All Forum Posts by: Erik Heldt

Thank you everyone for your replies! The market that I would like to target for my primary residence would be Miami which is definitely expensive and I have a hard time finding anything like a triplex or fourplex that I could house hack and still have it make financial sense. I would like something where I could realistically cover the mortgage with my W2 income in the worst case scenario of all the other units being vacant. What I have found that may work would be to find a house with an ADU, live in the ADU, and STR the Main House. With prices in Miami, that mortgage would come out to about 40% DTI if the Main House stayed vacant for any reason. A "quick math" AirBNB analysis would have me just under breaking even on the mortgage after accounting for management, AirBNB fees, CapEx, vacancy, routine repairs and about 10% set aside for other STR related supplies. As for the cheaper markets, I would look to do mid term rentals in the Rust Belt near hospitals like the Cleveland clinic to maximize the income to help mitigate the downsides and unexpected expenses associated with those markets. Overall, my plan would be to buy a Primary House hack once per year in an appreciating market, while buying 2-3 mid term rentals in more "cash flow" markets to balance out the composition of the portfolio. Within the next 5 years, I would like to get to about $10,000 per month in cash flow to basically be an insurance policy in case I am unable to fly due to medical reasons or an accident. Given my geographic inability to personally manage the properties and long stretches of not having cell or internet service, I'm calculating 3rd party property management into all my deals. The main reason for considering purchasing solely the higher cash flow properties for the first year or two is that I don't yet know how much of the house hack STR income could be used to reduce my DTI in order to purchase more straight rentals. I'll start shopping around mortgage brokers and get all that info from them so I can make the most informed decision of which to target first to optimize growth without over leveraging myself. I greatly appreciate all of your input and wish you all the best with your RE goals!

Hello BP People! I know that this topic has been beat to death already and that the general consensus is to house hack before buying, however, my situation is a little unique and I would appreciate some input from the community.

I have a new job with as an airline pilot and my schedule is 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off and I can live anywhere in the US. During my off time I will be picking up additional overtime flights as well so I am rarely ever home with travel. My parents offered let me have a room at their house to keep my things and to stay at when I'm in town for free. This effectively means that I don't need a primary residence at least for the next few years and my living expenses are practically 0. In the cities that I would like to live in, the prices are pretty high and most house hacks would be difficult to come close to cash flowing even with all units tenant occupied if I use my 0% down VA Loan. Even after moving out after the mandatory primary residence requirement. With that said, my plan would be to continue getting as much overtime as I can at work, living with my parents in the few days that I'm off work, and investing in rentals in lower cost, higher cash flowing markets. After building up a comfortable portfolio with decent cash flow, I could use the VA Loan to buy a house hack in an area that I like, even if the cash flow isn't great.

I would love to hear you guys' thoughts on this and truly appreciate any feedback. 

Hi everyone and thanks in advance for your help. I have a $58,000 Sallie Mae loan currently at 10.75% for 15 years and I'm going to refinance it. I've been on credible and I have a few options as far as terms go. I'm thinking to go with a 20 year fixed at 7% which would bring down my monthly payment by a few hundred dollars a month. The goal of all this is to decrease my debt to income ratio so that I can qualify to refinance my cash flow negative long distance rental that I stumbled my way into before finding Biggerpockets. This would make it cash flow about $250 a month and would free up my VA loan to use on a house hack where I am now and decrease my housing expenses. This would ultimately free up a lot of my income to throw at the student loan and get it paid off aggressively. Has anyone done something like this or have any insight? Thanks so much for your help.

I'm in the same boat as you in Spokane. Your numbers are the same as mine and it's hard to make anything work it seems. You may be able to use the private money to do a BRRRR but there will probably have to be some money left in the deal to cash flow. I'll be looking for a house hack in the next year and thinking about getting a single family and converting the basement to a second unit. That should at least free up some money to invest in other markets that cash flow better. Good luck on your investment journey and don't give up. There is always something out there.