All Forum Posts by: Emma Brooks

For what it’s worth, Nate, my husband and I moved to Boise thinking we were going to house hack and have basically given up on finding a multi family here that pencils. They exist, I’m sure, but we have switched our strategy to looking for a live in flip since there seems to be much better options for that here in Boise. I know most people in Boise seem to think the market will keep going up and up and up, but eventually, that will slow down, and buying a property with the opportunity to force equity seems like a good way to insulate against the risk of a major covid related  market correction. Renting here in Boise is a rip off, that’s for sure. Mortgage payments are much lower than rents. Good luck and keep us posted! Ever single multi family I’ve seen listed on the mls has made zero financial sense to me given cap rates, but maybe there’s something I’m not seeing!

Finding rentals in boise is an absolute nightmare. My husband and I are paying $300 more than we would owe on a monthly mortgage payment had to really hustle to find this option. I don’t have a solution to their situation, but I do empathize with them! That said, have they actually exhausted their options? We have two cats and a dog and we were forthcoming with managers about our intent to purchase a home / the likelihood that we would need to break a lease in the short term. We were still able to find a rental. I wonder if there is something your client isn’t telling you (like a history of evictions, poor credit etc) that make finding a rental difficult? Worst comes to worst, there’s always air bnb. 

We just moved to Boise in a similar situation—we sold our primary and have a year to familiarize ourselves with boise before missing out on closing cost assistance through work. My one word of caution is that it is pretty awful to be a renter in Boise. It is at least $300-400 more a month to live in a completely gross rental. We do have pets, which def makes it harder, but If you plan to rent here, expect to pay out the nose or live in a complete dump. Another thing we’ve found interesting is the large gap between income and housing expense here. Don’t quote me, but I think the average income is something like $48,000 annually, which is way too little to afford the vast majority of homes. I know people who make $35000 a year and live in homes that have appreciated to the &400,000 range. We had planned to buy right around when corona hit. Prices are still going up here for the time being, so we’re ready to stop trying to time the market, stop being renters, and just buy something we can afford. Congrats on the move to Boise! We absolutely love it here!

That’s a rare find in the Boise market! Mind sharing your realtor?

@Brad McBride I think Boise is actually pretty tight right now, too. There’s a serious lack of multifamily inventory and the house hacks I’ve looked into there really don’t make sense. I’m sure there are people who are still figuring it out, but from where I’m standing that market is in the peak phase and should be approached cautiously, especially for beginners (which, full disclosure, is also how I would describe myself!)

Good Luck, @Nasir Cureton! My husband I are trying to figure out a house hack down there in Boise, too, but have found a real scarcity of small multifamily properties for sale. The fourplexes, duplexes and triplexes are  mostly so expensive they truly don’t pencil out well. One thing suggested to us on the forums was to look for single family properties that could be converted to duplexes as apparently Boise zoning laws allow for all properties that meet size/lot requirements to be converted.

@Kory McCain we are moving to Boise here soon and noticed the same thing—it almost seems like it’s cheaper to rent than own. Any advice on surrounding areas that still pencil out well as rental markets?

@Account Closed that’s an interesting zoning law and definitely something we’ll look into. Appreciate your thoughts! 

@Account Closed what’s the deal with the severe lack of small duplexes/triplexes/fouolexes in Boise, anyway? My husband and I are moving to Boise and I started casually looking for those sorts of properties and have been shocked at the lack of them—is it simply that development in Boise is recent and people prefer single family? Anything on the market I’ve seen so far doesn’t make any sense at all as far as a house hack goes! 

Thanks for the speedy response, Roy. Your cost estimate for the window with egress is much more reasonable (and narrowed down) than the top hit on Google--$2,500-$5000! Quite the range. I looked into it, and my area has no laws regarding the maximum number of unrelated adults permitted to co-habitate in a single unit. 

Looking at this from the exit point, when we sell the house, is it generally a strike against you if you are selling a property with more rooms than the average house in the neighborhood has? Our place is already considerably more expensive than the surrounding homes because it is a duplex, but its assessed value has already gone up quite a lot since we closed six months ago. Houses in this neighborhood sell before they hit the market. 

Thanks again--I am totally brand new to this and excited to see where it can take me.