House hacked and Secured my first tenant! Excited to expand on this first step!

House hacked and Secured my first tenant! Excited to expand on this first step!

Los Angeles · Member since 2022 · 10 posts · 13 votes

Hey ya'll! 

So, 2 parts to this post.

First, simply wanted to share with everyone that as of June 1st this year, I secured a tenant for the vacant bedroom in my house! Long story short, I moved out of my house to live with my girlfriend, and in doing so I left the master bedroom vacant since the other two rooms were occupied by my parents. After some time, it became obvious that I needed to do something with this room, and do it ASAP. Initially, I wanted to utilize Furnished Finder (hence my previous post asking you all for input about it) but after a month or more of little to no interest, I had to start looking else where. Put the room up for rent on Rent-A-room and with in day's had a couple people interested. Made my choice on which tenant I felt most comfortable with, and BAM! Now I'm a landlord! We ultimately agreed on her signing a 6 month lease, and with in 2 months living there, she assured me she wanted to stay a minimum of another 6 months after!  I feel lucky because the tenant, living with my parents, has been so cool with everything! Gets along with everyone in the house just fine, and requests almost nothing from me!

Ok, with that out of the way, the second part of this post was intended to focus more on my next moves.

I just finished filling out the info for "find an agent", and funny thing is, the agent literally just text me! Hasn't even been 30 minutes! 

What should be my next step? 

I consistently here on the podcast and YouTube about building a team, who would be the next person to contact?

 I want to thank any who read and comment on this in advance! 

Hope all are well, Take care!

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Bryce JamisonPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Mebane, NC · Member since 2015 · 494 posts · 439 votes
2y

The first thing I thought after reading your post is where do you live if your girlfriend kicks you out? "That isn't going to happen", but what if it does? Just something to think about.

If you're not already doing so, get on a budget. Then save up a big beefy emergency fund. You'll hear 3-6 months as the standard, but you'll need much more to cover when your tenants stop paying rent, trash your place, you need a new capital expense, or something happens in your life that prevents you from earning more income. After that I'd find a realtor, which your already doing, and start looking for properties. I've had bad experiences on here with the agent finder because who reaches out to you isn't always who you reached out to. I prefer Zillow's tool because you can see how many transactions each realtor has done in the last year, where their transactions were, how many reviews they have, and read those reviews. If they're any good they'll be able to connect you with all the ancillary vendors you'll need like contractors, closing lawyers, & lenders, but Google can help with finding these too. It's nice to have a list of all these vendors, but I'll typically only engage them when I'm about to need their services. 

I'd also recommend attending local meetups to connect with other investors in your area who can recommend vendors, and typically a few vendors will show up themselves at these, especially wholesalers. 

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  • Nate MeekerBusiness Member
    Real Estate CPA | California · Member since 2020 · 544 posts · 251 votes
    2y

    Congrats! I house hacking has saved me and clients thousands.

    I would interview a few agents, lenders, contractors, attorney, and then CPA, depending on what kind of investments you are planning. 

    What is your next move?

    The CPA Realtor 573 Reviews
  • Bryce JamisonPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Mebane, NC · Member since 2015 · 494 posts · 439 votes
    2y

    The first thing I thought after reading your post is where do you live if your girlfriend kicks you out? "That isn't going to happen", but what if it does? Just something to think about.

    If you're not already doing so, get on a budget. Then save up a big beefy emergency fund. You'll hear 3-6 months as the standard, but you'll need much more to cover when your tenants stop paying rent, trash your place, you need a new capital expense, or something happens in your life that prevents you from earning more income. After that I'd find a realtor, which your already doing, and start looking for properties. I've had bad experiences on here with the agent finder because who reaches out to you isn't always who you reached out to. I prefer Zillow's tool because you can see how many transactions each realtor has done in the last year, where their transactions were, how many reviews they have, and read those reviews. If they're any good they'll be able to connect you with all the ancillary vendors you'll need like contractors, closing lawyers, & lenders, but Google can help with finding these too. It's nice to have a list of all these vendors, but I'll typically only engage them when I'm about to need their services. 

    I'd also recommend attending local meetups to connect with other investors in your area who can recommend vendors, and typically a few vendors will show up themselves at these, especially wholesalers. 

  • Member since 2023 · 303 posts · 324 votes
    2y

    I agree with @Nate Meeker, building your team is paramount to your next steps. Congratulations on your successful house hack! Sounds like you made the most of this opportunity. Now that you have that extra stream of income, it will be even easier to take the next steps forward.

  • Missouri City, TX · Member since 2016 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    2y

    Looking anyone to help a newbie get started with Multi Family.  Looking to do my first four plex!  Any state.  Thanks. 

  • Cleveland, OH · Member since 2022 · 826 posts · 578 votes
    2y

    Congratulations on your success! 

    Keep doing as much networking as you possibly can. One of the first things that I've learned that it is a relationship game and this is more relevant now than ever. 

    I'd start talking to lenders and see if they have programs that fit your goals moving forward. Can you scale with them? 

    If your plan is to buy more properties, t's best to determine how much $$ you qualify for. If you don't want to hard pull your credit with a pre-approval, you can get pre-qualified which does not hard pull your credit. 

    Once you know how much money you can get, it makes it easier to narrow down what areas and property types you can buy. 

    All the best!

  • Realtor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2019 · 242 posts · 152 votes
    2y

    Set up a time to speak with the agent that reached out to you and see if you guys get along well, and if they're qualified to help you with what you're looking for. If that person is savvy, they should have referrals for you as well including a lender, contractors, etc.

  • Los Angeles · Member since 2022 · 10 posts · 13 votes
    2y

    @Nate Meeker appreciate the response and direct advice! Next move is to analyze what everyone on here has suggested and start putting it to work! @Bryce Jamison I definitely laughed out loud after reading "if your girlfriend kicks you out?" But on a serious note, I do appreciate the honesty and the tactics you use! I will most definitely look into that! @Abbey Humphreys Thank you for the comment! I do not want to try this alone! @Benjamin Sulka great advice! thank you for the comment! @Nicole Masters Great point, I  was thinking something similar in regards to finding an agent that might also have a team of their own in hopes to link up with them and meet these different groups of people faster. 

    Again, I truly thank everyone for the comments and advice, I love feeding off this energy and it only gives me more motivation to get out there and build my own small empire!

    Wishing you all nothing but the best!

  • Missouri City, TX · Member since 2016 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    2y
    Quote from @Benjamin Sulka:

    Congratulations on your success! 

    Keep doing as much networking as you possibly can. One of the first things that I've learned that it is a relationship game and this is more relevant now than ever. 

    I'd start talking to lenders and see if they have programs that fit your goals moving forward. Can you scale with them? 

    If your plan is to buy more properties, t's best to determine how much $$ you qualify for. If you don't want to hard pull your credit with a pre-approval, you can get pre-qualified which does not hard pull your credit. 

    Once you know how much money you can get, it makes it easier to narrow down what areas and property types you can buy. 

    All the best!


     That's great advise, thank you so much!

  • Cleveland, OH · Member since 2022 · 826 posts · 578 votes
    2y
    Quote from @Evan Alfaro:

    @Nate Meeker appreciate the response and direct advice! Next move is to analyze what everyone on here has suggested and start putting it to work! @Bryce Jamison I definitely laughed out loud after reading "if your girlfriend kicks you out?" But on a serious note, I do appreciate the honesty and the tactics you use! I will most definitely look into that! @Abbey Humphreys Thank you for the comment! I do not want to try this alone! @Benjamin Sulka great advice! thank you for the comment! @Nicole Masters Great point, I  was thinking something similar in regards to finding an agent that might also have a team of their own in hopes to link up with them and meet these different groups of people faster. 

    Again, I truly thank everyone for the comments and advice, I love feeding off this energy and it only gives me more motivation to get out there and build my own small empire!

    Wishing you all nothing but the best!


     Glad to help!! All the best to you. 

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