All Forum Posts by: Daniel Porter

@Sam B. if i were down there, i'd be willing to chip in! 

@Andy Webb awesome, congrats man! unfortunately, i don't drive a truck. haha. 

@Andy Webb @Ronald Rohde thanks! I was actually just looking this up last night! haha. thats how i've gotten most of my experience so far, a split between HH, mission trips, and relatives that have needed some assistance. 

Are either of you currently working on a flip or brrrr? 

I'm a 25yr old investor looking to know more about the DIY renovation side of investing. I want to develop my current handyman abilities, and ultimately be able to walk into a house and roughly estimate all the repair costs. 

I'm offering 5-10hrs of free weekly labor between T-Th after 6. Any job, whatever you want help with. In return, i'd like to just pick your brain about the details of your investment business, especially your basis for discerning the time/money cost-benefit ratios of a project (large scale or individual repairs). 

I'm a bit more experienced than the average Generation Y layman, familiar with most tools, etc. But there are still tons of remodeling/renovation projects i've never tried or been a part of. 

If you'd like to spare yourself any hassle that i might be, but still want to pass on your legacy of DIY investment knowledge, I'd be willing to pay $50 for a consultation lunch/coffee/beer/wings at our earliest mutual convenience. 

Really eager to learn! I'd much rather get my hands dirty and building something, so let me know! PM for my number if you want it. 

dan

@Bart H. thanks, i'll look around. Yeah, I'm really uncertain about it. I've had some experience with renovations (habit for humanity, family members that have built their own homes, personal projects, etc), but risking the solvency of my investment on it seems like the wrong plan. I think youre right about the the B class - A class neighborhoods. Even if i'm not living for FREE, i'm minimizing my housing costs by around 60% per month, building the equity, and getting a first hand education in being a land lord. Sounds much better. 

Do you have any idea how shared room rents compare with private room rents? Is it as easy as diving the rent by the number of rooms? I haven't found much written on this, and it's a pretty important part of the SFR house hacking strategy.

Battling between two strategies right now for my first rental property purchase, and equally terrified of both. For the record, i work regularly in downtown Dallas, so consider commute costs (time and money)...

Strategy 1.) Fixing up a horrid duplex in a rougher (C+) neighborhood.
Specifically, looking at Arlington, North/mid oak cliff (currently renting in North Oak cliff and i'm not getting stabbed every day, despite popular belief lol), or North Fort Worth areas. Couldn't live for FREE, but once i moved out, it would cashflow pretty well considering the current rises in MFH prices. 

pros: privacy, better (more easily appraised) rent rates, 
cons: getting into construction jobs i can't quite calculate as accurately, not having enough cash to cover it 

lots of these houses won't go FHA203k, because of how many offers mine would be competing with, and i'd really have to sweet talk a hardmoney lender to get some capital secured, because i look pretty awful on paper. 

Strategy 2.) House Hacking a SFH near a hub
There is much less competition for SFHs in DFW, imho. Most of the times, these MFHs are going to all cash offers in under a week, generally to out of state investors, etc., and even in these C+ neighborhoods i'm referring to. I'm currently sharing a house right now and i wouldn't mind having roommates. I'd look to buy near a "hub"" hospitals with 3,000 plus jobs or colleges, like SAGU in waxahachie, community college in lancaster, near UTA in arlington, near UNT/TWU in denton. 

pros: easily managed, easily bought and sold, less risk in getting a less destroyed property, accurately know the costs of minor renovations
cons: lower (more unpredictable) rental demand for a shared room, longer commutes (higher cost) from outskirts, less privacy. 

Right now i'm leaning towards strategy 1, but i'm not sold. These duplexes are terrifying, especially having very little background in home renovation. I'm all for it, if i can budget it into the cost. 

What are y'all doing to deal with the dallas market? What would you recommend a 25yr old first time residential real estate investor to do? I think DFW can sustain the increase, personally, so i don't think a bust is coming soon, but i do think there might be a market readjustment for MFH if a large portion of investors start substituting to SFRs or other vehichles instead of MFHs. 

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. love to get a conversation started on this. i'm sure many out of state investors could benefit from this as well. 

Hi all; Looking to get approved for a loan with my father as a consigner. With as many tax deductions as I take advantage of as a young self-employee, my dti ratio looks horrible after taxes. Fortunately I have my dad who has agreed to consign with me. All that aside, I realized I don't know how to get approved for a loan with a consigner. Can anyone point me in the direction of resources on this? I've found some articles here and there, but nothing covering logistics for the entire process. Any pointers at all are more than appreciated! Has anyone been successful with this before? Excited to have the opportunity to start house hacking a multi family! Dan

Hi all; Looking to get approved for a loan with my father as a consigner. With as many tax deductions as I take advantage of as a young self-employee, my dti ratio looks horrible after taxes. Fortunately I have my dad who has agreed to consign with me. All that aside, I realized I don't know how to get approved for a loan with a consigner. Can anyone point me in the direction of resources on this? I've found some articles here and there, but nothing covering logistics for the entire process. Any pointers at all are more than appreciated! Has anyone been successful with this before? Excited to have the opportunity to start house hacking a multi family! Dan

hi bp community! 

excited/nervous to be viewing by first house tomorrow. It's a fixer-upper triplex with fourth unit in the back, ~80k. the goal is to live in it and possibly do a BRRRR. probably looking at an FHA 203k or hold off and rehab it over time as i get the money, potentially using the cash flow to rehab it.

Obviously, i have a few financing questions as well, but those answers tend to be more easily found. What i'm worried about right now is how do i not look like a complete idiot when i look at it? i'd rather have more to ask then "so, it's a fourplex right?" haha.  

I've never bought a house before, and i've never had an income to be able to be picky about my living situation, so i really have no idea what amenities to look for, and even worse, no idea what large ticket items to look for. obviously roof, foundation, electrical, plumbing - but what indicators of those can i actually inspect on my own and be able to see if this house has any major red flags? 

will the agent have a recent inspection? 
can i get it inspected before i put it under contract? 
should i ask about comparables and possibly ARV or will my agent even know?
also, do agents frown on investors using conventional/fha loans instead of investor loans?  

this process has been pretty confusing for me. any help would be much appreciated! 

@Andrew Meyer thanks for those numbers! That helps. One of the triplexes I found was in a college town that I think I could rent out. Even if I wasn't cash flowing the first year, I'd still be paying a LOT less for a place to live, which is more money in my pocket at the end of the year. 

@Jake Gannon I'm trying to purchase a triplex or fourplex. I would be interested in SFHs, but if I'm using FHA then I have to live there, and it would be hard to find roommates to live with me, while I'm in the house. Haha. Maybe buying a SFH that I could convert pretty easily, or one wth a town home on the property as well.

My tagging efforts are not working when I post. Hmmm.... #mobileappissues?