Filling in the Gaps: 1st Deal Tips

[Devin Arrigo]

Hi all,

I am hopefully, very soon, going to be a first time investor using the house hacking strategy. For the past year, I have been educating myself using books, forums, podcasts, networking etc. With that said, I was wondering if anyone has any first-hand knowledge to fill in any gaps that you can't really learn when simply educating yourself? Any advice is appreciated!

[Erin Spradlin]

Hey there- we help clients get into investment properties in Denver and Colorado Springs, and would say the main thing is to be very clear on what your most important metric is (cash on cash, cash flow, cap rate, etc.) because we often see people look at multiple metrics, which can make it very hard to make a decision. So, know the metric you care about most.

You should get in the habit (if you aren't already) of running deals on a spreadsheet and looking for deals and or errors in your number. BiggerPockets also has a calculator to help you figure these out but I like doing my own so that I know exactly how I'm running my numbers. 

Redfin is actually an excellent source for info on the house - mortgage numbers, taxes, insurance, etc. Don't forget about utilities (if you plan on covering any.) Rentometer will also give you a great numbers on predicted rents (if you plan on renting.) 

Hope that helps and good luck!