Getting a mortgage for investment property these days

[The-Shoveler]

Yea I was gambling a little that the stock market would have imploded by now with the Europe situation,

I think that when it does implode RE will get hit a little as well, (not a lot as it was already devastated in a lot of area’s but maybe a little 10-15% hit).

Also it looks like some shaking maybe about to happen, maybe once in a blue moon ?

[no_such_reality]

[quote=flu]
My goal starting beginning of the year was to move partly out of the equity markets for some lower/yet more predictable returns, just in the thing hit the fan… It sure looked like it was about Feb/March months ago in the stock market…Not so much right now…My regret was not being more agressive earlier.
[/quote]

Getting out apparently is herd think, cause I was thinking the same way. Still am. I still think the fan hitting stuff has just been kicked down the road.

I’ve been hampered by being unwilling to buy a condo or townhome. Nor will I buy a SFR with an Association. I’ve had enough of those as a owner and renter to see how badly they go.

[The-Shoveler]

I have to go with NSR, HOA’s unless they are providing services such as pools/club houses and you can make use of them, they are just a waste of money and hassle.

Most Cities now have CCR’s so whats the point ?

[Coronita]

[quote=no_such_reality][quote=flu]
My goal starting beginning of the year was to move partly out of the equity markets for some lower/yet more predictable returns, just in the thing hit the fan… It sure looked like it was about Feb/March months ago in the stock market…Not so much right now…My regret was not being more agressive earlier.
[/quote]

Getting out apparently is herd think, cause I was thinking the same way. Still am. I still think the fan hitting stuff has just been kicked down the road.

I’ve been hampered by being unwilling to buy a condo or townhome. Nor will I buy a SFR with an Association. I’ve had enough of those as a owner and renter to see how badly they go.[/quote]

I’m not getting out completely. But I looked at my overall wealth plan (or lack thereof)…And noticed that 75%+ was tied to stock/stockmarket… So i needed an excuse to diversify. Don’t want to blow it completely.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=flu]

I’m not getting out completely. But I looked at my overall wealth plan (or lack thereof)…And noticed that 75%+ was tied to stock/stockmarket… So i needed an excuse to diversify. Don’t want to blow it completely.[/quote]

Wow 75% of your net worth in the stock market is quite a hefty portion. No way I feel comfortable with that big of an amount, even considering I’m not yet an old fart (but not getting any younger either).

I know things move in cycles but you make a few bad choices or sectors and you can really get wiped out. So it’s all about diversification. I had a few friends in the financial sector that should have known better.

However, their idea of “diversification” was putting some money in Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Lehman Bros. Obviously the entire sector crashed and it’s not even a matter of some of them coming back because crap like LEH went out of business and Citigroup may never came back strong.

I probably have too much of my net worth in real estate but I feel more comfortable in non-leveraged real estate that is spinning off cash flow each month and has 0% chance of going to $0 unlike stocks.

Definitely I think you need a healthy balance. Actually you’ve probably done well if you continued buying in the market especially after the crash.

I did well shorting it on the way down but should have jumped back in for the ride up too. That’s one regret I have.

[quote=The-Shoveler]I have to go with NSR, HOA’s unless they are providing services such as pools/club houses and you can make use of them, they are just a waste of money and hassle.

Most Cities now have CCR’s so whats the point ?[/quote]

I agree. I actually don’t mind HOA if the management is very good and as you mentioned there are lots of services like pool, tennis courts, clubhouse, security gates/guards.

I live in Santaluz and I think the HOA is excellent! The fees actually went down $10 this year compared to last year. And they do an amazing job with keeping all 3,800 acres immaculate. The $440 fees include garbage pick up, high speed Internet (my house gets 20 MB service) and digital cable with some premium channels.

But I don’t get the communities that have HOA where there isn’t a pool, clubhouse or really anything.

Also, some of these HOA fees in buildings are insane! A few downtown are $800 a month. I just saw one in Miami Beach on a 1 bedroom 1 bathroom with no services other than a pool and doorman and the monthly HOA fees are $1050! The funny thing is units in that building are selling for like $125,000. So imagine paying $12,600 a year on HOA fees on a $125,000 property.

[spdrun]

Are the properties with the high HOA fees co-ops, maybe. If so, the HOA may include taxes and other things (hvac, electricity, cooking gas, water).

$800/mo for a studio (generally inclusive of all expenses) isn’t unusual for an apt in NY.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=spdrun]Are the properties with the high HOA fees co-ops, maybe. If so, the HOA may include taxes and other things (hvac, electricity, cooking gas, water).

$800/mo for a studio (generally inclusive of all expenses) isn’t unusual for an apt in NY.[/quote]

In SD County, condo HOAs normally pay only water/sewer (on the same bill in the City of SD) for each owner excepting in some older downtown SD mid-rise complexes. These complexes were built before they were able to get access to cable so may have DSL internet access and TV service from satellite, which are included in the monthly dues.

It is possible that one or more of these complexes now have access to AT&T “U-verse” or cable and if so, at least basic cable and “advanced TV” (with HiDef converter box) is included in the dues.

I don’t know how many of the streets down there have actually had fibre optic installed but would surmise that all of the streets in the construction zones around Petco Park have.

Gas/electric (including AC) are NOT included in HOA dues. Timeshares are the exception.

We don’t have “co-ops” in SD County or use propane (except in very rural areas).

UR, or others “in the know,” correct me if I’m wrong here.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=spdrun]Are the properties with the high HOA fees co-ops, maybe. If so, the HOA may include taxes and other things (hvac, electricity, cooking gas, water).

$800/mo for a studio (generally inclusive of all expenses) isn’t unusual for an apt in NY.[/quote]

spdrun, considering this also includes security and all utilities, even in winter, this doesn’t sound too bad. Since your building is a co-op, does this $800 mo include your portion of property taxes, also?

And do you have a pool/jacuzzi, sauna or gym? How about an underground parking space?

[bearishgurl]

My understanding is that individual units of a co-op don’t have separate parcel numbers, like condos do.

Do you receive a property tax bill directly from your local “Assessor,” spdrun?

[bearishgurl]

To edit my post above, I wanted to add that PUDs in CA are also recognized technically as “condos” but either have the garages joined (duplex type) or have no walls in common. The owners of these types of “condos” DO pay their own water/sewer bills as their HOA dues are usually lower (mostly paying for landscaping the front yards as part of the “common area”).

[spdrun]

No pool or underground parking in my building, unfortunately, but literally everything except phone/Internet is covered. There’s a nice pool across the street, though.

Correct: the building as a whole is billed for property tax, since it’s one tax lot.

I realize that there are few to no co-ops in SD County, except maybe some trailer parks. I was actually replying to another poster who mentioned Miami Beach.

[Author]

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