Current House Hacker - Looking to buy land and build unique airbnb property

[Chris Desmond]

Hi BP community! I currently house hack, bought a house in Arvada in January 2020 and now have over $100K equity in my house. Next goal is either another house hack, but my main dream is to buy land and build a A-Frame Cabin or unique dome or container home in the mountains. Does anyone have experience in land/construction loans and what to look at for for permits/utility install, Airbnb laws, etc? 

Any tips are appreciated! 

[Ben Rhodin]

Hey @Chris Desmond! This is definitely a great way to go, however, what is the goal of doing the construction yourself, vs buying something that is pre-existing and either renovating or leaving it as is? There are quite a few A-frames in the area, and you can save yourself the headache, and pain of dealing with counties, cities, and so forth and just get into something and get the cash flow going. 

I have explored this with different clients, and it can be pretty straightforward and easy depending on the county. STR regulations will definitely be the biggest factor. In most cases, if you are doing in mountain areas you will just do septic and a well, instead of connecting to city utilities. Other than electric possibly. The other thing to note is financing can be complicated in these types of deals. You'll need a specialty loan and not a lot of lenders lend on raw land. I do have a lender that has a pretty strong construction loan that could work for you.

With that much equity in your property, I would suggest pulling a HELOC on it and then looking into the next house hack to start. Then you can start planning for that property, from a good stable financial position.