All Forum Posts by: Zane Cress

I'm a KW agent in Athens, GA not too far away from you.

If you can afford to leave your primary then the best start is a house hack situation where you can buy the multi family with a lower down payment ( still might get 10% conventional with the right lender) and live in it while renting your current primary. If you have a FHA on your current then leave it there and go conventional on the next. Later you can even move back into your primary if you want and get the other part of the multifamily rented out. But if you're moving areas that can change everything. I would avoid hard money either way and expect lending to get rough in the coming months with the Fed and Bank nonsense going on. Maybe choose a location and start talking to local banks and credit unions who know the local market well. Probably give you more of a chance than a big national lender would.

If you are staging then you could bring in some color and set the tone of a room, but if you're just going to have plain furniture or no furniture then light grays and whites make a space look clean and large, bounce light well and make semi gloss trim paint pop.

If that right of way was given and accepted between the previous owners then the right of passage should transfer with the property. If your new neighbor is a real pain about all of this then I would suggest getting that staircase built quick because if you start fighting over it and go to court for a resolution you will just have a pissed off neighbor next to your STR, which could result in regular noise complaints on your guests or just generally ruining their stay to get back at you. No one wants bad neighbors in the rental game.

I've heard this Wyoming thing isn't really worth it if you only have a few properties, more of a hassle and overkill. Umbrella policy should cover most of the potential issues that would arise.

This is really about comfort around personal risk level and debt levels.

If you're finishing a residency then I bet other people will be starting and finishing residency for many years in that area. You have a built in return customer base with a strong monthly cash flow and great rate on that debt. I would keep it and rent it. If you feel more comfortable not having a property that is far away and would rather pay down your debt then it would be in your best interest to sell and take the cash. 

If you could wait 2 years would that house be worth even more? Could you cash flow it now and then sell it for even more profit? Primary residence rules say you get tax benefits for living there 2 of the last 5 years I believe. Maybe you rent in your next location, with the cash flow offsetting your new rent, then you sell after the house appreciates more and you buy a new house in your new location with the ability to put a larger down payment and pay off more debt? 

Shop around for a better CPA. Also if you are doing mid and short term rental there is a lot of expenses that go in to "running" that business that can take advantage of. I do home office, internet, phone, vehicle, etc. Anything that is connected to operating the rental portfolio.

Hey I just did this fix at a condo complex last year with a sinking corner. Aquaguard was able to drive steel beams into the soil and lift the corner to secure it. Cost about $15k, your job might be cheaper. Either way call them and they can come look at it and give you an estimate for free with a fairly quick turn around. Stress that it is a time sensitive deal.

If you go to rezone and the city finds the work already done they could potentially fine the owner and will definitely give you hell making sure everything is done up to code, which could be an expensive nightmare. Ifthey don't want multi in that area then you won't have any luck to begin with. 

Underwriting and insurance will be hard on this. If it isn't fully occupied it might be easiest to take down a wall, do the deal, and then put it back up later.

I would never allow anyone to rent a place I owned with 5 dogs, no matter the size. Too many chances for something to go wrong there. Pomeranians are miserable little animals as well, in my experience.