Las Vegas House Hacking - New investor

[Jay Shah]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this community and real estate investing. I am based in Las Vegas and looking to purchase a home by the end of the year. This will be my first time buying a house and I would love to connect with some locals/Vegas investors and get some advice on the area.

I got pre-approved today and have an agent through an investment firm that specializes in rentals/investment properties. I am looking for a rental property for under $400k to start off. I am fine living in it for the first year or two and have a current roommate that will rent from me for as long as we live there, so I am not too worried about negative cash flow in the first year. My eventual goal is to keep buying rental properties in the area (1 a year to start and maybe 2 as I get more advanced). My concern is that all of my info is coming from the agency and I do not know how to find and evaluate properties/deals yet on my own. Can anyone recommend courses/ways for me to learn so that I can become a competent investor? 

Thank you all in advance for your replies and advice!

[Phillip Dwyer]

@Jay Shah I'd recommend running the deals based upon what you could rent the house for currently as a traditional rental, if your plan is not to live in the house for more than a year or two.  Who knows what rents will be 2 years from now.  Also, you may want to think about what your plan B is going to be if you are not ready to move to the next property in a couple of years.  This first property will need to meet your owner personal living criteria and be a potential rental.  That might look different than just buying a house to rent out straight away.