Ever partnered on a househack with a roommate?

Ever partnered on a househack with a roommate?

Lender · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2015 · 8 posts · 1 vote

Hey guys,

I am a recent college grad who has spent way too much of my hard earned cash on rent already and I am hoping to get into real estate investing with my first purchase. My question is: Does anyone have experience partnering with a friend/ roommate on a 4 or 5 bedroom and filling the rest of the rooms with other friends? 

Our background is that we have been living with a third roommate in an apartment for  year and are looking for a new place/ possibly want to buy. We both have solid jobs working in the financial industry and view this as an opportunity to diversify our investments while learning a lot along the way. The idea would be buy a house with needed rehab, live in the house for 2-4 years in our mid twenties, and then hold it long-term for rental income as we move on to smaller, more "grown-up" homes.

Below are my pros and cons but I am looking for any feedback on other things that I may not be thinking of:

Pros - 

1. Both ourselves and our friends can save a lot on rent and we have locked in tenants for the first 2-3 years along with two strong networks of potential tenants once we move out.

2. The two of us are gaining equity as we learn the industry together.

3. We can afford to purchase a place in a safer (location, location, location) part of town with both of our incomes. We are in atlanta and anywhere that a young professional can afford alone is extremely speculative and more than our risk appetites are hungry for. 

Cons - 

1. House prices seem sky-high right now 

2. We see some risk in the partnership/ roommate setup (advice from anyone who has experiences this would be greatly appreciated)

3. We are on a relatively short time-table (~2 months) to get into a new place but already have some houses in our sights.

Thank you for any wise words!

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Investor · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2015 · 6k+ posts · 2k+ votes
10y

@Toby Coons, what you are describing is a Joint Venture Partnership, which should be formalized in legalese writing if you proceed. If you are BOTH on board with the specific deal you want to go for, you should have just as much chance of success as any other Joint Venture. 

Well done summarizing the pros and cons. Good luck giving them fair weighting. All the best...

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  • Investor · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2015 · 6k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    10y

    @Toby Coons, what you are describing is a Joint Venture Partnership, which should be formalized in legalese writing if you proceed. If you are BOTH on board with the specific deal you want to go for, you should have just as much chance of success as any other Joint Venture. 

    Well done summarizing the pros and cons. Good luck giving them fair weighting. All the best...

  • Atlanta, GA · Member since 2015 · 74 posts · 24 votes
    10y

    @Brent Coombs nailed it. I think the biggest issue is to work out in advance is how this ends. What happens if one of you wants to sell the house and the other doesn't? What happens if you both want to keep the house as a rental but don't want to continue working together? If you address these and similar concerns up front as Brent suggested, it will help avoid an ugly situation in the future.

  • Atlanta, GA · Member since 2015 · 74 posts · 24 votes
    10y
  • Lender · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2015 · 8 posts · 1 vote
    10y

    Thank you all for the advice. 

    @Brent Coombs, formalizing the agreement in writing is definitely something we view as necessary. I guess that would be our first lesson in contract law.  

    @Andrew Bauer, that is a very good point. We have simi;lar strategies in mind but we would definitely need to think through all the possible scenarios and how we would handle each one if it arose. This is very helpful. 

    Does anyone have insight on how financing something like this would happen? Like i said, neither of us can afford it on our own but will a bank allow us to count both of our salaries when qualifying for a loan?

  • Flipper · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2016 · 66 posts · 12 votes
    10y

    I just want to give the biggest upside. My best friend's brother bought a house and rented out the bedrooms. He paid off the house, bought others, sold them all because they were within blocks of a high end town city redevelopment. He then bought double digit number of houses with cash in a cheaper county. He is totally retired living on the Florida intercoastal waterway with all the toys and lifestyle you can imagine. 

  • Atlanta, GA · Member since 2015 · 74 posts · 24 votes
    10y

    @Toby Coons it might be easiest to direct your lending questions at a good mortgage broker. If you like, I can provide contact information to a great broker in the area that could probably answer a lot of your questions with a quick phone call. Just shoot me a message if interested.

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