All Forum Posts by: Cody McVay

Rinse and repeat! 

Hello BP!

I completed my first House Hack (duplex) almost 6 months ago! and am planning on doing another HH (4 - plex) when I can, I'm also looking to break into small mulit-family ((8 - 15) units) as my first "real" investment by raising private capital, both by the end of the year hopefully.

My question is meant to start a conversation as I look at House Hacking as dipping your toe in the water prior to diving in, there is not much information on what to do between dipping your toe in and swimming... so, 

1.) What was the first "major league" investment post house hacking you completed? (SFR, Wholesaling, Multiplex, a flip, BRRRR, syndication!)

2.) How did you get it done? (own money, hard money, partnership, raising private money)

3.) House Hacking, in my opinion, is the single best way to reach FI (or at least start), but many people are afraid to do it as there's a lot of misconceptions about this way of investing. I was told "that's crazy" or "I could never give up my privacy" even "that's the lazy way of investing" (to which I say, "work smarter not harder"?) and personally I have yet to experiance a down side that would outweigh what I've gained... so for the fun of it, to those who have house hacked and do have something to share when they thought "I'm crazy", "I can't believe I did this" please share!

4.) Please leave with any advice to the people out there considering dipping their toe into investing by house hacking.

My advise is should you take this leap, try your best to avoid your tenants discovering you're the owner. When they know you're the decision maker you'll get every request under the sun and it's a lot easier to just be the messenger and blame the "Owner" for denying the request. 

Best!

Hello Bp! 

Bit of a long winded question, but I am looking to refinance a duplex I purchased in December 2020 as a house hack with an FHA loan located in Columbus, OH. I have rehabbed one side and have a tenant on the other, I believe I purchased the property under value and after watching a video by meet kevin "How I turned $10,500 into $210,000 at 19 (in 90 days)" who discussed purchasing a property with a 203K with 10.5K down and pulling 100k in cash plus gaining 20% equity and no more mortgage insurance!!!

I understand results like this aren't always likely, but my question is... 

1.) Is it too early to refi, as I've only held the property for roughly 5 months?

2.) I'm unsure how a duplex is actually appraised, does it weigh heavier on NOI like larger apartment buildings or more on comps/condition like a single family?

2.1) if NOI is the greater factor, how do I offset the rent "lost" due to living in one unit?

3.) I'd like to pull the cash out to pay off student loans, and add income to purchase another multifamily, looking at 4 - 8 units. Is now the best time to do this or should I wait until I've gained more appreciation through loan paydown, or try to take advantage of the high housing market hoping to ride the wave?

4.) If I refi out of FHA this soon, can I do another (4-plex) FHA this year since I didn't live in the property for a whole year?

5.) Any great lender contacts to get in touch with, preferably in OH would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you all in advance for the advice!

Best,

P.s. I would love to connect with anyone in the Columbus market or looking to break into it, I'm still pretty early in the journey but would love to share insight, connections, and just chat about local REI the best way to reach me is through PMing me on BP.

Hello Bp!

Does anyone know of any banks/credit unions/etc. that lend on the appraisal vs the lesser of the pp or the appraisal? 

An example would look be: if I were able to get a property under contract at 80k and the appraisal came back at 100k my Dp would be $0 due to the equity built from finding a property undervalue.

Thanks in advance!

@Austin Steed @Zeke Liston

I would LOVE to get into BRRRR investing, but I don't have the cash nor do I think I'm at that point where I'm confident enough to use other peoples money. I do think I have the skills/knowledge to manage a rehab as I'm a project engineer by day. But I think I need to partner up with an experienced investor who will let me piggy back on their experience while I can provide them equity in any deal I can bring them or just doing tasks they simply don't want to do. Then using private/hard money to fund the deal.

Thanks for the comment!

Hello Bp!

I purchased my first house hack “HH” (duplex) in Columbus, OH almost 2 months ago. Things have gone extremely well thus far minus a few very minor issues that were great learning opportunities. My investing strategy is to purchase a 4 - plex (HH) next year and then maybe another HH after that as my goal is financial freedom in 3 years and I believe that should get me there (cover all expenses, not necessarily quit my job freedom yet) then start moving into buying smaller multi family properties (thinking 16 - 30 units) once I gain basic principles and experience.

My question is, what can I do in the meantime while patiently waiting for the next HH to learn more about REI and maybe making some additional $$$. I've been learning about Property management and improving analysis skills, but I've been lucky as my tenant has been very low maintenance! Any and all comments are appreciated!

Thank you!

@Remington Lyman thank you! Please let me know if you hear anything back.

Hello Bp!

I recently purchased a duplex in Columbus, OH. When I purchased the property I received the existing lease which stated a $0 security deposit. I had the tenant sign an estoppel agreement and he stated he paid an $800 security deposit.

He did have proof from the guy who owned the property before the owner I purchased from that he paid the security deposit.

How should I handle this? Is this a scenario where I need to eat the deposit? Should I get an attorney involved?

Thank you all for the help in advance!

@Harman N. I just purchased a property west of Bexley in Woodland Park. Seems to be a solid B class neighborhood close to shopping!

Hello BP!

Just closed on my first house hack in Columbus, OH! I’m curious how I should introduce myself to the two existing tenants? I know the proper way to do this would be physically going to the property and talking with the tenants, but due to COVID have leaned towards just sending a letter. Thoughts and advice?!

Thank you all in advance!!!