All Forum Posts by: Ben Rhodin

Hey @Noah Tsehaye! Welcome to BP, and congrats on taking the first step. You have already tackled the major hurdles with having experience managing properties so it is about time for you to jump in. I would definitely check out as many meetups and community events as you can, but if your goal is to get in as quickly as possible I would focus on that. Get with an experienced investor agent, and get started. I would recommend a house hack to start out, as it will get you in with not a lot of capital and you can cut down your living expenses!

Hey @Thomas Lebens! Welcome back to the Denver market, it is great to have you! I am an agent out of the Denver metro, and happy to connect. Is there a certain strategy you are targeting with the 5-10 units, or what are your investment criteria? We have had a good amount of success with the MTR space for the small-medium sized multifamily to be able to produce a bit more cashflow from the. 

Happy to connect, and see if we are a good fit, just let me know!

Hey @Bart Van Leijsen! Glad to hear that you are moving out to our neck of the woods. @Chad Rocke hit most of the areas in the Denver metro that we recommend. Most of the Denver area is pretty family oriented and friendly, but I would say most of the newer communities south of Denver are your best bet, Centennial, Littleton, Highland Ranch, and even Parker. They won't be the best as far as Investment properties right out the gate, but they will continue to appreciate and grow for you in the years to come. If you want to maximize your investment potential, you'll have to sacrifice some of your comforts up front. 

As for the market here currently, it is still very active, but it is property dependent. We are still very low on inventory, but buyers are more reasonable and slow in today's market. So things that are a bit rougher, and not priced right will sit, but most things that are priced right, and marketed well are gone in a weekend with multiple offers. Overall the market is back to trending upwards since the start of 2023. 

Hey, @Karan More! @Ryan Thomson is getting on the right track, I am sure your agent is referring to that you don't want to tap out your FHA loan on an SFH. You can do a low downpayment conventional on SFHs but for Multifamily you'll need to go FHA (or VA if you happen to be a veteran), and since you can only have one FHA at a time, that's why we typically recommend using it for a multifamily.

I'm assuming that you have already answered this question, but what are you qualified for? It is great to want to go after a duplex/triplex but if you can't get the loan, you should stick to what you can qualify for. In the long run, a duplex/triplex would be the better option in my opinion, or a property that operates as one.

Hey @Shane Bishop! @Alan Asriants hit it on the head, HELOCs are typically best served as a short-term financing option and are more expensive if you hold them for the long term. If someone wants to explore an equity loan to use as a downpayment and doesn't have the plan to pay it off in 1-2 years, I recommend going with the home equity loan, or a second cash-out option, as these will be 30-year fixed terms. 

It is a very easy analysis to see what option will serve him best, and if the property would be worth holding as a rental. Let me know if you want a run-through on how I do this with my clients.

Hey @Daniel Bedell! First obligatory note, don't take this as legal advice, there are always risks with these types of items, especially if you are involving loans. But in general, as far as counties, and especially the smaller mountain counties, are pretty lax on enforcement, and claiming it as your primary is as easy as putting your mailing address there. The Loan will be the tougher part, as they will scrutinize more to base it as your primary. Say you work in Denver 5 days a week, and your wife tells your lender that she plans to stay there, then they will probably not approve it, as it's not reasonable that you actually plan on using it as your primary.

Hey @Daniel Bedell! Sounds like once complete this property should be a pretty strong performer. I am assuming you are in Gilpin County, which can create strong returns for STRs. Personally, I'm sure you can build up some hype for the property as it's getting built, but until you have the product complete and out there, I feel you probably won't get much traction. In the past, we haven't seen great returns on trying to build out a page or portfolio for a single Airbnb property. Now if you build a brand around yourself, and have numerous properties around the country, that is where this can become powerful, and begin to get a direct booking site.

I would focus my efforts on getting the project completed ASAP, I know you can't speed up the construction process per say, but you can make sure you have all your furniture lined up, and everything else that needs to go in ready when they are done. That way you won't waste time after the construction is complete to get it out on Airbnb. 

Hey @Louie Mikros! Definitely don't reinvent the wheel here. You are already past the first step of understanding what you are approved for. Now get connected with a great investor realtor that understands your goals and objectives and they should be able to take it from there. No need to go off-market for your first one, or a house hack, as a lot of the time they will be cash-only deals and you won't be able to take them anyway. And a good realtor will be tied into these markets anyway. 

Another thing to note, a 203k loan will be a lot less attractive as an offer, due to their increased timelines and headaches. So they are a great product if you can get it done, but I wouldn't limit yourself there. There are other options if you need to complete a rehab. 

Hey @Chase Puckett! Most of the info is already here, and if you are running an MTR, definitely keep it up on Airbnb and other booking sites as well. FurnishedFinder is great, but in Denver, I and my clients find that a lot of bookings come through Airbnb instead. Just set your minimum stay to 30+ days. 

As for what else to do, it would be easy enough to run the property through a quick analysis and see how it is performing over all, and if you may be able to capitalize on the market and redeploy that capital elsewhere for a better return. It is tougher in today's market, but it is an option to look at, if you feel the MTR is underperforming.

Hey @Paul Kim! Congratulations on the purchase, and I personally love the Englewood area. I'm going to agree with @Ben Einspahr here, that a rent-by-the-room typically doesn't make sense for MTRs or STRs, as they are a very Niche market (Now that might change, with Airbnb bringing back their couch surfing aspect). Personally, I would find a long-term roommate for the room while you live there, and plan to convert it to an MTR when you move out.