All Forum Posts by: Amanda G.

Sounds like you are in a great position, congrats! I'd say if it is working for you, keep doing it!

Hey, there are pretty inexpensive options out there. Mine cost about $500 for Georgia. If I had it to do again, I would not have put property into the LLC until after I had a conventional loan on it. The banks want to see it in your name for at least 6 months, sometimes 12. Good luck!

I deal for a house hacker is different than a deal for someone who is looking at pure investing. Pick a place you are willing to live. If you choose to live close to a college or hospital you will likely always have people who want to rent there. Ask yourself- would a single woman feel comfortable walking around here? If not, use that info as part of your decision making.

Some people get all their living expenses covered by house hacking, but not everyone. Consider running the numbers if you were to move out- would you still want to own this investment? If not, keep looking.

Hey! My first home I rented rooms and was glad when they covered about half the mortgage and 2/3 of the utilities (we split them 3 ways). If you like living with roommates, it isn't a bad gig. 
 2620/mo for rent is huge for my part of the country. Will it be a good rental when you are ready to move? Or are you thinking this is more about building equity.

Hi Kyle,

Reasonable question. Rental properties are small businesses. Wouldn't it make sense to buy one, see if you like it, learn from the experience- before jumping in an buying a franchise in an industry that is new to you? You answered the question yourself, not many people have access to the capital to buy 10 at a time. Most who do have experience, which brings connections, and if you do business right, that brings trust, which brings money.

On a pragmatic level, conventional banks have this pesky thing called "debt to income". They want to protect their loan by seeing that you have the income to cover it if (but really when) things go sideways.

Hi Luke, It depends a great deal on where you are in the US how much things cost to repair. In the SE/mid-west, a rule of thumb I've heard is 10/sq ft for "light", 15 for "medium" and 20 and up for "heavy." But that is a VERY rough estimate, only walking multiple houses and getting lots of work from contractors will actually tell you.

I can't guess based on one data point. It could be that school is starting and everyone is trying to move into their new rental before their kids need to be registered. It could mean something much bigger. Watch things over time and you'll start being able to interpret them.

I think you aren't getting answers because it isn't clear that doing that would actually increase the value. Does it increase the number of official square feet on the home? My guess is no, if it isn't heated, but I really don't know. Talk to a realtor or two who know that neighborhood and can tell you what does and doesn't increase value.

10 years at 4% is gold. I wouldn't get rid of that loan if I could help it. If you feel you MUST, maybe talk with them about moving the loan to another property rather than paying it off.

Hi Sean, A place to start is the 1% rule. Compare house prices to rental rates on zillow- where are there houses for rent that cost equal or less than 100% the monthly rent? ie 70k house renting for $800/mo. If you can't find any, that means either you need to get very creative, or start branching out geographically. If you see houses for 30k that rent for 600, (2%) know that those are probably tough neighborhoods. Numbers are based on my town, adjust them for yours.