All Forum Posts by: Chad Lewis

@Account Closed

Thank you! I've listened to about half of those podcasts and they were very informative. The rest are on my list! Great advice for taxes - they're always super complex and it'd be best to leave that to the professionals. Also, thank you for the guides/reading suggestions! I'm currently reading one, but do have a couple on my "next-up" list. I'll add these as well! I have a lot of catching up to do :)

@DJ Richmond

Thank you so much! That's a great example and helps me wrap my head around it.

Also, awesome advice! I believe I have the lender lined up, but still need to look into agents/contractors.

@Shawn Mcenteer

That makes total sense. Rent in my area is astronomical... so I'm looking to get out of that situation as soon as possible!

@Shawn Mcenteer

Yes, that's pretty much what I was asking, sorry if that was confusing! That is a significant difference though. Thank you!

@Shawn Mcenteer

That's great. Thank you for the real-life example! It's awesome to hear that it's working for your situation. What would rent otherwise be in your area for a similar property?

@Troy Ramey

Awesome, thanks for the feedback! That pretty much sums up my thinking on it as well.

I'm still learning as much as possible and am new to real estate investing. Through all the reading I've done and podcasts I've listened to (coupled with my current life/living situation), house hacking looks like the best approach to me. However, my area (high cost-of-living) could make breaking even or positive cash flow difficult.

The main question: is house hacking worth it or a "good deal" if cash flow from the rented units doesn't fully cover all expenses but you're significantly reducing living costs?

For example (and just picking arbitrary numbers here), let's say:

Current living expense: $1,800/month

House to hack mortgage: $2,000/month

Rental income from house hack: $1,600/month

Expenses (including $400 leftover on mortgage): $800/month

In this example, I'd be losing $800 out-of-pocket per month, but I'd be able to save an additional $1,000 from my day job over my current situation that I could use toward a second property. What are your thoughts on this type of deal? What if the property were to cash flow positively after moving out and renting the unit I was using (after living there for a year to satisfy FHA loan constraints, for example)? Would that make the short-term more appealing?

I'm really interested in everyone's thoughts on this. I've seen another forum post about this, but it was a bit old and I didn't see any discussion around the possibility of positive cash flow after moving out. Let me know your thoughts!

@Cheryl Vargas

Those are great tips, thank you! I am currently reading The Book on Rental Property Investing and it's been an incredible resource so far. I've also been listening to BP podcasts during my commute (~1 hr each way). I'll have to look into The One Thing, I've heard it mentioned a few times and it sounds like it could be helpful!

Ah I believe I misunderstood as well. That would be cool though!

@Derek Janssen I'm a newbie and am not currently investing yet, but I'd be interested in a remote meetup. I'm in Rohnert Park, CA!