Duplex House Hack with only $6500 out of pocket!!

Duplex House Hack with only $6500 out of pocket!!

Rental Property Investor ยท Spokane, WA ยท Member since 2019 ยท 4 posts ยท 9 votes

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Spokane.

Purchase price: $288,000
Cash invested: $6,500

This is a 3 BR 2 BA side by side duplex with the potential to add another bedroom per unit. The goal is to kick out the current tenants in one unit, renovate the place, live in the upstairs, and rent out the downstairs to friends. Then do the same thing on the other unit when their lease is over.

$1800 (mortgage) - $1600 + $800 (rents) = $600 cash flow while living for free.

Then in one year (ish) we will refinance out of FHA into a conventional loan, move out, and do the process again!

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

This is apart of your 5 year plan, to buy a multifamily unit, live in it for around 1 year, fix it up while living there, move out, rent, and repeat the process each year.

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

This deal was listed on the MLS and we made an FHA offer... denied, then put in a backup offer and it was accepted!

How did you finance this deal?

Owner occupied FHA loan, 3.5% down.
After all prorated rent, security deposits, etc, we only had to come up with $6500 out of pocket!

How did you add value to the deal?

We will add value by adding an extra bedroom per unit, and "modernize" the place a bit!

What was the outcome?

The outcome hasn't been achieved yet, but we plan to cash flow around $1400/month, add equity through improvements, and have a nice money maker for the years to come.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Back up offers can work AND if your low on funds, ask for sellers to pay closing costs!!! We made a strong offer which was not accepted. We were really bummed so we tried putting in a backup offer which was still not accepted or even signed for weeks... we thought we lost the place. Then out of the blue, the sellers signed our backup offer and the next day their first buyers fell through. 3 WEEKS LATER AND WE GOT IT! A huge bonus was in our offer, we asked the sellers to pay closing costs! YAY!

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

YES! We always work with the same agent and lender and it is always a GREAT experience! I highly recommend them.

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Dan H.Pro Member
Investor ยท Poway, CA ยท Member since 2015 ยท 7k+ posts ยท 8k+ votes
6y

I want to say congrats for taking action, having a plan, acting on the plan.

Now for the constructive criticism: It appears you need to better understand rental expenses.  I suspect your formula needs some parenthesis but what I believe is mortgage is $1800, one unit rents for $1600 and your friends are renting your unit for $800.

income (rents) are $2400 and mortgage is $1800 for a $600 difference. $600 is not the expected cash flow. I will assume the mortgage is the full PITI. There are other expenses such as maintenance, capital expenses, vacancy, PM (even if self managing you should include PM in the numbers). This property is likely negative cash flow with you living in it. However, if you did not live in it you would need to pay rent elsewhere.

If you were renting out both units $3200/month rent with $1800 mortgage, the 50% rule would not have this having much positive cash flow.  With the small investment amount, the return could be good/great even with a small amount of positive cash flow.

I am not saying this to be discouraging but to educate not only you, but anyone reading this who may think the difference between PITI (mortgage + taxes + insurance) and rent is the expected cash flow.

You did not invest much.  You have a value add.  Your rents are likely to increase.  The property value is likely to increase.  It is likely a good investment, but it does not currently have positive cash flow with you living in it.

I am a fan of house hacking.  I am a fan of value adds.  I think you probably have a good investment even if the cash flow is not what you indicated.

Good luck

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  • Rental Property Investor ยท Lehi, UT ยท Member since 2020 ยท 159 posts ยท 158 votes
    6y

    Awesome Job, Everytime I see a house hacking success story I always wonder why more people dont take advantage of this opportunity!

  • New to Real Estate ยท Allentown, PA ยท Member since 2020 ยท 11 posts ยท 1 vote
    6y

    ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿผ thank you for sharing . Good job 

  • Investor ยท Vancouver, Canada ยท Member since 2017 ยท 25 posts ยท 16 votes
    6y

    Congratulations & well played!  

  • Twana RasoulBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent ยท San Diego, CA ยท Member since 2017 ยท 1k+ posts ยท 1k+ votes
    6y

    @Haylie Roggenbuck

    Congrats! Everyone should start off buying property through house hacking.

    Best of luck!

  • Rental Property Investor ยท Spokane, WA ยท Member since 2019 ยท 4 posts ยท 9 votes
    6y

    @Michael Wong @Twana Rasoul @Kody Thompson Thank you!! Itโ€™s such a great way to get started and it is so affordable! This is my second house hack and the first one worked out very well. I would like to acquire at least one โ€œhouse hackโ€ each year for the next 5 years on top of other investments. Then retire!

    Good luck to all of you!

  • Dan H.Pro Member
    Investor ยท Poway, CA ยท Member since 2015 ยท 7k+ posts ยท 8k+ votes
    6y

    I want to say congrats for taking action, having a plan, acting on the plan.

    Now for the constructive criticism: It appears you need to better understand rental expenses.  I suspect your formula needs some parenthesis but what I believe is mortgage is $1800, one unit rents for $1600 and your friends are renting your unit for $800.

    income (rents) are $2400 and mortgage is $1800 for a $600 difference. $600 is not the expected cash flow. I will assume the mortgage is the full PITI. There are other expenses such as maintenance, capital expenses, vacancy, PM (even if self managing you should include PM in the numbers). This property is likely negative cash flow with you living in it. However, if you did not live in it you would need to pay rent elsewhere.

    If you were renting out both units $3200/month rent with $1800 mortgage, the 50% rule would not have this having much positive cash flow.  With the small investment amount, the return could be good/great even with a small amount of positive cash flow.

    I am not saying this to be discouraging but to educate not only you, but anyone reading this who may think the difference between PITI (mortgage + taxes + insurance) and rent is the expected cash flow.

    You did not invest much.  You have a value add.  Your rents are likely to increase.  The property value is likely to increase.  It is likely a good investment, but it does not currently have positive cash flow with you living in it.

    I am a fan of house hacking.  I am a fan of value adds.  I think you probably have a good investment even if the cash flow is not what you indicated.

    Good luck

  • New to Real Estate ยท MD ยท Member since 2020 ยท 42 posts ยท 19 votes
    6y

    Amazing job!! Love hearing these success stories! Working on securing a house hack myself and this gives me more motivation! I always tell people about house hacking and it baffles me why more people donโ€™t take advantage!

  • Twana RasoulBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent ยท San Diego, CA ยท Member since 2017 ยท 1k+ posts ยท 1k+ votes
    6y

    @Alex Lunsford id recommend considering a 2 unit property if you can swing it.

  • Real Estate Agent ยท Oakland, CA ยท Member since 2019 ยท 37 posts ยท 40 votes
    6y

    @Haylie Roggenbuck Nicely done, more people should take advantage of this strategy and house hack a property. Especially if they live in an expensive market such as myself.

    I would be interested to see your expense breakdown in your market with vacancy, CapEx reserves, etc... congrats once again!

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