All Forum Posts by: Craig Curelop

@Cody Bell - Congratulations, Cody! That's a great area! Hold onto that one for as long as you can. 

@Daniel Toshev - It is entirely possible to get things CLOSE to the 1% rule here in Denver. You just need to get a bit creative. The rent by the room strategy or adding a mother-in-law suite allows you to get pretty darn close to the 1% rule. 

All of my properties in Denver are very close to the 1% rule and cash flow me $500 to $1,000 per month.

@Mike Paisley - Congrats man! The hardest part in saving for your first down payment. 

Multi-family is tough in Denver. You can find things that work... but they just won't cash flow nearly as good as any rent by the room type of investments. Though, they are much less work. 

I have had clients successfully execute the rent by the room model up and down the front range. You will just want to be careful of occupancy limits. 

As for specific towns, I have seen the most success in Arvada, Westminster, Thornton, Lakewood, and Loveland/Greeley up north. In Greeley, you need to make sure the zoning is right. 

@Dan Baran - Welcome to BiggerPockets! It is great that you are considering house hacking here in Denver. It certainly is a great option.

While some others like @Brian Ellwood may have not been able to find success.... if you think a little different and a little bit creatively, there LOADS of properties out there that can and will work. I've personally done four house hacks myself in the last 3+ years (since June 2017) and each one cash flows me about $1,000 per month. 

I have also helped loads of other people find house hacks that cash flow in the Denver metro market consistently over the past couple of years.

@Daniel Lao - Welcome to Denver and Welcome to BiggerPockets! There are plenty of opportunities all around Denver. You just need to get a little bit creative. The 2-4 unit is doable here, but can be a bit more rare to find. If you get more creative, you'll be able to get a higher cash flowing asset for a much smaller investment. 

One thing we do a lot of (and help people do) is finding single family homes where a mother-in-law suite can be added and both units can be rented out. That way you get the price of a SFH with the returns of a duplex. Win-win.

Happy to chat more. Feel free to shoot me a message! 
 

@Justin Bourn - If you are trying to house hack, I highly recommend the suburbs of Denver. You get more bang for your buck and significantly more cash flow. 

Westminster, Thornton, Arvada, Englewood, Littleton, and Aurora are all places I or my clients have successfully house hacked time and time again. 

@Joe Wang - Multi-family is tough to make work here in Denver. I am not sure about you, but I don't get out of bed for any cap rate below 7%. 

I have found the most success by taking single families, adding mother-in-law suites to them and renting out the main house & the mother-in-law. As an out of state investor, you'll likely make more than $1,500 over the mortgage and cash on cash returns of well over 10%. 

This way you benefit with significant cash flow in a high-appreciating market. Win-win. 

@Eric DeNardo - Wholesaling in Denver is extremely tough. Same with BRRRR. Reason being is that there are a lot of big-time investors in Denver with hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in cash. So they are able to put down cash with quick closings in ten days or less. Something that newbies just can't compete with... without having major risk.

@Jake Couzens - Denver is a great place! And in my opinion, one of the best places to house hack. I am going on my fourth house hack, have helped hundreds of others around Denver, and thousands of others around the nation! I've never heard anyone regret getting into a house hack. 

It is 100% possible for you to get a house hack with your criteria. You will want something that is pretty turnkey because you won't have much left over for a rehab. 

DTC is a great area and you won't have much trouble getting renters. However, property prices do tend to be a little higher down there. 

You will not be able to get a loan while in forbearance. So... I would recommend continuing to make payments on those student loans if you are able to. 

Hope this Helps! 

@Eric DeNardo - Thanks for starting this thread. There are a handful of strategies that work here in Denver. Some are better than others. It all depends on what you are looking for. For a new real estate investor, here is what I am finding that has worked best. 

1. House Hacking: Maybe I am a little biased here. But house hacking is the best way to get into this market and not be over-exposed. If you don't know what house hacking is, it's when you purchase a 1-4 unit property live in part of it and rent the other parts out such that the rent you pay covers your mortgage and you live for free. This is a strategy that is hard to lose. 

If you are looking for optimal cash flow. The best thing to do is find a large single family home (5+ beds). Live in on bedroom and rent out the rest. Some neighborhoods and houses are better than others. This is where having a good team comes into play. 

If you need to be a little more comfortable. You can always find a place where you live in the top and rent out the basement that has a separate kitchen, etc. That way... you have your own space. 

2. Rental property -- same as above, but you don't live there. You will need to put 20% down (instead of 3% to 5%), but that strategy works well. 

3. BRRRR/Flips - Hard for newbies to get into in the Denver market. It's very competitive, there are a lot of cash buyers, and a lot of ways to go wrong.

Hope this helps!