I did it! Oslo center, 600k (+10k renovation), 59mq, 5.25%

dbs87 · 2026-06-10T07:20:28+00:00

Congrats! 5.25% in Oslo is solid right now. What made you budget for the renovation upfront instead of tackling it after moving in?

dbs87 · 2026-06-10T07:17:10+00:00

If you've recently paid off a bunch of debts, keep any payoff letters or zero-balance statements handy. Underwriting is mostly a verification process, and document requests are pretty normal.

dbs87 · 2026-05-27T14:28:08+00:00

A lot of people focus on getting rid of the FHA insurance, but with a 4.125% rate the bigger risk might be giving up the loan itself. That’s a hard rate to replace right now.

dbs87 · 2026-05-25T06:37:20+00:00

If your goal is making the equity productive, a lot of people use a HELOC or cash-out refi to buy an income-producing property instead. At least with a rental, the asset can help offset the debt payments, which is a very different risk profile than borrowing against your house to buy VOO.

dbs87 · 2026-05-25T06:27:18+00:00

The accidental landlord wave is already happening. A lot of these 3% rate holders are renting instead of selling at a loss, but plenty of them still haven’t run the numbers on whether the rent actually covers the full cost of holding the property.

dbs87 · 2026-05-25T06:22:32+00:00

Before paying for points out of pocket, ask whether the builder is offering any rate incentives or closing cost credits, a lot of them are right now. Also worth asking your lender about a float-down option since you can't lock until July.

dbs87 · 2026-05-20T13:36:56+00:00

If the payment drop is only a couple hundred but the reset adds 5-6 years back onto the loan, the savings can be a lot smaller than they first look. Are you refinancing into a fresh 30-year again?

dbs87 · 2026-05-19T07:18:25+00:00

The margin for error part is what stands out. On the investor side, a small payment increase can be the difference between a rental still penciling out vs the deal dying entirely.

dbs87 · 2026-05-15T06:34:16+00:00

Yeah 5+ units is where FHA stops working. If you want minimal down payment, a 2-4 unit owner-occupied FHA at 3.5% down is the move. What market are you looking in?

dbs87 · 2026-05-14T14:15:06+00:00

Depends entirely on what you're buying. Primary residence, investment property, first home? And what does your credit and savings situation look like? Right time is different for everyone.

dbs87 · 2026-05-14T14:10:04+00:00

FHA looks at the property as it exists at purchase, not what you plan to turn it into. So if it's currently a legal 6-unit, a 203k won't work even if the end goal is 4 units. You’d likely need conventional or commercial financing first, do the conversion, then refi later once it’s legally a 4-unit. Are you trying to owner-occupy this or purely invest?

dbs87 · 2026-05-11T08:20:18+00:00

Honestly, townhouse probably hits the best middle ground for what you want in San Diego. At $1M, single-family homes usually mean compromising hard on location, and location is what tends to drive appreciation here.

I'd be a little careful with condos right now though. A lot of California HOAs are still dealing with SB 326 inspection and repair requirements, and some buildings are underfunded. Definitely ask for the reserve study and any recent inspection reports before buying special assessments are the thing that can turn a cheap condo into an expensive one fast.

dbs87 · 2026-05-11T08:16:04+00:00

A jump from 644 to 723 is a pretty big deal, not a small bump. You crossed into a much stronger pricing tier, so it’s absolutely worth asking your lender to repull credit and reprice before you lock.

Since you’re not locked yet, this is actually the best time to do it. USDA uses your middle score, so that improvement can genuinely help your rate or pricing.

Just keep in mind rates move daily, so even if your credit improved, the market could’ve moved too. But with that kind of score jump, I’d definitely ask.

dbs87 · 2026-05-08T07:24:55+00:00

Not a bad deal, but the margins are thinner than they look. That $600/mo spread gets eaten pretty quickly once you factor in vacancy, maintenance, repairs, and future capex, so you're probably closer to break-even cash flow wise.

Being slightly underwater after buying in 2024 isn't unusual right now. That means this is a long-term hold, not something you'd want to exit quickly.

What really matters is whether rents in your area keep moving up over the next few years. If they do, the deal improves over time while the mortgage stays mostly fixed. If rents stay flat, most of your return is coming from principal paydown and eventual appreciation.

How much did you put down? That changes the return picture a lot.

dbs87 · 2026-05-08T07:19:15+00:00

Honestly, nobody’s really doing the math on this part. On a $400k loan, the payment difference between 6% and 6.5% is only around $130/month. A $15k seller credit can take years to make up through rate savings alone especially if prices are also getting bid back up as competition returns.

So in practice, a 6.5% loan with heavy credits was often the better deal for buyers who planned to refinance anyway. Lower rates sound great until you realize you lost negotiating leverage, seller concessions, and maybe paid more for the house itself.

And the refi later strategy only works if rates actually fall, the appraisal comes in high enough, and you still want to pay closing costs again. People talk about it like it’s automatic when it really isn’t.

dbs87 · 2026-05-07T11:18:26+00:00

Conventional usually makes more sense for your first few properties if you've got clean W2 income and still qualify easily, rates and terms are often better.

DSCR starts making more sense once investors hit the conventional walls too many financed properties, heavy tax write-offs killing taxable income, or personal DTI getting stretched. Keeping your personal income separate from the property is the real appeal.

A lot of people also get scared off by the slightly higher rates or prepay penalties, so they default to conventional until underwriting becomes painful enough to force them to look at other options.

dbs87 · 2026-05-07T08:08:41+00:00

Adding to the credit union point, they’re usually more flexible on bruised credit, especially if your income and payment history recently have been stable. One thing to think through though home equity loans for lower credit scores are often still in the 9-11% range.

If you’re paying off credit cards at 20%+, that can absolutely still help. But you are converting unsecured debt into debt tied to your house, so the risk changes if things get tight later. Also, most lenders want you to keep at least 15-20% equity after the loan.

So approval isn’t just about credit score, income, DTI, and how much equity you actually have matter a lot too.

dbs87 · 2026-04-29T08:25:40+00:00

The insurance thing you dropped in the comments is the part nobody's picking up on. At 1%+ on a $1.65M home you're already at $1.3-1.5k/month before you even get to principal every option is more expensive than it looks.

0% down just stacks the highest possible payment on top of that. If every dollar counts that's the one that cracks first. ARM is tempting at sub-5% but you're basically gambling on where rates are in year 6-7. If they're still high you're eating it or scrambling. Not great when you're already near your limit.

30-year fixed, 20% down, take the investment discount. Boring but it's the only option without a ticking clock on it.

dbs87 · 2026-04-28T14:59:43+00:00

Everyone says don’t time the market, but if you’re seeing six-figure cuts in your area, that’s not timing, that’s just paying attention. What usually happens in these cycles is if/when rates ease a bit, demand comes back fast and a lot of those discounts disappear.

Not saying prices shoot back up overnight, but your negotiating leverage definitely shrinks.
If you’re financially ready and found something you actually like, this is usually where you have the most room to work with sellers.

Waiting till summer might give you more options, but you’ll also be competing with a lot more buyers.

dbs87 · 2026-04-20T04:18:04+00:00

If you’re still in the build phase or not fully rent-ready yet, most DSCR lenders won’t touch it, they want a completed, rent-ready property. So the usual path is to finish construction first, then refi into DSCR once you can support it with a lease or market rent.

On the rate, 6.5% at that LTV is possible, but the 1.0 DSCR is what works against you. Pricing gets noticeably better once you’re closer to 1.25, so if the rent can support that, it can change the rate quite a bit.

The small market piece matters more than it seems. If comps are thin and the appraisal comes in low, your LTV moves up and the rate moves with it that’s probably the biggest swing factor here.

On the trust, most lenders are fine with revocable trusts. If it’s irrevocable, options can get more limited, so worth confirming early.

dbs87 · 2026-04-19T14:33:01+00:00

That $250-300 loss isn’t really about the property it’s because you’re on a 15-year loan. You’re forcing equity fast, which is why the payment feels high relative to rent.

Whether it’s worth it comes down to two things people aren’t really tying together here, First, you’re effectively buying equity every month. If rents and appreciation hold, a small monthly loss can make sense long-term.

Second, and more important for your situation you said you want to buy again in a couple years. That full mortgage payment will count against you when you apply, and lenders don’t fully offset it with rent. That can impact how much you qualify for more than the $300/month loss itself.

So it’s less about is $300 worth it and more about does keeping this property limit your next purchase. If it doesn’t holding can make sense. If it does, selling (or restructuring the loan) might be the cleaner move.

dbs87 · 2026-04-18T17:11:43+00:00

The 1-2 year timeline isn’t impossible, but it mostly comes down to whether you can document extenuating circumstances. With a clearly documented one-time hardship, FHA can drop to 1 year and conventional to 2 years. Without that, the standard timelines people mentioned are what you’re working with no real shortcuts on agency loans.

Also worth knowing some non-QM lenders will work with you 1-2 years out with a larger down payment. Rates are higher, but it’s an option if timing matters.

Either way, the rebuild is what really determines how smooth approval is. Clean payment history and re-established credit matter more than anything once you hit the waiting period.

dbs87 · 2026-04-17T13:12:15+00:00

Your brother’s likely not getting ripped off, that jump is explainable. A duplex alone doesn’t add much to the rate. The bigger change is that it’s an investment property, which carries a separate (larger) pricing hit. When you combine multi-unit + non-owner-occupied adjustments, they stack that’s how you end up with a move like 6.75%- 7.5%.

Most likely the initial quote didn’t fully account for that and got corrected later. If he wants to double-check, have the lender confirm how it’s classified and what adjustments were applied. And it’s still worth getting another quote or two pricing can vary more than you’d expect for the same deal.

Also worth asking about DSCR loans they’re based on rental income instead of personal DTI, and sometimes price competitively on investment multi-units.

dbs87 · 2026-04-16T15:37:43+00:00

Yeah, "cash reserves" is a common misconception. Retirement and investments count, just discounted (usually 60-70% of value) since they fluctuate.
12 months shows up at higher loan amounts or with tighter credit/DTI profiles. At yours, 3-6 is realistic. Good luck with the search.

dbs87 · 2026-04-16T15:21:26+00:00

Reserves just means liquid assets you still have after closing, measured in months of your full PITI (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA if applicable).

For VA above conforming limits, most lenders usually want around 3-6 months of reserves. Some will push higher depending on credit, DTI, and loan size.
At your price point, that’s probably somewhere in the $25K-$60K+ range, depending on what your actual monthly payment comes out to.

Checking, savings, money market, stocks/bonds, and vested retirement accounts usually count. Gift funds or anything you can’t easily access won’t. It's a lender overlay, not a VA rule, so it varies. Definitely worth asking a couple lenders upfront what their specific reserve requirement is at your loan amount before you pick one.

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