All Forum Posts by: Zach Liu

From macro level, I always check city-data.com and search the city and zipcode. It has rich information about the target area. Data can also found from US census as well.

 They had many questionable calls before thay. They kept throwing into the end zone with 2+ minutes in hands. They were lucky enough to bring the ball to the goal line.

The interception was just unbelievable.

Sorry for Seattle Fans on BP, you guys almost had it.

It must feel like a hot good deal slipped away at the last second.

36: 24 Patriots!

Some questions I may ask:

How long have you been in the business, how many houses have you sold?

What experience do you have working with investors?

Ask which areas does he/she think are good areas for rental, and WHY?

Do you have some good contacts that can help my investment (property managers, contractors, lenders, attorneys)?

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Before you interview people, you should take some time to figure out your financial situation and your investment plan first, so you will have confidence showing you are serious about what you are talking about. At least knowing what types of properties you will look for and what level of returns you expect. Your budget for the next year, etc.

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I have a really good agent to work with, I happened to find her online. I contacted a few agents when I was looking for my primary residence. Some agents may only search some properties causally and send them to you. If an agent is willing to write long emails to explain details and would like to know your specific needs, it is a good sign.

The best way is to send your property to your prospect lender so they can figure out an estimated your monthly payment. Sometimes I use mobile apps for quick calculation (Excel is fine too) and after using it for a while, you will have a table in your mind so you don't even need to use anything for rough estimation anymore.

The good thing about asking lenders is they can figure out the most accurate rate you can get based on your financial situation which is hard to do yourself, and the rate is the most important thing impact your monthly payment if the price is fixed.

Thanks for all the help, It definitely clears my mind!

I am a starting buy and hold investor and I bought my first rental property last October. Got it rented out last December and it looks good now. So I am ready to move forward and acquire more. I talked with a mortgage broker today and got a little frustrated. Here is my situation:

I have two mortgages, one for my home and the other for the first rental. Because I was not planning when buying first home, I used 15-year term and now my debt to income is 39% which is pretty high from lender's perspective. I was told I can still finance a 120,000 property but my goal is to acquire at least two more this year. 

The problem I have is that I have about 100k budget for the year so 120,000 is far from enough for me to borrow. And if I buy one property by cash, my debt to income will go higher and I won't be get loans any more.

I thought getting my first property rented should count as some income but just realized it takes two years for lenders to consider it positive. 

To make it short, I have some cash ready and my credit score is 740, but because of 39% debt to income already leaves me few options.

Any advice will be welcome:)

No way I would do it with a guy who cheats on his wife. 

But it is your judgement.

I think most Chinese cash buyers are buying expensive homes, especially in NYC and LA, so not in the niche of most investors. And they usually don't do any analysis so it maybe a good thing for investors because you may get better chance to sell high if they find yours. And because they bring a lot of money into the market, we investors may find ways to make profits.

Actually I am a Chinese myself but I have lived here many many years, have a normal job, and is a normal investor:)