​4 things that helped me after my first house hack.

4 things that helped me after my first house hack.

“The best way to get ahead, is to get started.”

So I am now a proud owner of a two family property in New Jersey. The home was move in ready but there was still a couple of things that needed to get done to prepare the property for the tenant and me since I will be house hacking. In my first two weeks of owning the property, I have realized that 4 things were very important in helping me organize and getting the unit ready for renting. The first thing that was really helpful in these first two weeks was Wunderlist. The second thing that was important was the basic tool set I ordered in Amazon. The third thing I was lucky to have was willing friends. The last thing that really helped me get through the first two weeks was my network.

1.Wunderlist

Wunderlist is an app I had recommended to me to help me remember certain things I have to do throughout the days, months and weeks. It is really simple to use and it has some great features. The app played a major role in helping me organize all the things I had to do for the property with all its great features. The first thing you can do with this app is that you can share your list with someone so both parties can see what needs to be done. For example, my girlfriend and I share a “Home maintenance” folder where we add anything that needs to be done for the house. We can assign specific tasks to each other and both parties can see when someone has completed a task. Another cool feature with the app is that you can have on going tasks assigned which help you stay on top of all the fixed costs like the cable bill, electricity bill, gas bill, water bill and mortgage. This relieves the stress of having to remember all those dates. Another feature I like about this app is that it saves all completed tasks so you are able to always reference back to a previous tasks. This proved to be very helpful for my girlfriend and I and that is why I wanted to share it with anyone reading.

P.S.- I have no affiliation what’s so ever with this app or company.

2.Basic Tools

I have never used a drill or even screwed in a light bulb in my life. When my girlfriend mentioned that it might be a good idea for us to purchase some basic tools, I didn’t understand why. After living in this house for two weeks, I now fully understand. Growing up in an apartment with my mom and dad for most of my life meant that I didn’t really have to do much. Any major repairs was the responsibility of the property manager and everything else that needed to be done around the house was taken care of by my dad. So I couldn’t comprehend why my girlfriend insisted that we purchase tools but I said “why not” and we purchased them. Best 40 bucks I spent so far. In the last two weeks, I have used those tools every day for something around the house. I am still learning but luckily with the help of friends and YouTube, I been able to learn fairly quickly. If you have never picked up a tool and that is why you haven’t purchased a home yet, don’t let that stop you. You will learn and most things aren’t that hard. Its hard work but it’s not that hard. You got this!

3.Friends

I am a really lucky guy. I had more than enough friends to help me move when I needed the help. Luckily I have always been there for them when they needed help with moving or things of that nature. Without them, I would have probably had to pay movers to help me move in. Besides that, a lot of my friends taught me how to do a lot of things that I have never done. I had one friend show me how to mount a TV. I had another one show me how to change a lock which is not that hard by the way. I had another friend show me how to install a thermostat. I can go on forever about all the things my friends have been willing to teach me throughout this process. I am truly grateful for them and each of them received pizza and a big “IOU” from me which they can cash whenever they need help.

Just to give one example of how important it was for my friends to be there, I will talk about bringing up the fridge. Something that I realized after I purchased the home was that the doors are a bit smaller in width than usual. I learned that the hard way. I bought a brand new fridge and because I purchased a two family home and I took the top unit, I had to take the fridge up the stairs. Now because the home is a single family converted into a two family, the hallway up to the steps to the second unit was tight. Just to show you how tight, try to imagine bringing up a fridge that has a depth of 31.5 inches with the fridge doors off through a hallway that is 32 inches long. It wasn’t a pretty light. For one, I destroyed my hallway walls. I also ruined my door frames. I even messed up my fridges compressor but that’s not the point. The point is that without my friends, I would have had to pay some people to take the fridge up those stairs and I’m pretty sure I was going to get charged an arm and a leg because it was so difficult.

4.Network

Once a month I host a real estate meet up and that was one of the best things I have ever done in my short real estate career. Throughout the months I have been lucky enough to meet some really great guys in the meet up that have helped me throughout the purchasing process. Any time I had a question, it felt good knowing that I was able to speak to one of the people from my meet up for advice. A great example of this was when I was trying to figure out the comps for the property. My agent sent me some comps and I found some properties myself to compare my property to but something else I was able to do was to speak to one of the members from the meet up and it just so happened that he was purchasing a home very similar to mine in the same neighborhood. He was able to show me the comps he used and that was useful in helping me find a more accurate idea of what my property was worth. Brandon Turners always says to create a meet up if there isn’t one around you. The people will come and he was right.

Another person which ended up helping a lot throughout the process of purchasing my first property was my agent. My agent for this transaction went above and beyond. We are actually becoming friends. David Greene mentions in his book that one of the perks to working with a great agent is the resources they have at their disposal. He was right. My agent went above and beyond to make sure the deal went smooth. He also made sure I hired the right contractors. He even taught me how to change locks after we closed on the property. I know some of you might be thinking that he only helped me to get paid. Well, a week later my agent still recommended someone to come out and help me with plumbing and after bringing in different plumbers to compare quotes, not only was I getting a great discount but when I looked up the plumber he recommended, the plumber had great reviews.

This is why it I think it is so important to continue to build up your network with quality people. I am also always trying to figure out how I can help the people that help me so I can also bring value. I wouldn’t want anyone to think I am just taking advantage.

Conclusion

I wish I can tell you one of these things was more important than the other but I would be lying. Each of those four things helped and continue to help me throughout my everyday life. They all bring something different to the table. Wunderlist helps me organize. Tools help me fix all and build all the things I need. My friends are always there to help and my network and I are developing a friendship and they are always there to give me advice. You don’t need a property to start working on these things so there is no excuse to get started so just do it.