Can I get a line of credit w/o owning a home ? I live in an
apartment and would like a line of credit to be used to pay for
the repairs on my first rehab. Is this possible ? I would like a line of credit to pay for the repairs and the monthly payments.
Your personal residence should be your first real estate investment. After that you should starting considering rentals, flips, etc.
Yes you can get personal lines of credit. They are based on your credit score, income, dti and lenghth of time unsecured accounts have been open.
I applied for two at once and got 40k total from 2 different banks.
I don’t make much, less than 30k. This REI endeavor is something I would like to do as a career, to get my wife and 2 yr old a better life. My credit score is 680 by the way, what do you think ?
Credit score is good. Your current credit cards should be at 50% of their limit or less. And your income, if there is any side work you do or anything that generates extra income, add it to your annual salary. They rarely verify it if the FICO is good.
Then apply. See what you get. Even 5 k is a start. Could get you into a lease option or something like a low end condo.
Got any recommendations ? I checked my credit union and they have nothing.
start a business
get an EIN
wait for the business credit card apps to come rolling in
steve
Okay, i thought that with the personal line of credit I didn’t need to have a business or corp ? I know that with a corp, one can get min. $50k, but with the personal loan can I get a line of credit w/o have a business ? Can I apply for two lines of credit at once ? Help me guys, because nobody around here knows anything about REI.
Hey rhemalogos
you should apply for a max of 2 credit lines. More than that would impact your credit score due to the high number of inquiries.You should check where you bank at to find out if they would offer you a line of credit, it wont be as large as a business line, but its a start. How good is your credit? any idea on your score?
steve
Ran my credit two weeks ago and it was 677.
Do you have citizens bank where you are? I got 15k personal credit line and 2 mos later got an offer for a credit card for 7k. zero interest for 8 mos.
I have a personal LOC with bank of america but they don’t do that anymore. They say to apply for their credit card instead.
The bank of america credit card can also be a great deal.
Low interest deals, no balance xfer fees, minimum payments equal to the interest plus 10 bucks.
I used mine a couple of times to finance closing and down payment on my condos. Then when the interest deal was over I’d pay it off with a private 2nd mortgage on the property.
5 years in my own business and still can’t get a decent business loan or credit line. That’s just the dynamics of my business but I have been able to get lots of credit in personal lines.
So there’s two suggestions for you that worked out for me. Citizens and BOA
Thanks, for the heads up…I’ll google Citizens bank in
Tampa…can you pay the monthly charges on the line of
credit with the line of credit ? Say I receive a bill after using the LOC for $75, can the pay the $75 with the LOC?
If you write an line of credit advance check to your checking and pay through your checking account you could do it.
Nice…I think I have found my answer. Thanks Jeff, I am going to be in touch with you, very informative.
Rhemalogos,
Never, ever, ever use personal credit to finance your business activities-- real estate investing is a business.
Let me tell you a story: When I got out of college, I got hooked into all of those “work at home” money making schemes. For a while, I actually made a good income-- maybe $10K a month. Then all of a sudden it all fell apart. I started out with Triple-A credit. But, I incurred a lot of expenses running my home-based business-- advertising, printing, shipping-- and I put all of those expenses on my personal credit cards. All of my cards were maxed out. I kept them paid down while the business was running but when it all fell apart, the debt was so high, I couldn’t even afford the minimum payment.
Now, all of my accounts are charged off and my credit is ruined. My fico is about 480. I enrolled in a debt consolidation plan, but the payments are more than my paycheck. Creditors call me all day from 8am to 9pm.
I have a job making $30K a year. I’m living with my parents. I have no way out.
I started off with excellent credit; and I ruined it trying to get rich.
Don’t use your personal crecit to do business.
Businesses Fail all the time.
I think its time to file for Bankruptucy which will restore your credit score in 2 yrs but keep you from obtaining personal lines of credit or business loans for 10yrs. Or stop paying and let it slip off in 7yrs…but of course while your not paying you should be disputing about 30-50% of your bad charged off accounts till they are all gone. You be amazed, in about 6-12months you may have all the charge offs gone and a great credit score.
EALston,
The credit line used for a real estate purchase has property technically has equity as security. If the amount charged can’t be recovered by the sale of the property the deal may not be good to begin with.
Your business expenses were perishable and therefore you had no asset to sell to pay those debts.
Although it is regrettable your business failed, real estate debt is good debt and barring catastrophic circumstances there is an element of protection using personal credit to buy it.
My finances and credit were devastated by a divorce. I was in my fathers house wishing I was dead. I came out of it and I hope you will too. Keep the faith. If you’re breathing, there’s hope.
There are unsecured business lines of credit available if you are set up right and you have prime credit. Most times you will not have to introduce financials into the picture. SBA offers guaranteed lines with scores as low as 660 that are administered through regional and national banks. A lower score generally does not work. They are for businesses and not personal so they will look for you to have been in business for at least two years but the business entity can be as young as six months. Most folks start as individual real estate investors reporting on Schedule E, some might report as a sole proprietor on schedule C. Somewhere along the way it is not uncommon that they register an LLC or other business entity. Although the business entity may be young, the business itself may not. They usually run from $50K to $100K unsecured. If you are not in position to acquire one now, it is something that you can position yourself for in the future as they are very valuable tools. It sounds as if this is something you want to get into now and also grow in the future. Start to look ahead and position yourself with this product. It is usually offered by banks and it is also a great way to create performance on a bank issued credit facility and initiate a relationship. A bank relationship early, though not immediately needed, will position yourself in the future when you may need or look to bank financing on larger projects down the road. Its also nice to have the capital ability without liening an asset and it is in the name of the business so it keeps the business liabilities seperate from your personal liabilities.
Where are you located? Just to give insight, based on a previous response, Citizens bank footprint is the NorthEast across to Michigan. They operate as Charter One in the midwest. They do not have a presence below Maryland or in the West or Southwest. Bank of America has some products but they will not be able to bring you into a larger unsecured line $50-$100K without financials involved. Other banks you might want to look at is HSBC and PNC. I would look to Amex Express to start as they are in all 50 states and have business lines you can jump to in the future.
I have incorporated my business, but I have not yet established a business credit file because:
I work as a home based business and I’m afraid that Dun & Bradstreet looks down on that-- In order to get a Duns# I have to submit my information to them and:
I’m not sure which address to use with Dun &Bradstreet:
- my home address
- my business mailing address (which is a mailbox at The UPS Store)
- or should I use the corporate address of my REGISTERED AGENT???