All Forum Posts by: Ben Einspahr

great remodel. Are there pictures of the lower lvl?

@RJ Cincotta  Welcome to BP! Rental property investing is still possible in CO but, this goes with out saying, is much more difficult with this high interest rate environment.

However, I mentioned, it can be done. The top 3 investing strategies our clients have found success in (in the Denver Metro) are:

1. house hacking

2. MTR investing

3. rent by the room rentals

Personally, I feel now is a great time to buy because there are a lot of people (investors + families) sitting on the sidelines waiting for rates to drop. Once rate drop below the 5.99% mark, we will be right back into a bidding war and potential for prices shoot back up. 

I will follow up with a few Investing market updates + case studies I did for August in Souther CO, Denver, and Northern CO.

Best of luck!

@Rafi Barash great post! Rent by the room house hacking is one of the best ways for a your professional like yourself to get their foot in the door with REI at low cost out of pocket (3.5-5% down) + hands on landlord experience!

- What areas near Denver are best for SFH house hack?- I can not tell you where the best areas to invest are because that depends on your goals, life style, interest, etc. But... I can tell your historically, where our house hacking clients have been purchasing. Read this article I recently put on BP called (you guessed it) "where is the best place to house hack in Denver"

- Should I be more open to multi-family / townhome? - townhomes and SFHs. multi's come at a premium and the financing can get wonky even if it is your primary. ( read this post I recently wrote that goes dives deeper into the details)

- Should I put closer to 20% down or leverage more with 10-15% down? - lowest downpayment the better for a few reasons

1. the more you put down lower your ROI is.

2. the more you put down the less you have in reserves for a downpayment for your next rent by the room house hack. 

3. is putting an additional $10,000 - $40,000 worth the additional $50-$200/month in cash flow?

@Jeff White is the poster child how to successfully execute this strategy. He is on #7!!!

Earlier this year, Jeff White and I put together a few case studies for house hacking in Denver in this high interest rate environment. I'll DM you the details

@Benjamin Sulka your welcome! I use the same spreadsheet for all rental analysis (STR/MTR/house hack/traditional rentals).

Ill DM it to you along with youtube link how to use it

@Tobias Martinez 100% it is worth it! There is much more to it than monthly cash flow. Lets dive into the numbers.

Assumptions:

($500)/month is total living expense including utilities, maintenance reserves, vacancy, etc.

4% appreciation/year 

22% effective tax rate

4% vacancy 

5% down payment.

You are still getting a 44% return on your initial investment! How crazy is that?!?!

Happy to dive deeper into the numbers if interested. Let me know

@Brenna Ellison this is an excellent question. I am sure you have read a lot about proper insurance (STR tailored insurance). I personally do not think this is necessary if this is a portion of your primary home.
As others have mentioned, i would connect with your insurance broker and let them know exactly what your are doing and what you want coverage for:

- if i rent a portion of my property our on airbnb for a period less than 30 days and that guest is injured on my property, do i have coverage?

-if i rent a portion of my property our on airbnb for a period less than 30 days and that guest damages my property, do i have coverage?

I execute the same strategy you are and asked for an additional STR rider (shared economy endorsement) to be added on to my policy. Each insurance broker may call it something different. For context, I have USAA

@Ann Mclean If your primary strategy is fix and flip and you do not have any interest or experience managing rentals, I would sell and move on to the next.

If you already have a couple rentals of your own, I would keep and turn into rental (assuming you will be slightly cashflow positive or greater). Great for future wealth building and can use the equity to purchase future investments.

@Hou Chia great question to ask. The only challenge is that everyone will have a different answer because it is all personal preference. Whats wrong with FL? You are already living there.

There is a little bit more to purchasing a 3-4 unit using the FHA loan. Google the FHA sufficiency test. On that note, house hacking a 4 plex is not always the best way to go...

CAUTION: don't over think it. Just pick a market/location you are happy with and let it rip!

If you are interested in Denver, I can send you a few case studies we did earlier this year. Let me know..

@Conner Olsen you are 100%. If you plan on purchasing the following year, show your tax returns to your lender before filling.

Your statement brought up another great point- properly documenting improvements separate from repairs and maintenance. Lenders typically remove any one time improvements from schedule E. Doing this will show a higher return for loan underwriting. Higher rental return= higher pre approval amount.

@Benjamin Sulka will do. I DM it to you.
great name btw :)