All Forum Posts by: Brittany Rodriguez

@Sophie Dolezel - you're spot on! That's part of my plan now after being inspired by Ben Leybovich's articles and book on house hacking that way. He uses his MIL (called a casita in AZ where he lives) as an airbnb rental and has been able to drastically reduce his family's living expenses. Thanks so much for the comment - this is definitely my plan! :) 

@Luka Milicevic - thanks for taking the time to reply

1. Yes, this was confirmed with my lender - single family only and specifically no duplexes, triplexes, quads - major bummer! I would definitely house hack that way.

2. Roommates definitely aren't for me, but I'm really interested in doing short term rentals (post Covid of course). I stay with my boyfriend every weekend anyway, so I could easily rent it out every single weekend. I also travel a ton for work and can rent it out while I'm away. Here's a great article about how short term rentals can be way better than a long term rental for house hacking, especially for 30 somethings like myself. "Why Short-Term Rentals Work Better for House Hacking" https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/short-term-rentals-house-hacking - and you and I both know that Nashville is definitely a great city with high demand for short term rentals (again, post Covid :) )

3. I agree and disagree with you here. I agree that no one should try to time the market, and that's not really what I was saying. We could be waiting years to buy houses that way (years, not forever, because markets DO dip). I think I just needed some good ideas for exit strategies if I buy a home for myself that might not be overpriced now and will not be worth as much in a few years (or sooner) if/when a recession comes - I think the idea for short term rentals mentioned above has helped me with that. 

To address your point though - We weren't in a worldwide pandemic that ravaged economies and caused unemployment numbers to shoot up in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019...(I also notice that 2008/2009 was conveniently left off this list - to @Colin Wyatt 's point) I think it's a fools game to not have our eyes open when we have a black swan like this and to not learn from history and market cycles. Market cycles happen, dips happen - it's just part of the nature of real estate - this is what actually has been happening since the beginning of time. Optimism for constant, continued growth is also a fools game.

Now, will I wait for a dip? Nope, because, you're right - who knows when that would be? But I do have my eyes open and am watching for signs of market decline just in case I can strike harder and faster for my investment properties when it does happen some day. And I'll be sure to always have exit strategies that work, even if the worst case scenario does happen.

4. I'll check out these locations a little more. I used to live in south Nashville and loved the neighborhood. I'm really hoping to find something closer to West Nashville though-but I'll definitely keep an open mind. I already have an incredible realtor in Nashville who is working to find something for me, so we'll see what she comes up with!

@Colin Wyatt

Thanks for your reply @Tim Houzenga! That's a great idea. I did think about renting it out as an exit strategy - rents in Nashville are high, but I'm not sure they would cover the cost of the mortgage payment because houses here are insanely overpriced. But I thought about your idea a bit more and realized I would most likely be able to air bnb the place after I've lived in it a while (maybe even during) and could very likely break even on my mortgage or even more likely (and more importantly), I could make a profit. Thanks so much for suggesting this and sharing what you're doing - congrats to you! I'm going to call my credit union today to see how long I need to live in the house before I could rent it out. This could be a great plan - thanks Tim!!

Hi BP community! 

I'm torn between 2 options for getting started in real estate and am looking for some extra feedback to help make an informed decision.

I am ready to start investing, so I reached out to my credit union about financing options. Since I'm a first time home buyer, my credit union started there (To be clear - I am aware that buying a house for myself isn't really acquiring an asset as it would be to buy a property with renters, but stay with me here.)

The first time home buyer loan that my credit union is offering is unparalleled. They're offering 100% financing and will give an additional 2% towards closing costs because I have a high credit score. It's at 4.25% and 30 year fixed. This is an awesome deal, but it would mean that I'd have to live in the house and it must be single family (no house hacking here...no roommates for me!) With this being such an awesome deal, I obviously don't want it to go to waste. But I live in Nashville, and right now, prices are so inflated, it's insane. It's definitely a seller's market here (and no, I can't move to another city - my amazing job that helps me have money to invest is tied to living here). 

If I go ahead and buy a property for investment purposes, I will lose the opportunity to ever take advantage of this first time home buyer loan. 

So what is a girl to do when she has a great first time home buyer loan to take advantage of, but in a crazy inflated market potentially on the precipice of a recession, when she is also super eager to get her investment journey started (but would make her lose out on the awesome FTHB loan)? 

I hope I've clarified my conundrum and can get some advice and perspective from some seasoned investors and home owners so I can get a little guidance. 

Any further info would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks BP community!