Some Updates

House #2

I have been mulling over what to do with this house. It's getting seen, but nobody has made any offers. I was thinking about ripping up the entire carpet and linoleum, and replacing it with ceramic tile and newer (but still cheaper) carpet. My FIL is a retired tile setter, so I wouldn't have to worry about labor costs - plus I've been on enough tile jobs with him to know how to do it anyway. I figure tiling everything except the bedrooms would be around 900-1000sf, and I can get nice tile at Lowes now for $0.78sf. I could lay the carpet myself, since the rooms are rectangular shape (i.e., no curves or corners to work around). It should cost me about $1500-$2500. I was also thinking of throwing in a free appliance or two.

Then this morning I got an email from my agent saying someone is interested in buying the property. They want to see it again, but have their choice down to mine and two others. We'll see.

5-unit Complex

Working with agents back there is S-L-O-W. I send an email, and am lucky if I get a response in 2-3 days. My latest email was asking about PM companies local to the area. The agent said she was going to check with other agents in her office and her broker to see if they have any recommendations. That was two days ago! I guess if you need anything done ASAP, you have to call.

My problem now, though, is fiancing. Being that it's 5 units, it is considered multi-family/commercial, which has it's own quirks. Also, since the price is so cheap, a lot of lenders won't touch it. I've asked around and some people have loans for these types of properties, but want some higher-than-normal rates (9%+). I figure if I can get House #2 sold real soon, I could use the proceeds to hep pay for the 5 unit. Even if I take ot a loan against my retirement, I'd still be a little short. I already asked if the owners would take back some/all of the financing to which the response was "no" (I even said I could pay them MORE than their asking price, but they still balked). I guess if worse comes to worse, I'll refinance House #1 to make-up the difference, but I'd rather just get a single mortgage to cover the whole thing.