All Forum Posts by: Anthony Swain

Hey @Jeffery Cooperr

Fellow house-hacker here! 

It sounds like you like to stay ahead of the curve with things, but like others mentioned, I think it may be a bit too early for them to know if they are going to renew lease or not. I'd reach out in the Fall October/November. By then the tenants may have a more accurate idea and it still gives you plenty of time to plan accordingly. 

Also, is there any wording in your lease for appropriate notice of extension by either parties? This might be something to consider, because the tenants might feel a bit pressured if the lease stated something differently. 

Good luck with it! If they're good tenants for you, then I hope they stay haha

Hey @Jacob Zivanovich,

I’m glad you found it helpful man! My goal was to give a good example for someone else. 

I counted amortization as a plus because I’m highlighting the amount of principle I’m paying down. That principle paydown is your new equity in theory. It may not seem like a lot month to month but over a year it can be a few thousand. After several years, it can be a larger five figure chunk. 

Please reach out if you have any questions! I’m happy to help!

-Ant

Follow up. Follow up. Follow up. Actually do what you say you will. Show that you’ll add value. 

@Dailyn Souder

First off, congrats on paying off your property! This can be a major cash-flowing asset for you & your family. Kudos to you, because I am sure that took a lot of consistency and determination.

To answer your question about rental rates, 

1) You should do some market research to see what comparable properties are renting for in your specific neighborhood or close by. Rent-o-meter, Zillow, apartments, etc. are great tools for checking rental rates and comps. 

2) Your rental rate should not be reflected by the paid-off mortgage. In other words, you should not lower rental rates because you have it paid off. That would be doing you an injustice for actually paying it off. 

3) I'd suggest never discussing your mortgage with any tenants. Worst case scenario they do something intentionally to hold you & your paid-off property liable. I'd encourage you to speak to an attorney to make sure you are set up with good protection to cover any incident that may happen i.e. umbrella policy or increased liability coverage. 

Recs

Craig Curelop- The House Hacking Strategy: How to Use Your Home To Achieve Financial Freedom

Chad Carson- Small & Mighty Investor

BiggerPockets & BiggerPockets Rookie Podcasts

Good luck! Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions :)

@Christopher Walrod

You're on the right track! Posting on here and trying to find connections with local pros is a great start.

I'd recommend going to some local meet-ups and meeting some of the agent suggestions you get over the phone or a coffee. I think it is very important that your agent is saavy with local investing, but also someone you get along with. Hopefully, this will be longer than a one-off relationship for you to start your investing journey. 

Also, do you have your strategy narrowed down? Rent by the room, renting out other unit/s in a small multi-family, etc.? 

Good luck on your journey!

Hey @Rania Mutumhe,

You're asking a lot of great questions. The pre-approval is a great step towards purchasing your house hack. It isn't a bad idea to get pre-approval from more than one lender. Some lenders are brokers that shop between multiple (10-15 lenders) or more, so that can help you get the best rate/terms too.

To market your current home/future rental, I'd make sure to have professional photos, list on multiple listing sites (FB, Zillow, Apartments.com, etc.). 

For your future house hack, download a good calculator (Chad Carson has a free one) to analyze your deals. I think it is important to calculate your overall return on investment (ROI), so include appreciation, loan amortization, and your housing expense savings. The higher ROI is better, but you'll have to determine the minimum ROI that you want in a deal.

I hope this info helps! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

-Ant

@Jaekwan Lee

Hey! Welcome to the forums!

Fellow house hacker here. It sounds like you have a good situation being able to house hack with your significant other in a quadplex. You'll get to split your unit's rent with another person too ;)

I think you're in a better position than other investors. YOU can live in the investment property. You will benefit from low-down payment options (3.5-5%), possibly reduced living expenses, appreciation, and loan pay-down. Not to mention, you'll gain valuable experience in property management, renovations, project management, etc. 

Also, would you consider doing a furnished rental for one or more of the units? This strategy can increase your income while you are house-hacking. This strategy has worked tremendously for us, but I'm not sure of demand or rates relative to your area.

Keep running your numbers, but don't get stuck in analysis paralysis. Eventually, you will need to leap into your 1st investment. If your numbers check out and the deal makes sense, then trust your process. 

Good luck! I'm happy to help if you have any questions. 

@Robby Sanchez

I like your long-term thinking and master plan. It sounds like you have a lot of transferable skills in the real estate industry. My only suggestion would be to keep growing your network with other multi-family investors because that will play a big part too. 

As far as your duplex, I'd say to evaluate your options for overall return. Unfortunately, ACs are not massive ROI movers, because people just expect them. If you replace them now, then hopefully less headaches going forward.

For example, I had to replace a roof on one of my duplexes, so I asked the roofer for a combo deal on another duplex with an old roof to get a better deal. Now (knock on wood) I won't need to worry about either roof for 15-20 years at the least. I'm sure similar logic can be applied to your HVAC situation. However, maybe selling to capture that equity can help you on your bigger multi-family investing endeavors. 

Good luck with your decisions Robby and keep us posted.

@Fisher Hudak

A TON of respect for the hustle. My guy is out here living in his garage to make his house hack more profitable. Can you talk about delayed gratification?!

To make sure it's legal, I would dive deep into the zoning/code regulations and try to connect with someone in your area who is doing something similar. They might be able to steer you in the right direction.

To piggyback off of @Jake Andronico, I'd consult your lender about your intentions to see if they would need any specific requirements. That is a smart idea to prevent anything negatively happening with your loan. 

Just brainstorming here, but once you move on from this property, then maybe you can continue to rent the garage separately. I believe @Ryan Thomson had some success with that!

Good luck with everything! I can't wait to hear about how things turn out. 

Hey Sarita! 

So far FF & Airbnb. All the bookings have came from FF.

I reach out to leads that fit similar request and respond to direct booking inquiries.

Are you doing MTR or STR in Chicago??