Are You Looking To Invest In A Second Home?

Whether you are looking for a second home, an investment home to create an extra source of income, or a vacation home, you will need an appropriate loan to accomplish your goals. Depending on your situation, there are different loans to select from. Choosing the right one, with the best interest rates, and low costs are essential to making a great investment.

There are different ways that your down payment can be structured in order to give you a quick and beneficial return for your investment. Many people have even qualified for a down payment under 20%. Our team can help sift through the home investment loan options with you.

A Wide Range of Home Investment Loan Options

 

Investing in additional properties as a way to make money can be a smart business decision, especially when the property is located in an upward-trending real estate market.

However, not all people have the liquid assets to purchase investment property out of pocket. They will need to take out a loan to do so, and there are several loan options available to them.

The most common Home Investment Loan Type is the Conventional Loan

Because you can not use government programs for this type of loan, a conventional loan is an appropriate option.

The structure of your conventional loans can vary depending on your specific situation but there may be options to lower your down payment to under 20%.

Your credit rating will be one of the biggest factors that affect the interest rate that you get.

Different Reasons for Investment Loans

Many homeowners want to invest in a second home simply to have another home to use. For example, some homeowners want a vacation home, while others may prefer living in one place during certain times of the year and another place the rest of the year. Some homeowners may want to live a bi-coastal lifestyle. Whatever the case may be, loans are available to those who want to purchase a secondary home for their own use and as a future investment.

Homeowners looking to build a portfolio of properties typically purchase more than one home. These houses can be rented out or renovated and slowly sold off based on their appreciation in value. The more houses an investor owns, the more potential revenue streams they will have.

One thing borrowers should keep in mind is that conventional lenders typically won’t approve of additional investment loans once a borrower has four mortgages on their credit. There are special loan programs that will allow between five and ten mortgages on the credit of a borrower, but these programs often require a significant liquid reserve of payments as well as large down payments between 25 and 30 percent. A credit score of at least 720 will be required in such a case as well.

Another way to invest in property is to purchase houses in need of renovation, remodel them, and flip them back onto the market as quickly as possible for a profit. This is known as active property investment and it’s something many lenders are willing to provide loans for as well. Hard loans are a good option for investors who are flipping since they are short-term and typically provide better rates.

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Unique Considerations for Investment Loans

A borrower buying a house to flip it might want to consider taking out a hard money loan, which is essentially a short-term loan. Such loans typically have lower interest rates but much higher monthly payments since they are short-term. The borrower flipping the house won’t be holding on to that property for very long, so such a loan can be beneficial.

However, borrowers that plan on buying multiple properties to rent out will want to look at longer-term loans that don’t require high monthly payments. Whatever the investment strategy is, the loan should make sense for that strategy.

For borrowers who are renting out their properties, identifying how much revenue they will net monthly will be key. It would be counterproductive for the borrower to take out a loan that will cost more monthly than what they will receive in rental profits.

Inadequate cash flow can put a borrower into debt quickly. It’s not just about making enough in rent to cover monthly mortgage payments–it’s about having the cash flow necessary to comfortably cover all expenses of owning a property, including property taxes, routine maintenance, emergency repairs, insurance, and more. Additionally, tenants come and go.

The borrower must have enough cash flow to cover mortgage payments even if their property is uninhabited for a period of time. Not to mention that borrowers who are building their property portfolio will need adequate cash flow to cover things like down payments, closing costs, renovations, and more for every new property they invest in.

Investment properties are riskier for lenders because if they are not profitable for the borrower, they may not be able to meet mortgage payments. Residential property investments are less risky because the borrower is not depending on making a profit off the property to pay the mortgage. As a result, most lenders will require that the borrower put up the investment property they are purchasing as collateral. If the borrower can no longer make payments, the lender then has the right to take ownership of that investment property.

For borrowers who have more than ten investment properties in their portfolio, they may have to take out a blanket loan. Blanket loans are secured against multiple properties. Because of this, the borrower should find out what happens if they only want to sell one of the properties under that blanket loan.

Deciding between a fixed rate and a variable rate will depend on what type of investment property the borrower is buying. Fixed rates are typically a safer bet for long-term investments like rental properties. A fixed-rate means the interest rate at the start of the loan term will never change throughout the duration of the loan.

A variable-rate will change based on the market. This could save the borrower money as a variable rate could decrease month by month depending on the state of the market. This also means that it could increase. Typically this is not a good option for long-term investments since it makes it difficult to budget properly should there be periods of time where the interest rate is much higher than usual. However, variable rates may be a good option for borrowers who are looking to flip their investment property since they don’t plan to own the property for very long.

Home Investment Loan Rates

The interest rates on investment loans will vary based on numerous factors, including the borrower’s credit score, cash reserves, loan terms, and more.

Generally, interest rates on investment properties will be higher than those on houses being bought for use as a primary residence.

Although conventional lenders often quote investment loan rates as roughly 0.25 to 0.5 percent higher than their homeowner loans, it’s not uncommon for the rates to actually be between 1 and 3 percent higher.

Some Common questions about investment loans:

Mortgage insurance is not available for investment loans. This means that borrowers applying for an investment loan for an additional property that will not be their primary residence will be expected to pay at least 20 percent of the home’s price as a down payment*.

Many factors help determine the borrowing power for an investment property: the borrower’s income (which can include revenue streams from rental properties or property sales), the equity they have in other investment properties (as well as their own primary residence), and their repayment history on previous home loans.

At least 20 percent of the property’s price will be required as a down payment*. However, borrowers who have more than four mortgages on their credit will be required to put down a higher down payment for additional investment loans (which can only be secured through special investment loan programs). These down payments are typically around 25 percent for single-family homes and 30 percent for 2 to 4 unit properties*.

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