All Forum Posts by: Brandon Rush

Hey John,

Much of this depends on your exit strategy. If you are planning for this to be a long term hold, then it sounds like your strategy of the margins being higher in two years is not too bad. Make sure the way you achieve those margins is not through super aggressive rental amounts or some other extreme measure. I would keep your underwriting conservative, especially if things are a little slim from the start. If the numbers still work, then jump in! 

There will ALWAYS be many lessons learned from the first one so don't hold your breath too long. Just make sure the numbers works and put your emotions aside. 

Good luck on your purchase!

Congrats Tucker. House hacking is such an amazing and EASY way to acquire property. Keep the momentum!

Hey Garrett,

I have done two house hacks and I personally do feel it is one of the best ways to start. Here are a few reasons why:

1) You Save On Living Expenses: Instead of renting, if you lived in a 2-4 unit property, you now have other income covering your mortgage. You are now either paying less than you would if you were paying rent or paying nothing at all. This lowers your living expenses, minimizing that burden that much of our population deals with.

2) Landlording on Training Wheels: Living at the property allows you to become a property investor with your risk being a little lower. By living at the property, you will learn many aspects of property investing such as property management, tenant management, vendor management and much more. You will learn what you like and do not like about investing, allowing you to get more specific with future investments. 

3) You Have A Property: This one is simple, by house hacking, you will have a property. The other guy/gal who says "Oh I would never house hack and live with tenants" and rents for 10 years will not nothing to show for other than the apartment they are helping the next landlord pay down. 

I am not trying to say that it is essential that EVERYONE house hack. But when I hear statistics about how many Americans have less than $1000 in their bank accounts, I do not understand how these same people can go out and buy a single family home and not house hack. 

A couple of tradeoffs you will have to deal with:

1) Living With Tenants: To me, I personally don't care. But for those who are big on privacy, this is something you will need to get over. Tenant's can be a pain in the but sometimes, especially if they know you are the owner. But, it's really not the end of the world. You fix a lot of this by setting boundaries with your tenants, or doing what I did and hiring a property manager.

2) It's Not Your "Dream Home": Most likely if you are considering house hacking, you are not in a position to acquire your dream home yet, so suck it up!

I am sure there are other tradeoffs, but I still believe house hacking is such a powerful way to get started. Imagine if you house hacked a house every year for 10 years.... You could simply house hack your way to financial freedom. 

Good luck on your journey and let me know if you have any other questions.

Also check out my podcast appearance where I talk a bit more about house hacking, BP Rookie Episode 221.

Hey Chris,

To truly determine how much you can afford I would recommend you get pre-approved through a lender. Until you get pre-approved, you will be doing nothing but making assumptions. You will also start changing numbers around for them to work in your favor vs facing the reality of what you can actually afford. Many people don't get pre-approved because they fear their credit dropping. If this is your primary fear, stop worrying and get pre-approved. The credit hit is minimal and you don't want to spin your wheels for month thinking about how much you can afford vs knowing how much you can afford. Don't waste too much time thinking about it! I would recommend getting pre-approved through a recommended lender versus someone random of the internet. 

Good luck on your journey!

Hey Greg,

I did this on a 3 family I owned two years ago and I was allowed to keep the HELOC in place for the 7 year term that I had. If you have good equity, I do not see why the bank would not let you keep the HELOC after moving. I am sure you could call the bank and simply ask. Do not give them the impression that you are moving now, make up a story about how you are thinking of moving in a few years and was curious to know if the HELOC would stay active.

Hope that was helpful, good luck!

 Thanks Sam! You can sign up for mines at www.neimeetup.com Held in New Britain, CT once a month. 

I 2nd that!

Date, Time & Location: January 19, 2023 | 6:00pm-9:00pm
Back Nine Tavern at Stanley Golf Course 245 Hartford Rd, New Britain, CT 06053
**Registration Required:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4...

Topic of Discussion:

Want to acquire your next property with little to no money? Special Guest Pitor Salanowski joins us and discusses the various techniques you can utilize to creatively finance your next deal

Interested or currently involved in real estate and looking to surround yourself with like minded individuals? We welcome you to join us for our monthly real estate investor meetups in New Britain CT. This meetup is open to all who have some form of a connection to real estate or just looking to learn more.

Our meetups take place every third Thursday of the month from 6pm-9pm at Back Nine Tavern at Stanley Golf Course, 245 Hartford Rd, New Britain CT 06053. There is plenty of parking. Generally we socialize & network for the first 45 minutes, followed by announcements, then we get to our guest speaker(s) and/or discussion.

Pre-registration is required and there is a small fee of $5 to attend the meetup. Also, we encourage attendees to order food and/or drinks during the event to support the venue.

We look forward to seeing you!

www.NEIMeetup.com

Hey Keaton,

I am a strong advocate for house hacking your first property as well. So many benefits, to name a few:

* Land lording on training wheels - You will learn all aspects of managing rental property management without a ton of risk. The lessons you learn will give you guidance on what you do and do not like about rental property. 
* Low down payment - You have so many options out there to buy a property for little to no down payment when you owner occupy them. Some examples are FHA, USDA and other loans. You may want to reach out to a few local credit unions to see if they have any low down payment options for owner occupants.
* Save on living expenses - Since you will be living the property, you will most likely be paying less than you would if you were renting. Now with these new found savings, you can roll that money into future property.
* It's repeatable - You can house hack every year if you planned it out. Imagine if all you did was house hack for 10 years and ended up with 10 properties. Not bad right?

As for the other strategies you are thinking about, I would recommend you educate yourself and choose the ONE that speaks to you to the most. I would highly recommend not pursing more than one strategy when starting out. Much of the reason I have not moved faster when my owner personal investments is spending too much time chasing shiny objects vs just focusing on one niche and going after if. 

I hope that was helpful in answering your question(s). Good luck on your journey!

Hey Carson,

You are right on track! Take your time and do not rush it. One of the best benefits of house hacking is the lowered risks compared to a non owner occupied property. By living in the property, you can almost ride out anything. I would definitely recommend you build up your cash reserves prior to jumping in. You do not want some kind of major repair to bankrupt you on day one. Also, you mentioned 203k loans being tricky. While they may be, they will most likely yield the higher overall returns. If you have the opportunity to leverage a 203k loan to acquire an asset, I would HIGHLY recommend it. If I could have done it again, I probably would have leveraged a 203k loan instead of going turnkey. 

Lastly, as you mentioned if the property makes sense for when you leave in a few years, that will probably be one of the most important factors when considering a house hack. 

Good luck on your journey, you are on your way!