All Forum Posts by: Anne Lu

@Chandirasekarendiran Anandan Welcome to the BiggerPockets community! I joined last year with similar goals to you, and have learned so much since then through engaging with the community. I think taking the step to meet with people to have the conversations really helped expand my knowledge, not mention the great relationships built. Look forward to connecting!

The most important thing is having the appraiser (lender will contact) appraise your investment property with rents above the mortgage, so the lender knows you will be able to pay them back. Appraisers are typically pretty conservative and will use long-term rental rates, not mid/short term rates. So the steps I recommend to do this would be to talk to a few lenders first, get an idea of what their process is and see who you enjoy working with, look for your investment properties, and get back to the lenders so they can appraise and approve/disapprove the loan.

What was offered to me personally was a DSCR loan, since it's based on rental income of the property you're trying to get a loan on, not previous and current personal income.

Hey @Diego Madera! I finally found you on BP, lol! Your contact info didn't go through so I thought I lost you. It was so great meeting you at our happy hour meetup. You really left a strong impression on everyone. I truly wish you the best and am excited to see what you can accomplish!

@Robert Medina Online presence is something I'd look into before setting up those appointments to interview, to save time and effort knowing that you are talking to someone who at least has a level of expertise.

I tend to look at these things to start: What impression do they give you online (professional or not/resourceful or not)? Are they putting out useful content about the local market? Do they have tons of positive reviews from clients? 

And, if someone referred an agent/team to you, that's also a good indication that the agent is worth talking to because no one wants to look bad by referring people they don't enjoy working with.

Hey @Priyanka Shah!

I currently live in Aurora and am also thinking of investing in this city, or the Denver Metro Area. The other posters have mentioned some great locations, so I'll just stick to Aurora and tell you more about it.

What I love about Aurora is the number of hospitals, restaurant scene, and proximity to the airport, and jobs (easy access to downtown and DTC). It's not short-term rental friendly (unless owner-occupied), but MTR and LTR do very well. Stable tenants.

I'm considering a mid-term rent-by-the-room strategy, which works really well with the demographics here, and it increases cash flow compared to renting out the whole place. 

Curious what your thoughts are on strategy!

@Hayden Clark

Congrats on starting the journey of looking at your first property!

Duplex & Small multi-family in the Denver market are getting harder and harder to cashflow, but house hacking is still the easiest and most cost-efficient way to get started if you are looking to own a property. Another option that you can consider is house hacking a single-family property, living either upstairs or downstairs, and renting out the other half. To increase the chance of having more cash flow, rent out by the room for the rooms you are not using.

I hope you find this helpful! 

Hey Michael, Welcome to Colorado! A loan option you could look into that will potentially preapprove you for more is a DSCR (Debt service coverage ratio) loan, which is based on the rental income of the investment property you are looking to purchase, instead of based on your personal income for a conventional loan. DSCR will have slightly higher rates than conventional loans, but the benefit is you can qualify for more. From my experience talking to lenders, as long as the appraisal says the rental income can cover your mortgage, you are in a good spot to secure the loan.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have additional questions on loan options (I work with investor-friendly lenders) and/or if you need a second opinions on investment properties in the Denver area.

 Hi Kyle, I came across an episode of your podcast today and am in the process of figuring out the best real estate investment strategy and financial planning based on my current financial situation. Your explanation here about CFP is super helpful! 

I'm a new real estate agent and am also looking at my first investment property. I love the approach of a holistic financial view before jumping in and pursuing all sorts of shiny objects. What kind of professional do you recommend I talk to to gain a better understanding? I was going to talk to CPAs, maybe attorneys, since I need to set up LLCs, do taxes, and advice in general regarding family/generational financial planning, but CFP may be a better route. What do you think? And are there other options that might help?

Thank you!

Hi Rafael!

I hope your exam goes well!! 

For brokerages, I'm slowly interviewing a few, large and small. A lot of people end up changing brokerages after their first year or so, but most people I talked to say joining a large brokerage, in the beginning, helps a ton. Just make sure you join one where they give enough mentorship/training/leads that match the amount of commission split they take.

For meetups, I have been going down a rabbit hole of following people on social media, and there just seems to be a lot once you start looking! Bigger Pockets podcast and Instagram have been great resources overall for finding people and ideas.

I'm looking to purchase my first rental property, ideally short to medium-term, for the larger monthly cash flow.  I'm okay with the work involved because I want to learn as much as I can first. 

What are your interests in RE?