Renovations Loans, Explained

With a renovation loan, you can add renovation projects on a home you buy to the actual mortgage. Watch this video to learn more about them.

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Today I’m joined by a special guest: Barry Krevoy, who is our LoanDepot representative.

We had a situation that came up this last weekend. My buyers are looking for that perfect home that’s turnkey and ready to go. When I talked to Barry about this, he found that they’re well-qualified to get the loan, but he was suggesting that maybe we look into a renovation loan.

So today, Barry will be talking about renovation loans—the different types, and how they all work.

A renovation loan is just like any other loan, except for the fact that we’ll be adding renovation projects on the home to your actual mortgage. There are two different types: a full renovation loan, which you can do a conventional FHA loan on, and a VA renovation loan, which is a streamline loan.

There are also FHA and conventional streamlines. Streamlines are non-structural, so you can put in new countertops, new carpet, new appliances, and so on. No permits are required for this, since it’s not for construction projects.

It really opens up a lot of options, and takes a house that needed love and turns it into the house of your dreams.

Then there are full-rental loans, where you can add bedrooms, floors, and other larger projects. We have a lot of people that are getting priced out because everybody wants a single-family residence with 2,000 square feet. There might be properties out there where you can add a bedroom, bathroom, or maybe a second story. It really opens up a lot of options, and takes a house that needed love and turns it into the house of your dreams.

In flipping shows like the ones you see on HGTV, they don’t buy a home and flip it using money they have laying around; they use renovation loans to finance it.

As far as benefits go for regular buyers, the interest rates will be a little bit higher because you’re packing more into the loan. On a full renovation loan, you can put six months' worth of payments into the loans, so you don’t even have to make a payment on the house for six months.

Another great fact is that you can use the renovation loan to flip a house, and you only have to put 15% down. We all know on an investment property, you usually have to put 25% down, so there really are a lot of benefits.

If you’re interested in a renovation loan, I suggest you give me or Kevin a call, text, or email. Let’s see whether or not it works for you.

6 Tips of Why You Don't Want to Sell Your Own Home

There are a lot of challenges to selling your home on your own. Here are just a few of them.

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Every year, tens of thousands of homeowners attempt to sell their own homes. If you’re thinking about it, here are six things that most FSBO (For Sale By Owner) home sellers forget that you’ll need to know in order to have a successful sale:

1. Complete the paperwork. 82% of those surveyed had no idea about all the different contracts involved and how to do the paperwork that is specific to where they live. If you don’t know, it could be a huge liability.

2. Getting the right price. Most people have no idea what the true value of their home is because they don’t know anything about the market and how homes are valued within it. Using Zillow or any other online home value estimator based on data alone isn’t a good way to figure out your home’s market value.

3. Fixing up your home for sale. There are certain things, including staging and curb appeal, that you’re only going to be able to get with the agent. You simply don’t have that expertise on your own unless you’re a real estate professional yourself.

4. Attracting potential buyers. 94% of FSBO sellers surveyed don’t know how to properly attract a buyer. Most FSBO sellers just put a sign in their yard and hope buyers see it. The thousands of agents here in our market know how to get that home listed on the local MLS so that thousands of buyers are exposed to it every day.

5. Selling within the planned time. If you’re looking to sell your home in a short amount of time, selling FSBO isn’t the best route. It will take at least 90 to 120 days. With a real estate agent, you’ll be able to expedite your sale.

It can get overwhelming quickly if you aren’t experienced.

6. Energy and effort. Unless you are in this business full-time, you have no idea how much energy and effort it takes to get a home sold. With all the paperwork, marketing, and communication involved, it can get overwhelming quickly if you aren’t experienced.

If you have any questions for us or want our help to make your home sale a breeze, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Pros and Cons of Living on a Golf Course

If you’re looking to buy property on a golf course, there are many factors you should take into account.

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Recently, one of my clients was interested in purchasing a home on a golf course. While this might sound like a great idea, there are seven different things you should consider before you go through with the purchase:

1. Find out if it’s a private, semi-private, or a public golf course. If it’s a public course, you might expect to see a lot more people playing there than if it was a private course.
2. Do they host other events? This may affect certain things, such as area parking and traffic, depending on how close to the course your property is.
3. Is the property located on the green, the fairway, or the tee box? Properties on or near the green will expect to see golfers meandering around for longer periods of time, whereas properties closer to the tee box will only see those people teeing off, and golfers will spend less time nearby. On the fairway, golfers may not even be in front of your house at all.
4. Consider the views. Can you see the course itself? What about the lake or other water features? Does it have a view of the mountains? Perhaps the house is on or near a signature hole at the course. These can have a definite impact on pricing the house.
5. Does the golf course require membership? Find out whether or not you’ll need to pay for membership. It may not be a bad idea to look into what other features they offer, such as tennis courts, restaurants, or pools, and what it might cost to enjoy those amenities.
6. You have to consider those playing on the golf course if you host your own event on your property. Disturbing players with noise and distractions may get you into trouble later down the road.
You have to consider those playing on the golf course if you host your own event on your property.
7. How well is the course maintained? Golf courses require a lot of meticulous upkeep, so there will likely be maintenance crews near your property using noisy machines like mowers and blowers throughout the day.

Finding the answers to these seven questions will help you determine whether or not living in a home near a golf course is the right fit for you.

If you have any other questions, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!