All Forum Posts by: Damon Bodine

For many years house hacking in NYC has been doable but challenging.   The price points, building sizes, roommate law, and higher than average down payments have always left house hackers with limited options.     

A recent change in NYC's airbnb law may open up many new opportunities.   Local Law 18 or The Short Term Rental Registration Law is going to bring massive changes to the NYC rental market.   If all goes as expected here are some of the changes i'm seeing.   
-Owners will no longer be able to rent entire apartments on airbnb.   
-Owners will have to register their units with the city.  This includes but is not limited to sending diagrams of the apartments,  copies of all leases, full legal name of all permanent occupants, as well as a certification that they understand the multiple dwelling law.   
-Owners that owner occupy can lease rooms in their units for up to two guests.   
-If hosts fail to comply they could be liable for fines up to $5000 and airbnb themselves could be liable for fines up to $1500 per violation.  

So why would this be a good thing for house hackers? Well if the estimates are correct almost 10,000 currently listed airbnb's come could off the market last year.    In my eyes this could be a great thing for house hackers who are willing rent rooms short term in their own owner occupied apartments.   Simply rules of supply and demand should push the nightly rental rate for rooms up.    

House hackers in New York City have always had to be a bit creative.   Especially since most inventory here is 2 family plus .   However the combination of our rental inventory outperforming the nation - https://www.msn.com/en-us/mone....     , high rental rates for rooms, the prospective changes to airbnb , and the plethora of affordable cencus tract based down payment programs here 2023 could be the year of house hacking.  

 Hey hey just posted our next one which will be on January 14th.  This one is in Manhattan but a lot of folks from BK should be there.   

Hi Everyone,

Hope you're doing great. Back with the first Network=Net Worth event of 2023. This month we'll be partnering again with our friends at the Multifamily Breakfast Club to bring you a great networking event. We couldn't be more excited.

Location: Mchales Bar and Grill
251 W 51st St (& 8th Ave.)
New York, NY, 10019
Time: Saturday January, 14, 2023
10:00AM- 12:00PM
Cost: FREE

RSVP: To ensure we have an accurate headcount please RSVP at the link
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/m...

Our meetup traditionally draws a mix of investors and real estate professionals of all experience levels. Our group is about positive encouragement and low pressure good vibes. Open to everyone Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Bronx, New Jersey and beyond.

Please help us build this up and tell anyone you know.  

Any questions please email [email protected] or text (347) 581-2058.

@Harris Meyers. Hey Harris we have a couple coming in January.   Want to connect and i'll keep you posted on dates etc.   

Hey @Harris Meyers you should come to one of our meetups around the city.   We do them every month.  Lots of great folks with good perspectives.  

Some considerations as to why you may not want to completely dismiss buying personal residence first.     
#1 consider equity growth in your approach.  You're not cash flowing per say on your primary residence but you are paying down debt as opposed to paying rent.    Obviously there are phantom costs in home ownership but I would still recommending run some amortization calculators to see how your longer run debt paydown looks over a 5-7 year period even at todays rates.   
#2.  If you do buy investment property first you may lose access to some (not all) potential first time home buyer benefits.  This becomes more of an issue when you're looking at community bank/credit unions /portfolio / census tract based loans.   Not your conventional/fha stuff.
#3.   Be weary of abnormally high  cash flow markets.  I personally learned this the hard way not budgeting enough for repairs, tenant damage, etc.   Fortunately I got bailed out by appreciation but thats never a guarantee.   
#4   As others have said appreciation is never guaranteed.  There are so many things that can disrupt the growth of a market.   Macro and micro effects. 
#5  Remember the current mortgage interest rate environment may be temporary.  The fed themselves release a summary of economic projections which gives insights into the target fed funds rate.   This has a significant impact on the cost of credit everywhere.   Theoretically if the projections are true we could see refinancing opportunities in the future.  
#6.  If you plan to be in nyc for the long haul there is a reasonable argument  that you'll plan down a lot of debt if you do decide to invest here in a primary residence locally.   

If you ever want to brainstorm  always happy to chat. 

What is house hacking? “House Hacking is a strategy that involves renting out portions of your primary residence to generate income that is used to offset the cost of your mortgage and other expenses associated with owning a home. When done correctly, it allows people to live in expensive areas completely for free, or even generate positive income through home ownership”-David Greene

Savvy homeowners have been using this approach for decades to offset or in some cases completely cover their living expenses.

Join us for our first  House Hackers Happy Hour of 2023. Here you will meet other house hackers and industry experts who are taking advantage of this strategy to dramatically improve their savings and investing goals.

Damon Bodine Investor Friendly Real Estate Agent is your host. Damon has worked in the New York City since 2014 and is also an active investor and private lender.    He has worked all over the 5 boroughs helping buyers achieve the dream of home ownership.  

Date - Wednesday, January 4th, 2023
Time - 6:00PM
Location - Online -RSVP on eventbrite for Zoom Link
Ticket Link -
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/n...

Cost- Free

Any questions feel free to reach out to Damon.   If you think anyone could benefit from this event please feel free to share with them.    Open to everyone!   

Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island, and beyond. 

 100% For sure.   I'm announcing the next one tomorrow.  Looking like  first week of January after the holiday.  

@Jace Perez usually you need to be in a 2 family + to make the numbers work here.  Hybrid strategy with one long term rental and rent out rooms in the unit you occupy.  Its definitely doable.   

If ever helpful we do house hacking happy hour meetups every month on zoom.   

This one is tomorrow.   Looking forward to seeing everyone :) Open to all.   Come by if you have some free time.