House hacking in Anchorage, Alaska?

Question

Hi,

I recently moved to Alaska (currently renting in Fairbanks) and I am looking to purchase, and house-hack a property in the Anchorage area.   I work a 2-week-on-2-week-off rotation as a geologist, and am therefore starting my search on condominiums (assuming they may be less of a maintenance issue to handle remotely while I am at work?).  I am however open to other options, such as a SFH.  I am just beginning my search and seeking any and all advice or tips from my fellow real estate investors!  I have seen a few other househacking posts for Anchorage but nothing seemed tremendously recent and so I thought I would share my journey with you all here.   Expect more to come as I post my updates.  Thanks for being an awesome group of humans and I look forward to hear from you and potentially teaming up in the future!

Cheers and best,

Colin

Jamie Rose · Answer

@Nazanin Boojar - you can find a SFH 9 CAP in Anchorage? I'll pay a finders fee - doesn't exist. (and before someone shows me a burned out foreclosure for $100k... incorporate real vacancy and CAPEX into your pro forma...)

Ryan Thomson · Answer

@Colin Phillips House Hacking is amazing. Here are some resources I found really helpful on my journey.

1. For podcasts I really like the Huse Hacking episodes on Bigger Pockets Podcast and other channels. Here is a playlist with the best House Hacking Podcasts I’ve found: https://open.spotify.com/playl...

2. Great beginners guide: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

3. The Book on House Hacking Strategies by Bigger Pockets is also a fantastic book

4. Happy to talk if you want more advice

5. Connect with a realtor who understands house hacking and has invested themselves

6. Connect with a lender to see what you qualify for and how you can improve that situation

7. Go to local Real Estate meetups and learn from people there

Colin Phillips · Answer

@Nazanin Boojar,  I appreciate your information about considering SFHs instead of condos.  Also, not a bad idea to find a cheap place and rent a place myself while I rent out my SFH, unfortunately I am trying to get a low interest loan which I believe requires me to be an owner occupant.  Regarding the Caprates you are getting,  are you by chance using the Bigger Pockets Rental estimator and would you be willing to share one of your analyses?   I just want to make sure I am getting all the numbers correct.  Thanks

@Ryan Thompson, great tips, i'll be sure to check all that out!

Colin Phillips · Answer

Hey Sepp,

Great! Its always fun to be ambitious.  I appreciate your input.  I really needed input from veterans like yourself to help me to increase the quality of my analyses for properties.  I'll mull on your feedback and repost soon.

Cheers, and happy monday!

Colin

Sepp Wigger · Answer

Hey Colin,

It is amazing that you are looking to make this opportunity a reality. A couple of notes on the analysis you linked. First, Mountainview is one of those neighborhoods where the tenants and the quality of real estate are usually below average. Not saying that you can't get a great deal or to avoid it just as a heads up. Because of this rents are typically a bit lower. This property is currently being rented out at 4350, if you occupy one unit(let's say the 2bd2ba) and still rent out a room you would look at closer to 4k for rent. I will make a note that this is year one and with new tenants, improvements, and general rent increases you can get them to that market rent.

Second, if you are out of town for half the month you will probably want a property manager which will be about 10%. For this property Water, Sewer, Gas, Trash, and Insurance come out to about 1100 a month. Also, make sure if you are only putting down 5% you factor in PMI.

None of that means that it might not be a good investment for you, in my opinion, I just don't see it cash-flowing the 800 dollars a month like in the analysis. Most of the time house-hacking won't cashflow and that shouldn't be the goal. Make sure the focus is building equity, and lowering your housing cost. That way in a few years you can sell it and move to the next one or just rent the additional unit and actually cashflow. That is what I personally did with my first rental and I wouldn't change a thing.

Let me know if there are questions for me or comments on my thought process.

Colin Phillips · Answer

Hey BP,

Looking for some guidance on analyzing House Hacks in Anchorage.  Thanks, Team!

4-PLEXs

Here is a 4-plex in Mountainview that seems to have cashflow, assuming that the tenants pay gas and electric (big assumption?).  I estimated $4400 income based on the BP rental estimator showing $1300 for a 3B2B ( of which there are three  in the 4 plex I estiamte), and as I would be living in the smallest one unit and renting the additional room, I estimated $4400 in income (3 x $1300 + $500) https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Do these numbers seem correct?

Thanks for the help

Nazanin Boojar · Answer

I use different data sources to calculate those numbers.

Shoot me a DM with your email and I'll hook you up. We can dive deep into those numbers. I'll be happy to help

Nazanin Boojar · Answer

I've analyzed only 4 properties and the average was 9. But there are lots of properties with way less cap rates.I don't look for just any property.

Maybe we can bring a real case and analyze it together.

Nazanin Boojar · Answer

Single-family houses are usually less of an issue for house hacking.Anchorage is not the best market as far as I have analyzed, but with around $400K you could find some good deals with an average of ~9% cap rate. I can help you with finding the right property.

You could also rent a cheaper unit in the city and rent out your entire property.

If there's any specific questions, please do ask. I'd be happy to help.

House hacking in Anchorage, Alaska?

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