All Forum Posts by: Anthony Swain

 I'm happy to help! Especially another healthcare professional :)

@Demiss G. Shippley

Hey Demiss! Welcome!

I definitely agree with @Nathan Gesner. "Set For Life" by Scott Trench and "The House Hacking Strategy" by Craig Curelop are great books to start with. I love Chad Carson's Small & Mighty Real Estate Investor too. 

I think setting your goals is a great start. It is easy to get lost in the mix or get pulled in a dozen directions if you don't have a clear target.

I agree with @Crystal Smith. You should visit Albany to see if its somewhere you would like to live. Do you have any family or friends already there? Maybe they can give you the scoop on different neighborhoods and what there is to offer.

Start connecting with real estate professionals now. You can get started right away by connecting with an investor friendly agent here on BP. They will be a great resource to you and hopefully steer you in the right direction. I'd recommend contacting at least 2-3 and setting up coffee/phone chats to see who you vibe with the most. @Nathan Gesner hit the nail on the head about finding a rockstar Realtor. It could be a huge key to your initial success.

Evaluate your financial picture. How much do you have saved? What is your income? Other sources of income? Savings rate?

Start putting all your files in a easy to reach place. W-2s, pay stubs, bank statements, etc. This will make your potential lenders job 10x easier and they will take you seriously. Get your finances in order.  

All of the BiggerPockets podcasts are great supplemental learning material. I would binge an hour worth of episodes on my commutes to work while I was still a nurse. That definitely helped build my fluency of real estate investing. 

Find a good rental property calculator. Either your own or find one from a trusted real estate investor. I'm plugging Chad Carson here again. He has a good free download. 

Lastly, take the leap. Action x Education = Results

At some point you have to take action! You will learn lessons from it most definitely. If you never start, then you'll never find out.

Now, go out there and CRUSH IT!!

Hey @Eric Kline

Awesome that you're working on such a large scale deal. Conventional financing would not apply. You would likely need another loan (DSCR, commercial, hard money, portfolio etc.)

https://www.bankrate.com/real-estate/commercial-real-estate-...

I hope this info helps!

Hey @Allyson Mitchell 

Former travel nurse here! Last year my wife and I had similar goals. We wanted to purchase a small multi family to house hack and we did it!

It is 100% possible. I actually think it is more possible than you think. Certain lenders will understand the travel healthcare pay better and might be able to qualify with past W-2s, pay stubs, and contract terms. 

FHA option has a lower down payment but I'll warn you that not many sellers even want an FHA offer in my experience. Fortunately, you have the option of a 5% conventional now for a small multi-family.

Lenders do not need to know your future plans. Once you close on the property the rest is up to you. If you can still make payments then they are happy.

If you travel for work, you can still rent out a portion of your residence (rent by room) and rent other unit. I'm not a tax specialist, but I believe there would be a way to rent out your entire place while your're away on contracts. I remember reading something about being there (x) amount of days and having an area designated as your separate space. That would help qualify your tax home as well. Once again, I'd go over some of those questions with a professional tax specialist. 

There was a lot to unravel in your post, but I did my best haha

Please reach out if you have any other questions. I'd be happy to help you!

Hey @Cody Berry

Sounds great you found a duplex to house hack. Even better if the numbers make sense as an investment!

The only caveat is the safety. I'd search with various crime activity tools and see what kinds of crime are happening/frequency. Obviously, a noise complaint is going to be looked at much differently than an armed robbery. 

I drove by our neighborhood at many different times during the day. This gave us a feel of foot traffic, if people hung around certain locations, and any other suspicious activity. 

Security cameras like those on Amazon are useful and can act as a deterrent. If you want to go a step above you can pay for an installed security system. Or a step below, just put out the security signs lol. 

Good luck with it! Hopefully its not as bad as you thought. 

Hey @Tristan Crawford-Lee,

It sounds like you have some great connections. I'd just run your numbers on the new development i.e. how much can you get land for, building permits, water/sewer hook-ups, etc. 

Do some research for market rents, STR potential, and comparable property values.

Use these numbers to help determine your ROI and potential return on investment.

Good luck Tristan. Keep us posted!

@Gregory Schwartz I know you know!

You seem to be one of these Rockstar agents I'm referring to. 

Thanks for dropping in man!

 Hey Erwin!

Thanks for sharing that. There is a learning curve, but I'm sure you are gaining practical knowledge along the way. Give yourself grace and recognize your progress so far. 

Please reach out if you have any questions with self-management. I'm happy to share what I know and has worked for me. 

Good luck!

Hey @Alec Bildstein 

Thank you my friend!

SEARCH TIPS: We found our house hack duplex on market. It had a high # of days on market and a recent price reduction that triggered us to take a deeper look. I think finding an investor friendly agent can help you spot hidden gems like that and submit offers on your behalf that fit your buy criteria.

I'd look for high days on market, have your agent set up a drip e-mail for listings that meet your criteria, and recent price reductions. 

OFF-MARKET: Off-market deals are possible too! If pursuing off-market, then it is crucial to connect with reliable wholesalers or agents that might have some pocket listings. You can pursue off market yourself, but it will take either a lot of time, money or both. 

CLOSING: If you have your pre-approval from reliable lenders, then you should be able to close with a favorable loan option. If you don't already have a pre-approval, then connecting with a investor friendly lender is a great start!

If it is off-market, then you'll need to most likely need to raise capital for a cash closing. I'd connect with a vetted hard money lender or gather enough private capital from family/friends. 

Please reach out if you have any questions or want to connect Alec. I'm an open book and happy to help! 

-Ant

@Bonnie Low 

Thanks for taking the time to read through my summary. 

Yes, tenant management software will save you time in the long run and allow you to scale without difficulty. It's a lot easier to add properties to an already rock solid process. I use Avail and its made the process seamless IMO. It has a free option or a relatively affordable premium option. Also, you can get referral credits that can make the premium free for months! 

It is a side by side duplex. It is only connected by a middle porch. It is basically two separate houses, so that makes it great for privacy. We fenced in the property and added a fence in middle of backyard to split that space too. 

I think if you were sharing walls or in same house, then certain quiet hours in lease or noise restrictions can help prevent some issues. 

Thank you for commenting Bonnie. Good luck with your investment properties :)