HOUSE HACKING MY WAY TO FI

[Kendra Levy]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Westminster.

Purchase price: $382,000
Cash invested: $10,000

Contributors:
Craig Curelop

This was my first house hack!

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

It was a great way to buy a more expensive property with little to no down payment.

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

Craig Curelop found this amazing house...we saw it within minutes of it coming on the market and put in our offer right away. When you see a deal, you must act quickly! Especially in a hot market like Denver.

How did you finance this deal?

VA loan

How did you add value to the deal?

The yard needed a lot of work...I had some landscapers and other professionals work their magic to give it more curb appeal.

What was the outcome?

I found some great tenants to rent the basement, so now I am living rent free plus building equity in the home :)

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Always get multiple quotes from contractors. I needed some electrical work done after moving in and I got bids between $300-$1500 for the SAME JOB!!!!

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

Craig Curelop is truly the master househacker! I would recommend himto anyone looking to explore this area of REI. I am already planning my next one and he is my go to agent in Denver!

[James Carlson]

@Kendra Levy

Congrats! I love the mother-in-law/basement apartment suite. I always think about house-hacking on a spectrum. You've got most money and no privacy on one side (rent-by-the room model) and least money but most privacy on the other side (multi-unit where you live in one and rent the others). The separate entrance/basement apartment style is closer to the multi-unit style. Anyway, sounds like a great deal. Way to go.

To @Betsey Biggs' question ... the zoning does matter. In Denver and Colorado Springs, for instance, if the home is zoned single unit (Ex: "SU" in Denver or "R-1" in the Springs) then you can rent that basement separately while you live there, but you can't technically rent it out and the upstairs separately if you move out. Can you get away with it? IN a lot of cities, yes, as long as your neighbors aren't nosy, but it's smart to be aware of what the laws and codes say so that you know what risk you're taking on.