All Forum Posts by: Cyle Harris

Man this is the first hand knowledge that I’ve been looking for. Thanks @Heath Ryans. 
Your experience really speaks to the importance of building a strong network and how that can propel your investing career (i.e. meet the right private money investor). 
As I secure and close more deals I definitely would like to incorporate private money into my financing options. This is more motivation to attend monthly REI meetings.
Thanks again @Heath Ryans. 

Thanks for the recommendation @Elise Marquette. I was leaning away from any big banks as their consumer reviews seem to be consistently bad. 

Thanks for the advice @Heath Ryans, not sure why I wasn't notified when you replied. If you don't mind me asking, what did you like most about using private money as opposed to other methods of financing? Flexibility in lending? Low interest rate?

I'm currently in the process of researching solid FHA Lenders in Michigan to receive financing on my first house hack. Any fellow house hackers or bigger pockets members have any recommendations? If so, why would you recommend them?

I've looked at FHA programs at big companies like Quicken Loans and NASB (North American Saving Bank) but their customer reviews are so bad I'm hesitant to pursue those options. I currently have an account with a local credit union and have loan history at another bank that I believe I will research further.

I recently sold my first fix and flip and am looking to do a mixture of the BRRRR method and house hacking with my next deal. In my first deal, I used a mixture of personal loans and my own money to finance purchasing, rehabbing, and all other fees. I've heard a lot of good things from experienced investors (i.e. Mark Ferguson) who use private money lenders to finance deals as a preferred alternative.

My question for the BP Community is: how have any of you gone about finding private money lenders and what has been your experience so far with using them? 

@Brandon Dumbuya Thanks for your input and congrats on coming close to closing on your first house hack! I look forward to reading how everything turns out in a future post. 

It's reassuring that a lot of what you've suggested align with the research I've conducted so far. 

@Jake King Roberts Congrats on finding a renter for your first house hack! I know this was no easy task considering the environment we're in. 

I can imagine screening tenants becomes even more critical when house hacking as these people will be your neighbors (or roommates if you have a single family home). Thanks for the input! 

Thanks @Moises R Cosme! I was planning on doing the less aggressive house hacking strategy from the beginning (buying a multifamily home, living in one unit and renting the rest) as I'm not a big fan of having roommates again. 

Have you ever "house hacked" before? If so, how was your experience? 

House hacking has always been an investing strategy that has appealed to me. Buy a single or 1-4 unit multifamily home with a low down payment FHA loan, add some forced appreciation, and live with little to no housing expenses by living in one unit and renting out the others. I just sold my first fix and flip and am looking to house hack as my next investing strategy. My questions for the bigger pockets community are:

• - Is now the best time to house hack considering the current economic environment due to the Pandemic? 
• - Any words of wisdom from any fellow house hackers that has pursued this strategy (i.e. learning lessons, testimonials, etc)? 

I'm currently reading the bigger pockets book "The House Hacking Strategy" and have begun my search for multifamily homes and lenders that do FHA loans in my area. My goal is to potentially move-in to this house hack before the end of the year.

@James Meyer I actually landed this deal from my father who is also into real estate. He had a lot of projects he was working on and offered this deal to me. I ran the comps by pulling all similar near by homes < .5 miles away from the property and taking the average sale price to calculate my ARV. To ensure the deal was profitable, I took my ARV minus the estimated repair costs (which I underestimated) and reviewed what the potential profits would be. Looking back, I should've added more to my estimated repair costs (maybe 20%), accounted for holding costs, financing costs, selling costs, and capital gains tax in this initial calculation to get a more accurate profit potential.

Since the purchase price of this home was pretty cheap, I took out personal loans from my bank to both purchase and rehab the property. 

I got lucky and received a cash offer for full price and the buyer did not want to have an inspection done (which I don't believe is common). I did have some back and forth with the city to receive my COO (Certificate of Occupancy) but that worked itself out.

@Stephanie Simmons That’s great to hear! Experience is invaluable in this industry 

@Account Closed Thank you!