This is my current primary residence that serves as a house hack. It is a SFR with a mother-in-law apartment: 2br/1b up top and 1br/1b down low. The only thing the two units share is the laundry. I live in the mother-in-law and rent the top. It leaves me only paying a couple hundred a month. When I move into my next property, it will start cash flowing.

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

I wanted to get my feet wet in real estate investing so I began looking for properties I could house hack.

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

I was looking for duplexes on the MLS and this SFR popped up. I saw it had a mother-in-law apartment so I jumped right on it. I negotiated down the price after a few items came back in the inspection that weren't up to code. I was able to knock off more than I knew the contracting jobs would cost. This also resulted in a more optimal cash flow opportunity which I was keen on.

How did you finance this deal?

I financed this deal with a convential loan for 5% down and 30 years.

How did you add value to the deal?

I was able to get initial value by buying for $10k+ below the appraisal. I am slowly adding value by doing small improvements such as upgrading from a swamp cooler to central air and improving the interior cosmetically.

What was the outcome?

I am currently living in one unit and renting out the other.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned the process of buying a house, getting contracting work completed, and landlording. The only challenge that stands out to me is learning that my bank wouldn't do wire transfers over the phone or online. Since my bank is regional and I don't live in that area anymore, this caused a major problem. My lender and title company did a lot to workaround this.

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

Any Hour Services knocked out adding GFCI to my outlets quickly. Tom from Community Lending Group helped to really explain the ins and outs of getting a convetional loan and making sure I could overcome the previously mentioned challenge.

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