All Forum Posts by: Daniel Hillman

Hi Brock. I second everything that @Stuart Grazier said. Using the VA loan to get into a multifamily is an awesome idea. The market in the Springs can be expensive but there are deals out there, it is just about running the numbers. My wife and I buy property in the Springs and I believe it will be an amazing place to invest.

There is a group that meets to discuss house hacking in the Springs (The House Hacker Mafia). Not sure if you are in town yet but they meet every couple weeks at Oscar Blues. I have found them to be a great resource and a cool community. 

I would contact Tiffany Lachnidt from the Distinctive Group. They are the best! (719)232-1564

I just bought my first property in the Springs, single family home that we are house hacking into a duplex. Colorado Springs makes it into the top 10 list for best cities to live in in a number of newspapers. I think we will continue to see incredible growth here, and I plan on buying a multifamily in the next 6-12 months. 

Water issues are also a problem in Colorado and could definitely be a more serious issue in the future. 

Hey Sumesh. I just ran a quick search of the MLS and it looks like there are a few piece of land available in your current price range and size requirements. Let me know if you want me to send them over to you! One 6 acre plot on the edge of Cripple Creek that might be a really good piece of land to hold.

Thanks Colin! That group sounds great. I'll be there next month! 

Hey Colorado Springs investor community. I'd love to join/start a real estate investing meet-up in the Springs. My hope for the group would be that we could come together to discuss deals and current projects we are interested in, possibly read investment/real estate books and generally help each other out. I've looked for groups online but can't seem to find any that are very active. Would anyone be interested in a bi-weekly meetup? 

Thanks @Joseph Yallop! Our current plan is to buy another property each year for the next 5 - 10 years. We are also considering going into a larger multifamily with some friends and family if the right deal showed up. 

@Jordan Malara I love the idea of turning the detached garage into a second STR! We have some extra space in the back of our property and have considered doing something like that. We are new to Airbnb and I'll definitely reach out if I have any questions!

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Colorado Springs.

Purchase price: $383,000
Cash invested: $40,000

My wife and I found an amazing split level that we were able to househack into two units. We will be living in one and put the other on Airbnb. We are doing a bunch of upgrades and plan on starting to rent it out in early August.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We have been listening to the BiggerPockets podcast for the last six months and just finished reading The Book on Rental Property Investing. Househacking seemed like the best option for our current situation.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

Sweat equity.

I had a pre-application meeting with a city planner and wanted to share how the meeting went just in case someone else has a similar question in the future. Here are the results of the meeting:

Since the entire neighborhood is zone R-1 6000 (single-family) it would be very difficult to change the zoning of just my house (a spot zoning change). I could try to get everyone in the neighborhood on board with a zoning change but that is unlikely. Most people don't want to see a bunch of multi-family homes in their neighborhood. 

It doesn't look like a change in zoning is possible but the city planner was super helpful and had other ideas for how to make a short-term rental work in the future. He suggested setting up the house with an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) and applying for a conditional use permit. This would allow me to rent out part of the house and only have to be in the house 185 days of the year. This doesn't quite work for my plan of being able to have two short-term rental units but it at least gives me some options. 

If anyone else has creative ideas for how to make this work I would love to hear them! 

Hey Matthew, welcome to the Springs! It is an amazing city and I think it will fit a lot of the criteria you have. I would look in the Old Colorado City area or anything on the West side of I-25. That will put you closer to the mountains with easier access to hiking and cycling. I love Red Rocks Canyon! You could also check out the North East side of town between downtown and Palmer Park. Palmer Park has some great trails and you could be in biking distance from downtown. Best of luck! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.