My First House Hack

[Jake Andronico]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $356,900
Cash invested: $15,000

This property was my first house hack immediately after college with 0 experience.
Was able to get a second deed of trust for part of the down payment and lived in one of the bedrooms while renting out the other four to students attending UNR.

This allowed me to cover the mortgage, live for free, and save up 10% down for another property about 15 months later.
Once moving out, I refinanced the mortgage to pull about $80,000 out which paid off the second deed of trust and used the additional $15,000 for interior paint, flooring, and fixtures.

Once moving out and moving into my next property, this property was able to cash flow approx. $1000 a month from about $35,000 all in.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I wanted to live for free to be able to save for more properties as quickly as possible, and was willing to live with roommates as I had been for the last 4 years of college.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

It was on the MLS but wasn't in amazing condition. Negotiated some smaller items (some seller concessions) but it was not run as a student rental.

It was previously renting for $1,500 per month with a family living there. I was able to move into the largest "bonus room" upstairs and rent out the other four rooms for $500 each, totaling $2,000 per month.

This $2,000 per month covered my mortgage payment as well as almost all of my payment for my second loan for the down payment of $65k.

How did you finance this deal?

Used $15k of my own money and was loaned approx. $65k to total 20% down + closing costs on the deal.

How did you add value to the deal?

After the boom of 2020/2021, and with record low interest rates, I was able to refinance in November 2021 to a 3.25% owner occupied loan.

Since the property's value had increased and appraised at $480K, I was able to pay off my family friend's $65K, have approx. $20k leftover for renovations, and

What was the outcome?

I'm now cash flowing approx. $1,000 per month and have fully moved out of this property.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Take advantage of the market when interest rates are low. DEBT IS AN ASSET.

It took me awhile to learn this, but with interest rates fluctuating so much it's

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I am now part of a brokerage that I was looking for when looking for this type of asset.

I could not find any residential agents that specialized in SFR's (Single Family Rentals), house hacking, area specific rental data, etc., so I want to be a part of a team that is dedicated to that in the Northern Nevada area.

Extremely excited to be apart of Address Income and to assist investors in the process!!