All Forum Posts by: Dan Guenther

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! 

Hey @Susan Tan - Yes you can only have one FHA mortgage at a time but you still have some options to get into the next house hack. I'd get connected with your go-to lender and let them know what your plan is. One option would be to refinance that FHA into a conventional loan product, however with your low interest rate this might not be the best choice. You can also look into conventional loan products which go as low as 5% down for a single family,15% down for two-units, 3-4 units @ 25% down. Your lender should be able to use a percentage of your current rental income to help you qualify for the next loan.

There are also investor-specific loan products out there that offer as low as 10% down but these must be strictly an investment property. 

Hey @Jay R. - welcome to the BP community! 

Where is the property located? What is your exit strategy (STR, MTR, Rent by the room house hack etc.)?

It all comes down to the numbers. It sounds like the seller may not be willing to negotiate, which could make this tricky. I'd get your numbers together and see if it would still make sense. 

Purchase price, downpayment/closing costs, estimated reno costs, holding costs for the projected reno, estimated monthly principal interest taxes and insurance (PITI).

Then run your numbers for projected rent and see how those add up compared to your total costs. 

Let me know if you want to walk through this one together, happy to provide my 2 cents. 

@Roman Puzey

Do you have a good CPA that understands real estate investing? I'm not a CPA so take my advice based on my personal experiences. You do not need an LLC to write off expenses for your rental property. Last year I wrote off foundation repairs, landscaping, maintenance, and general supplies which added up to around $30k in deductions. Depending on your situation though keep in mind that these deductions could affect future buying power as your overall income will look lower than what you actually made with these expenses deducted.

Reach out if you want to talk more! 

Hey @Devin Cordell - welcome to the community and congrats on your progress so far! 

My first thought when reading your post was the opportunity you have to leverage your current properties that are paid off. Have you thought of pulling from the equity you have currently to continue to grow the portfolio? With all of those properties being paid off (which is great!) are you getting the highest return on equity? 

I'd be happy to chat with you more about your investing side and also becoming an agent if you have any questions on that! Reach out anytime. 

Hey @Tina Felix - welcome to the community and congrats on the first house hack! 

This is a common problem that investors face when working on deal number two (myself included). How many lenders have you talked to? I'd recommend connecting with as many investor-friendly lenders as possible. Every lender has different programs available and an investor-friendly lender that understands your situation is more likely to have some options for you to make things work. 

Reach out if you want to talk more about some options/ideas to make #2 work! 

Hey @Khoa Nguyen - welcome to the community! 

One of the best parts of house hacking is the ability to use a low down payment option to secure that first deal (0-5% down). It's also important to understand that cash flow is only one part of building wealth in real estate. You should also consider these factors: 

1) Loan Paydown - Every month a portion of your mortgage is going towards principal paydown (building equity). Whether you are paying it or your tenants are paying it, you are essentially paying yourself for future equity. 

2) Tax Benefits - This one is commonly overlooked. There are multiple tax benefits to owning vs renting, especially when a portion of the home is rented. You will be able to write off a portion of your house as business use which will allow you to deduct various expenses when it comes to tax time. 

3) Appreciation - This isn't one that I recommend making any purchasing decisions on however it's a bonus for investors and historically prices have only gone up even in the case of major market crashes. 

4) Rent Savings - I know you aren't paying much for rent but even with the $500/month rent, you would still be paying yourself $6000/year to own vs renting. This adds up in the grand scheme. 

5) Building credibility as an investor: Getting started sooner rather than later will allow you to build credibility as an investor. Once you have a few years of rental income on your taxes, your lending options will open up. You can also leverage your rental income and home equity to increase your buying power. 

Let me know if you want to talk more in-depth about the pros/cons of your situation! 

Hey @Jon Sabino - welcome to the community! You've already found one of the best spots for education right here at BP. Take some time to browse the forums and check out the "learn" tab up top for guides on getting started. 

Another great resource for educational content is YouTube. You can find videos on pretty much every real estate strategy out there. 

Reach out if you want to connect and talk a bit more about getting started. Happy to walk you through some goal setting. 

@Jack Hamm - welcome to the BP community! 

If you have the time, then learning how to find off-market deals yourself will pay off big time. Cold calling, door knocking, and direct mailers are some of the most common routes people take to find these deals. If you can master this skill then you will not only find good deals for yourself but also have the opportunity for making money via wholesaling. There are always buyers looking for discounted deals! 

I'd also recommend connecting with investor-friendly agents who should have access to off-market opportunities. This will save you time for the first deal as sourcing off-market deal yourself will likely take some time to figure out.

Reach out if you want to talk more about how I source off-market deals!