All Forum Posts by: Dan Guenther

@Louis Zameryka - this sounds like it could be a good opportunity for a seller finance deal. Depending on how you worked it out, the sellers could get a downpayment from the buyer's end and then essentially collect rent checks for whatever terms each party decides on. This would spread payments (to the seller) out over time and allow the sellers to get more for the property than they would if just selling it the traditional route. Are you familiar with creative finance options? 

Hey @Yakir Aloni - welcome to the community! 

I think you are thinking of rentometer.com

Hey @Andrew Tistadt - welcome to the community! I'd recommend reaching out to @Grant Schroeder - he's one of my go-to lenders who is based out of Oregon. He has some great investment loan products and is also an investor himself. I'm sure he can point you in the right direction. 

Good luck on the investing journey! 

Hey @Blake Jones - welcome to the community! 

I'm an investor/agent out of Longmont and I work with investors from Denver up to Northern CO. I've also been hosting a monthly Meetup in Longmont for the past 2 years. I'll send you a message and we can find a good time to connect! 

Hey @Hunter Van Wyhe - welcome to the community! 

It sounds like you have a good opportunity at hand! Without knowing about the deal, this might be a situation where a partnership could be a good play. If you want to send over some details on the deal, I'd be happy to walk through some options and help you analyze them. 

Best of luck! 

Hey @Robert Love - welcome to the community! 

Here are my quick pieces of advice: 

1) I typically start outwith a month-to-month lease with the expectation of a longer-term lease. I consider this a trial period that will allow both parties to exit the agreement if it isn't a good fit. I don't take in tenants that are strictly looking for 2-3 month leases unless its a really slow part of the year. This is reduces the overall turnover and headache of finding new roommates at random times of the year, especially during winter months when not a lot of people are looking to move. 

2) There are a lot of sites out there specific to rent by the room. I use Roomies.com, SpareRoomUSA, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace. 

3) This is where your screening process will be very important. Make sure to fully screen tenants and set up a video call before even taking the time to show the property. You should be able to get a good feel for the person from that initial call. Ask them about their daily routine and try to line up your roommates based on personalities and daily schedules. For my current house hack, we are all similar in age (26-33), work similar hours, and have matching personalities. This just minimizes possible headaches. For example having one roommate who works night shifts while other roommates work typical 9-5 could cause some big headaches as one roommate will be trying to sleep while others are going about their daily business. 

4) If you follow the advice from #3 above, house rules should be a pretty basic part of the agreement. If you are locking in roommates with similar schedules and personalities then you shouldn't have to go to crazy on house rules. In general though some basic rules should include: parking, general quiet hours, having guests/partners over, who's responsible for lawn care/general upkeep etc. 

5) This one is also pretty simple. You might want to consider putting together a weekly cleaning schedule for common areas. This is something you can feel out as you go but I've found that having respectful and considerate roommates in general reduces problems with common areas. The biggest issues come up when you have one roommate who is constantly taking up common areas so once again, something to feel out during your screening process. 

6) Having a cleaning company come out once a month or every few months can be a great perk for rent by the room tenants. This can also help you minimize the headaches of organizing tenants to clean while also keeping your property in top notch shape. Fridge space is huge so plan on allowing people to have mini-fridges and/or a second fridge. 

7) Clear communication is the key here. Being upfront about all expectations before signing any lease will really help you out in the long run. When you find good tenants that fit well, take care of your property, and pay on time every month, do everything in your power to keep those tenants! 

Hey @Joe Fish - great post here! I can speak from experience as an agent/investor in the Denver and Northern CO markets. With interest rates and home prices skyrocketing over the past few years, many investors in more expensive markets like Denver have had to pivot to the STR MTR space to make the numbers work. This has caused a massive influx in STR inventory which may scare a lot of investors away. As @Sabrina Calnan mentioned, the investors that are still crushing it in "saturated" markets are going all in on the business. My investors that are seeing great returns have put in the time and money to make their listings stand out. This is a combination of listing design (layout, quality furniture, amenities, themed spaces), marketing (professional photos, social media, extremely open communication with guests), and the use of pricing software to increase overall occupancy. You have to stand out in this market! 

Reach out if you want to chat more! 

Hey @Xzavion Schultze - congrats on the savings progress! With $35K saved up you should be in a great position to buy assuming you will be owner occupying with 3-5% down. Make sure to speak with multiple investor-friendly lenders that understand house hacking specifically. Depending on the state you choose, options for first time home buyer assistance could really bring down the total out of pocket costs for that first house hack. For example, here in Colorado we have a program called CHFA (Colorado Housing and Finance Authority). With this program you can get: Up to the lesser of $25,000 or 3 percent of your first mortgage**
(Example: Get up to $6,000 on a $200,000 mortgage with no repayment required aka free money. I recently did a deal with a client who went through the CHFA program and got $16K towards his $500K purchase! Most states have similar programs for new home buyers. 

Reach out if you want to talk more specifically about the MTR strategy and different ways to leverage your savings for that first purchase. 

Good luck to you! 

Hey @William Blaker - welcome to the community! You've come to the right place to get your start in the real estate investing world. I'm not sure what markets you're considering initially, but I'd be happy to walk you through the opportunities here in the Colorado market where I work with investors at all levels in their careers. Reach out if you have any specific questions or want to hear more about investing in Colorado. 

Hey @Zion Hurt - welcome to the community! 

Sorry to hear that one didn't work out. You made a good call to walk away though. Going into that deal with negative equity would not have been the best play on your end. Chalk it up as a learning experience and move forward toward that next good deal. There are plenty more deals to come!