Newbie in the Houston Texas Area

[Brandon Cervantes]

Hello everybody my name is Brandon. I am a student at the University of Houston majoring in construction management and I will be graduating this year. I work in the petrochemical and energy industry but I would like to start investing in real estate. I got interested in real estate by listening to the bigger pockets podcast. My plan is to start my real estate investing journey with some house hacking or if you have other suggestions for a newbie I would greatly appreciate them. I would like to gain as much information and knowledge before I purchase my first property so if you guys have any books,videos, or podcast suggestions that can lead me in the right direction I thank you all in advance.

[Chace Fraser]

Hi @Brandon Cervantes and welcome to BiggerPockets!

House hacking is an incredible way to get into buy and hold real estate investing with a relatively low financial barrier to entry… plus the added benefit of reducing housing costs!

Getting your mindset right, setting goals, and creating a strategy are essential first steps to investing in real estate. It's also crucial to surround yourself with the right people.

There are many people that you will need to surround yourself with. To ensure success you will definitely want to associate with like-minded people, people with experience and who are already doing what it is you want to do, and people who inspire you… not naysayers, negative people, nor critics. BP is a great place to find these people, both virtually and in real life. You can find local meetups in your area by going to Network>Events up in the menu bar. I’ve found that people on BP are incredibly friendly and willing to help.

Besides surrounding yourself with the right people, the two initial and essential members of your professional team will be a lender and a realtor. You need to make sure you find quality, experienced professionals. These two members of your team can make the process great or terrible. They can make a deal happen when it looks like it’s going to fall apart or they can kill a deal that is on track to close. These two team members will help you fill out your team by leveraging their professional networks (inspectors, lawyers, escrow officers, CPA’s, etc).

When it comes to Realtors, they will help you identify which areas of town are good to invest in and what to expect in rents, quality of tenants, how to analyze deals, provide you with investing opportunities (both on market and off market).

Besides figuring out what your goals are, how you want to get started, and meeting like-minded people, the first action item would be to talk to a lender. In my experience working with house hackers, the majority of the questions center around financing the deal.

When it comes to finding the right lender there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind. Lenders, like realtors, are not all created equal. In order of importance, here’s what I think is important to look for in a lender. You want to make sure your lender:

• Has worked with house hackers before; the rules change depending on what loan type you use and how many units you purchase. There are A LOT OF TRAPS along the way that can/will make the deal fall through (and cause you to lose your earnest money). You want to be sure the lender you choose has navigated them before.
• Can help you strategize the lending piece for this purchase AND purchases in the future
• Is an investor themselves

Getting a loan as a college student, or someone fresh out of college can be tricky. But it is possible. Typically, lenders require borrowers to have a two year employment history. Although, if a graduate is going to get a job in the area in which they studied in college, often times the lender can count that towards their employment history. You will still need a job (or job offer) and you will still need to qualify for the loan (down payment, credit score, DTI, etc). A co-signer (like a parent or rich uncle) can help make this happen if needed.