All Forum Posts by: Evan Linder

1. renting by the room. I am on your side, privacy is a huge concern. This works with college area homes, but for me, not as a house hack that I would be living in. There are many leases available online or you can have an attorney draw up specifics to your criteria and needs.

2. Orlando multi family is exactly as you say. The closer you get to the city, the more you pay, that is just the way it is in any metro area and don't hold your breathe thinking that will change. If that is really what you want, either save up and buy a decent one or suck up the commute knowing the end goal is to build wealth and there are rarely shortcuts, only sacrifices to get started!!

3. ADU- each county/city/municipality will have its own rules and allowances for this, there is no blanket answer. If you are going to stay strictly in Orange County, then focus on what they allow and don't. Be prepared for long permit times, the area is growing and that puts strains on all areas of county offices. Plan on using a GC, getting plans drawn up and likely engineers too, it won't be easy.

4. If you are house hacking and looking for easiest point of entry so that you have money to add value to the property and not use all your saving on the purchase, FHA would be the way to go. Then you move on to the next one and repeat. Unless you are a veteran and can use your VA entitlements, FHA is the route. However, the condition of the property will be important here, FHA rules are more strict than going with a conventional loan, so make sure the property is in good shape.

5. Many of the agents on here, including myself are here because we are investors ourselves. So using one of us makes sense, but still, interview and make sure they understand YOUR vision. Every investor has different experience levels, goals, timelines and so on. You understanding your goals and vision are paramount to connecting with the right agent, we are not CPA's or lawyers and don't always know what is best for you, we facilitate real estate transactions and help educate you along the way.

Hope this helps, best of luck to you!

Shawn - Thanks for your patience in my reply and for taking the time to give info on every item.

2) The hour away is without traffic. With traffic it's probably double or more. It's not as much of a bite the bullet scenario as it is not realistic to fight traffic for a couple hours every evening. What areas do you point clients to that want to avoid the I4 and after work log pile?

3) Good info here. Are you still seeing the occasional single family with an attached ADU pop up? I've been combing the MLS they seem to be exceedingly rare.

4) For FHA, I would need to be in there for a year before moving correct? Conventional I could buy a second whenever? Any advice on strategy of which loan route might make more sense or easier to scale?

5) Thank for your help so far. When I have a few more things ironed out, I would like to see if we'd be a good fit.

0 Votes

Orlando, Florida

Quote from @Ash Hegde:

I can help on #4 - FHA has a great low down payment option if you need it. The down side is a permanent mortgage interest if you go really low with your down payment. Also, you can generally only have one FHA loan at a time so it's not great for repeat use (you'd have to refi out to use it again).

Mortgage brokers have more wiggle room than a traditional big bank but there are still limitations based on the market rates of the lenders they work with. They are usually going to be close in rate, but response times and loan processing times can be other important non-rate factors when choosing a broker. The cheapest rate won't help if delays mess up the closing date and cause additional costs (and sometimes lose a deal).

Thanks Ash I appreciate the insight on loans. Apologies for taking so long to reply back. What is the minimum down on an FHA to get the loan out of the permanent mortgage interest?

0 Votes

Orlando, Florida

Hello,

I have delayed gratification for a number of years in preparation to buy my first home in the Central Orlando, FL area. My short term goal would be to find a house hack property that would set me up with a long term goal to repeat the process many times over. I know there's a learning curve to this and I'm not averse to making some mistakes. However, I am here to seek advice in avoiding the biggest ones.

A few scenarios I'm pondering below...

1) Rent rooms: Easiest and quickest option but also my least favorite since the whole privacy factor. What layout works best for those currently doing this? What type of lease term agreements have worked best with your roommates?

2) Multi-family: I have not seen a decent side by side 2/2 multifamily for sale in any decent areas in the past 6 months for under ~$600k. Beginning to think this won't be realistic my first run. Any of the ones I do find are over an hour (without traffic) outside central Orlando where I'm based. Let me know if I'm missing an angle on this.

3) Single family and add ADU: Let's say I get a 3/3 or 3/2. How much should I expect in renovation cost and permit red tape to convert a section into an ADU. What characteristics would make this the easiest to do? Big garage? Sun porch? Detached garage? Large yard? For those that have done this, what floor plans make this make this as painless as possible for a novice?

4) Loans: I'm in great standing for all standards when qualifying for a loan. I qualify for a conventional with putting some money down. Since I qualify for a conventional, should I be going that route as opposed to a FHA? How negotiable are interest rates with a mortgage broker? Again, with the long term goal in mind, what's the best option for repeating the process every 1-2 years when considering loan options.

5) Agent: I have not tried the agent finder yet and wanted to ask on here first. Any agent can find me a 3/3, I'm looking for someone that understands what the long term vision is and how to get it started for long term success.

As they always say on the podcast, the key is asking how can I do this? What other big questions should I be asking? Thank you

5 Votes

Orlando, Florida

All Forum Posts by: Evan Linder

Evan Linder has started 1 posts and replied 3 times.

Post: First Home Orlando - First Hack

Post: First Home Orlando - First Hack

Post: First Home Orlando - First Hack