First Investment/House Hack

[Dakota Rice]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $165,000
Cash invested: $10,000

My wife and I bought this single family house last fall with the intention of house hacking it. We live upstairs and will rent out the basement which has a separate entrance. We have spent the last 5 months doing all the remodeling/repairs ourselves. It just went on the mark a few weeks ago and we are currently processing applications for our first renters. It is furnished and includes utilities to appeal to traveling nurses. Once rented, it will cover all but $19 of our mortgage.

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

Since it had a separate entrance for the basement, I knew we could house hack it. The property was also in a great area, but needed quite a bit of work done to make it attractive to potential renters.

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

MLS, just submitted an offer through our agent.

How did you finance this deal?

Owner occupied conventional loan with 3% down.

How did you add value to the deal?

New paint and texture to all the walls. Both bathrooms were full gut and new tile installed. All new flooring downstairs. Egress window in basement bedroom.

What was the outcome?

Should have a renter in place in the next few weeks which will cover most of the mortgage.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The rehab took much longer then I expected. Learning how to do the tiling, and putting in the egress window took up a lot of the time invested.

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

I used Christian Morrison at Keller Williams, and Carey Gardner at CMG Financial. Both were great to work with, and I'll use them again in the future for purchases in the area.