All Forum Posts by: Haley Powell

Great points Guy! You're definitely spot on about there being no lack of choices, new developments are going up down here between Moore and Norman and no doubt they're expanding everywhere. I've solidified my focus to finding an affordable property in Dallas to house hack, renting there would be a significant drain on my income. I'm worried that it will be difficult to save up for a down payment if I'm shelling out $900-$1100 a month for rent. 

Luckily for me, I'm coming out of school with a bachelor's and a master's debt free with a job in hand thanks to my parents' forethought and generosity. I have always been a saver and I feel a responsibility to make the most of the head start my parents have given me. However, I don't have any family friends who are familiar with RE so I am trying to learn as much as I can to use my money wisely.

Thanks for the comment and boomer sooner!

Hi Chase! I am still new to investing and I have been wondering about Airbnb myself as I will also be dealing with the Dallas market come June. 

Just two thoughts: have you factored in cleaning fees, furniture, and supplies like shampoo, hand soap, snacks, etc. for your Airbnb budget? 

Do you have an alternate exit strategy that cash flows besides Airbnb? If it won't work as a long term rental and you decide to pursue Airbnb, do you have another out just in case like flipping it? You might also consider the long term furnished niche. It's a small piece of the market but if you are near a hospital or university you may be able to make a go of marketing to those looking for an extended stay in a furnished property. Apparently some people get their housing costs covered by a stipend on travel and can spend a little more to avoid a hotel and this might be workable if you're in the right location. Also, you'd have to furnish the place anyway for short term Airbnb, so furniture would be a sunk cost.

Hey Bobby! I'm a grad student at OU so it's pretty cool to see you repping OU in your profile picture!

For resources, I'd really recommend starting with the BP Money podcast to learn how to get your funds right. There's tons of strategies and educational interviews in there (they had Craig Curelop on) that can help you streamline your finances in preparation for investing. 

The Real Estate podcast is also great but rather than listening to every episode (like I do with the Money podcast) I find it more helpful to pick through the titles beginning with the most recent shows. The RE podcast started around 2013 so the market was way different back then and they used to focus more intensely on flipping and wholesaling, the later ones are more suited to where we are starting.

I'd also recommend Set for Life by Scott Trench, he's a host on the Money podcast and sets up a really approachable way to get into REI via househacking, though I don't know if it's similar to Craig's book.

Hope this helps, and feel free to PM me if you have any questions I can help you with!

Thank you Eudith! I hadn't thought about the impact of the credit check, thank you for telling me! 

I think the main hangup for me is that I haven't started the job yet, I graduate in May and begin in June, so I may need to wait until I have a couple pay stubs in hand. Thank you for your comment!

Thank you for the tips Sean! I will keep those in mind going forward. I probably need to do more research on loans beyond the FHA loan.

I don't have any Instagram pages but Pinterest is always a great place to look! There's unending inspiration there and you can get a feel for what people are looking at/for. Also, (this is a personal opinion) be careful diving in head first on gray, it's very trendy right now and that means that when the trend fades, it is a surefire way to date when it was redone. Think of chevron, teal, and shag carpet. That is one downfall of Pinterest: it is very trendy. If you can wade through and find some classic stuff that will survive shifting trends you should be in good shape!

@Alyssa Dyer I will look into him! I have a list of people to contact but I'm uncertain of what to look for or what to ask. I'm worried someone will take me for a ride if I'm blatantly ignorant.

Thank you for your advice Yonah, it is very helpful! I had become so focused on finding a property that suited my situation that I had completely neglected researching financing options.

I am one of the many who are looking to get a househack going in Dallas when I move there in May, and a natural part of that is lenders. An agent has (very helpfully) sent me a list of lenders/brokers (are those the same thing?) that I can call to talk to regarding a mortgage. My concern is that I have no idea what to expect. What kind of information should I have prepared? What will they ask, what should I ask? I've read that you should compare the offerings of each and go from there, but I'm unsure of how to get there. I hope to use an FHA loan on this property, so I assume I'd need to find out if they even offer that and what interest rates I'd be working with. Do I just call or email them outlining my situation and go from there? I am clearly just getting started and I don't want to come across as ignorant or waste their time explaining things I should already know. Any advice is appreciated!