Dear Rhonda “Is this a second home or primary residence”?

mpj038267400001I recently received this question from one of my readers:

Dear Rhonda,
I am looking for information about the general way loans are done related to primary residence or second home.

I currently own 2 duplexes. My wife and I are renting and working in a location that is around 130 miles away from the location the home we want to buy is located. My wife has no loans in her name and was able to qualify due to good credit and job at current location 130 miles from home we want to buy. We are trying to buy a place that is far from our work with the plans of moving to this location. [Read more…]

Converting your existing home to a rental property

mortgage porter sold home

If you are buying your next home, you may be considering converting your existing home into a rental or second home. The lender on your new home will have different requirements depending on what type of financing you’re obtaining. [Read more…]

Do you own a rental property in Seattle? Read this!

Seattle_RRIOIf you own rental property located in Seattle, you need to be aware of fairly new requirements, created by the Seattle City Council, to register your investment property. This city ordinance, the Rental Registration and Inspection Ordinance (RRIO) impacts landlords and property managers who have multiple units to those who have just one rental home. There are some exceptions, check the ordinance for more information.

[Read more…]

eBook: Financing Your First Investment Property

This is the second edition of my slide-book, Financing Your First Investment Property.

In this edition, loan limits and mortgage programs have been updated.

If I can help you with the financing of your first (second or third) investment property located in Washington state, please contact me!

Determining Rental Income for a Conforming Mortgage

iStock-000018668640XSmallRecently Fannie Mae updated their guidelines for rental income, including the addition of Rental Income Worksheets for the lender to complete to help make sure the rental income is calculated correctly. How much rental income may be used and how it is calculated will depend on when the borrower obtained the rental property, when rents were collected and what how many units there are with the subject property. Underwriters are looking the likelihood that the rental income will continue as well as the losses too. If your rental is producing a net loss, that will factored into your qualifying ratios.

[Read more…]

Buying a Duplex to live in with an FHA mortgage

mortgageporter-seattle-duplex-1One of my favorite blogs to follow, Get Rich Slowly, recently published Reader Stories: I bought a duplex to save money on rent. The author of the post describes how he used an FHA mortgage to buy a duplex and with renting out the unit he was not living in, he wound up paying less for his housing than when he was renting.

[Read more…]

Buying Your First Investment Property Guide Book

This is my first “book release”…okay… it’s an “electronic book” or what I refer to as a “guide book”. I plan on writing several books on mortgage related topics.  This book happens to be about buying your first investment property. 

Although the book is focused on first time home buyers, the information also applies to investors who are buying their second or third investment property.

Watch for more topics to follow soon! You can find this and other slide books at the Mortgage Porter Library.

FHA Streamlined Refi for your Investment Property

Did you know that if your existing mortgage is FHA on your investment property, that it may qualify for an FHA streamlined refi?

Here’s the scoop for a non-owner occupied FHA streamlined refi:

[Read more…]