI's 'team'.

Then JOE REI who you originally called eventually gets back & without allowing you to interrupt gives you a run down of all their life, experience & success in REI. Then when you ask how many investment properties THEY OWN it's crickets, until they again repeat their value to you the 'buyer'. In 25 years we have had 2 'go to' agents & that's only because the 1st retired. The only agent I have had offshore for 30 years is 75 & still with it.

But in all fairness my 26 yr old daughter just connected with a 'grandma type' agent (her words) in Scottsdale AZ regarding a home purchase there & was very impressed with her. The agent did NOT put her down because of her age or insist she be pre-qualified before she 'wasted her time' showing the home(s) esp given the value of the properties she wanted to view. 

Both my daughter & room-mate work from their respective home offices hence the need for 4 bedrooms & because their cells & lap tops are melting if they are at the pool too long. If ONLY they could meet decent motivated guys !!!

That's funny as I always wish I can meet a motivated woman who shares the same goals *wink wink, nudge nudge*. That aside, I've only had minor experience with a REALTOR as I only have a SFH and a duplex. Both acquired by my current Realtor. Now I can't say whether she's bad or not, as i've gotten both homes for the price I wanted. She was recommended to me by my Division Officer onboard my ship who also happens to be a real estate investor. I would say my experience differs from the OPs experience with Realtors, but I do appreciate the numbers