All Forum Posts by: Andrew Powers

Depending on where you're looking and how much you have saved up, there's plenty of <100k or <50k move in ready properties in the area. 

Simplified view of renting vs owning:

-Pros of renting: gives you flexibility to move around, no maintenance. Pros of Owning/ house hacking: gives you the benefits of owning real estate, reduces or eliminates your housing costs. 

-Cons of renting is you pay for housing. Cons of owning/ house hacking is running a business if you don't have systems or professionals in place (property management, repairs, etc), market fluctuations can change rental and exit strategies. 

Do you expect to stay in the area for at least another couple years? Do you mind or have time for issues that come up with tenants or repairs? 

Renting and owning both have their pros and cons, its a matter of assessing your personal situation to determine what is best for you!

I find roommates using Craigslist and FB market place. I price rooms according to other rooms available in the area, and scale the price based on my house location and the room's ammentities and size. Be sure that the price is not too close to a studio apartment because people would opt for that instead of your room.

I follow standard practice for screening tenants. I use Cozy to conduct background and credit checks and also for PM.

Welcome to BP, all of these questions are relative to you. There's no one size fits all. You have a goal of financial freedom, but that's vague. What does that look like to you personally? Who what when where why how. Precisely describe this for yourself and you will start finding answers. This takes time so be really patient with yourself.

If you have alot of questions, get organized and attack each one with prioritization. Many times a simple search on the forums can answer your questions. 

I recommend searching around the site, for example the BP bookstore has lots of good books. The podcasts have recommendations as well.

Good luck as you go through the process!

Wow, just a little effort goes a long way. People get caught in the weeds and can't find their way out. Nice job

My metro detroit house hack had a boiler needing replacing. I got quotes for boiler replacement vs furnance/ ducting. Boiler was roughly 6k and the other option would be 15k+. For my situation I opted for boiler replacement to conserve cash, get it rented asap, and my area didn't call for higher rents for central air.

Since you are doing a rehab and refinance, it makes alot of sense to consider central air system or some other AC method. What is additional cost of putting in a central air system/ mini split/ other system vs rent increase (aka roi)? 

Also consider how much of a project you have... if walls are already being opened up for other reasons then you're already 1 step ahead to add ducting. 

Your state should have a lease template which is a good baseline. BP leases for each state are also good. As you learn read and hear lessons learned from other investors, keep a list of things to add to your lease!

Hello Porter, would you consider house hacking by renting out the bedrooms? That would be $0 extra and would reduce or eliminate the house expenses depending on the numbers.

Is your goal to help pay off some expenses or to make some money on top? I recommend talking with local zoning and building officers to gauge feasibility of some of your questions 

I recommend to start with the BP calculator. If its a house hack I look at the entire house even with me living there. But if you prefer to consider your living area and the basement seperate, scale your house costs (PITI, etc) according basement vs upstairs square footage? Then look at the rental calculator. Look at CoC return as mentioned.

Educate yourself by reading real estate books, listening to podcasts, networking with others. Be patient. 

Why are you targeting 1M? Is it because it just seems like a good number or do you truly need that to support the life you want... What is the life you want? Reverse engineer your goals to milestones and actionable steps you can take everyday to reach your goals. This is one of the hardest parts but once you know your "why" and your goals, you have clarity and you don't feel stuck.

If you have no cash... you need to partner up or work for someone who owns a real estate business. Look at ways to provide value. You can have money, have hustle, or have knowledge... being in your position it seems like what you can provide is hustle. Be the person finding deals, doing rehabs, property management. What are your skills and what do you like? Talk to people who would benefit from that. 

I recommend to reach out to some people in the area. Go to the network tab above to connect. This will also help you have contacts when you buy your property, people know people and can give recommendations too.

Also get familiar with housing prices and neighborhoods by studying the MLS, driving around, etc.

Do you know what type of property, how much you'd be willing to pay, or what kind of returns you're looking for? Get clear on your criteria which will help others help you find the right property