All Forum Posts by: Andrew Powers

Do you have a lease with her? Is the lease she distributed to other tenants the same?

Check the lease for extra people living in property, and other rules like cars, pets, etc.  There may be something you can point to in the lease which would give you authority.

Since they are first time home buyer and house hacking, they can use low down payment owner occupied loan (like 3% down first home buyer loan for single family, or 3.5% down FHA for multifamily). There's other loans too.

Potentially you can be a cosigner if they cannot be pre approved for mortgage themselves. Since they will be house hacking they should learn how to do it too

Check out the market for room prices. In my area I look at FB and Craigslist rooms, then scale the price based on my rooms amenities, size, and my house location. Make sure your room price is not too close to studio apartments available as most would rather their own studio than sharing a house. 

Make sure you understand the numbers is how you know its a good investment! 

I recommend to use the BP calculator and the watch tutorials.

It sounds like you have a great deal on your hands, well under priced and a 100k family loan. That's awesome! Get answers to the challenges to help make a decision:

-Get an inspection done (only a few hundred)

-really self analyze yourself, understand your goals and see the big picture. There's pros and cons to every location and deal and circumstance, it's a matter of deciding based on your own goals and risk aversion. Getting answers will help understand if your gut feeling is real or just worry since it may be currently overwhelming. Also if you decide house hacking is not the right move for this house, can you consider a different strategy (ie flip?). 

-Have multiple exit strategies. Think in extremes... WORST case if something goes wrong, you have 120k in equity. If you need to sell the house, you probably won't lose even if housing market goes down in that area. 

We don't have the full picture of the situation but hopefully this helps. Good luck with your decision!

I house hack here as well, lots of cities and towns where the numbers are so good you can live for free or even make money on top, including expense budgets

If there's opportunity to house hack, I recommend this to get the low DP loan and also reduce/ eliminate your housing expenses. Check the lease end dates to confirm if you can move in one of the units within 60 days (typical per owner occupied loan requirements). Or maybe negotiate one of the units be vacated upon closing. 

Get an estoppel and rent rolls for the units to confirm numbers from the seller are real.  Good luck! 

Yes it's more management intensive but also more profitable typically. Make sure your leases / roommates agreements have language for roommates (roommate duties, common areas clean/clutter free, dishes). Depending on age group, a professional cleaning service may be best for common areas once a month.

I analyze a deal based on normal rental and if rent by room happens to work that is a plus (financial wise)

I do the same thing, walking for dollars. The potential houses in my area I have interest in, there's usually no one living there. So I send mail per tax record owner address. You don't know their background situation (unless Google search or skip trace yields something) but you can always offer to help get the property off their hands.

Door knocking works as well!

Either way, all you can do is be respectful and offer your help. In any situation in life, eventually you will find someone who thinks you are insulting so I wouldn't focus on that. 

Welcome to BP! BRRRR and house hack are great options! Having copartner roommates in a house hack will reduce your housing expenses and you gain the benefits of owning real estate.

An idea that came to mind is you guys could house hack + BRRRR (ie do a live-in flip). Once the rehab is complete, move out and finish the BRRRR process. Then go on to the next one.

Also depending on purchase strategy, each one of you could utilize low DP owner occupied loans to conserve cash for the rehab. Keep in mind closing costs are required here but analyze the numbers for each potential property to see if it makes sense. 

Good luck!