Hello! Newbie from Denver, CO finally introducing myself.

[Raven Reinmuth]

Hello everyone!

I am 23 years old and living in the Denver/Boulder, CO area. I have always wanted to get into real estate investing but didn't know where to start. I am currently saving up money for a down payment, studying for my licensing exam, and working at a property management company. I also listen to a couple podcasts a day and read everything I can find about REI to learn as much as possible! However, I don't own any properties yet and still have a lot I don't understand. I don't really have anybody in real life that I can talk to or at least trust to have wisdom about REI.

I don't have/make much money and have looked at Wichita, KS because Real Estate is so cheap there. I would love to house hack as well, but Denver and the metro area is crazy expensive. I am also looking at Pueblo, CO because it's only about a 2/2.5 hour drive from me but waaayy cheaper than Denver. I'm not sure where to start with researching what neighborhoods are good or how to determine rent when I am not physically living somewhere. I would like to do either house hacking and/or the BRRR strategy to eventually build a portfolio of cashflowing rentals. Any tips/advice/friends are welcome and appreciated!

[Chris Lopez]

@Raven Reinmuth

Welcome to BP!

Start with house hacking where you currently live rather than buying rental properties in less expensive markets. You'll learn so much more while you're house hacking vs being a long distant landlord.

The owner occupant loans for house hacking (3-5% down) will probably be similar to a downpayment to a long distance rental (20%0

5% down on a 350k house hack in Denver is 17,500

20% down on a 100k property in Pueblo is $20,000.

Of course you'll have closing costs on both, but that'll be a few thousand bucks and similar for both. You'll get better interest rates on an owner occ loan for house hacking (~4% now) vs investment loan (4.75-5% currently)

Plus you need a place to live... so House hack.

If you're looking in Denver, let me know and I can share some resources.