Evaluating Live-In BRRRR

[Kristofer Kersnick]

My wife and I are planning to use our VA loan to acquire SFRs and rent them out once we have met the occupancy requirement. Living in Denver makes it difficult to find properties that would cash flow immediately, but rental prices will most likely go up over the 1-2 years that we are living in the property.

We have also considered using a VA renovation loan to tackle a live-in flip. We would evaluate it as a rental once we are ready to move out and if it doesn't cash flow, we could sell it and reinvest some of the capital in another market.

We would like to purchase our next property soon, but I am not sure how to run the numbers on properties that I do not plan on renting/selling for 1-2 years.

I know other markets will cash flow better than Denver, but we would like to take advantage of our VA loan and we are not interested in moving out of the area at the moment.

How would you run the numbers in this situation? Are you doing anything differently considering the current market? I would love to hear from anyone investing in the Denver area or anyone in a similar situation.

Any advice would be appreciated!

[Mindy Jensen]

The key to a successful live in flip is living there for two years, and then selling and paying zero capital gains taxes, shielding up to $250k if you're single or up to $500k if you're married.

If you are only living there one year, you will be subject to long term capital gains taxes when you sell. (In order to avoid cap gains, you have to live there 2 of the last 5 years.)

If you're not realizing the full benefits of the live in flip, you are essentially just living in a construction zone. In your case, this could make sense because you're utilizing the 0% down VA loan. (Pro Tip: use a GREAT VA lender who knows what they are doing. I have a recommendation if you need one.)