All Forum Posts by: Bret Kingcade

@Jay Helms It sounds like I need to get moving! You mentioned something that I'm confused on in needing to find a better deal since I'm house hacking. My plan has been to purchase a duplex with a 3.5% down FHA loan. My issue has been that when I run analyses, I would need to fairly dramatically slash the asking price to make the numbers work to get $100 cash flow per unit once both sides are being rented out in the future. For reference, I'm looking at around 180-250k asking price properties. I know I am competing against investors who are able to put down more money so I am unsure whether I should: 1) Stick to my numbers that work for me and keep making low-ish offers until I eventually can get 1 accepted. Is this a normal, viable strategy? 2) Lower my expectations for return since I am only able to put 3.5% down, or 3) wait until I can make a larger down payment.

I've been searching everywhere I can find to try to get this answer and I haven't been able to find anything that answers this directly. You would be a lifesaver if you could offer me any guidance on this. Thank you for the help!

I've spent the last couple hours looking through old threads and it seems like this is a heavily debated topic that I wasn't able to determine an answer to. I live in the midwest suburbs near Kansas City where prices are higher than the rest of Kansas but are nowhere near the levels of intensely high markets like in California. I am looking to house hack with a 3.5% down FHA loan and there are duplexes for sale in at least ok areas in the range of ~180-250k asking prices. Essentially my question boils down to: Can and should you attempt to use the same minimum requirements for a deal as you would for someone using conventional financing? Do you base your figures for determining the deal's viability around a future refinancing or around the numbers with your current PMI? I'm referring to figures I commonly see like $100 minimum cash flow/unit and 12% COCROI (both of these for after you have moved out and rent both sides). I simply want to know if that is reasonably achievable or not. If it is possible but requires more hustle and more rejected offers then that is fine with me. I just want to know if I would be wasting my time sending a ton of low offers to make the numbers work. AKA: Would my time be better spent waiting a few more months and saving up more money? OR can it still work but will just take longer to get a deal accepted? Should I adjust my expectations but still proceed?

Sorry for the wall of text. This has really been giving me some analysis paralysis so I would greatly appreciate any input to help me direct my efforts. Thanks!

Hi, this is my first post on BP. My apartment lease ends September 5th and my plan is to house hack a duplex with an FHA loan. This will be my first ever rental property and in a perfect world, I would hope to not be paying both a mortgage and my apartment rent for an extended period of time although some degree of that is likely unavoidable. However, that would still be far more preferable than being stuck moving into some other apartment on a month to month basis while I wait. I have heard that it can take around 30-45 days to close on an accepted offer with bank financing and I know it will take a considerable amount of time making offers to get a good deal accepted. Considering all that, do you think right now (just over 4 months left on my apartment lease) is a smart time to go ahead and begin making offers? I've done a large amount of research and I am ready to put my gained knowledge into action as long as the timing is right. Any input or advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for any help!