All Forum Posts by: Harry Standafer

Awesome, congrats. Bold move to take on that tenant in your first flip. Incredible they managed to not pay rent for over six months before getting kicked out.

Congrats, Donavon! One of the things I suggest is to get the most bedrooms that you can for your money. Another thing you might want to consider is when people are looking to move in, most leases are up in the summer so it would be easier for you to rent rooms out immediately if you waited a few months before you buy. I haven't read Craig Curelop's book about house hacking yet, but I'm sure it would be helpful for you. 

When you ask this question, narrow your focus. You're asking about everything, but you should focus on one thing at a time. How are you going to handle buying vs. landlording vs. financing etc.

I'm a few years older than you and I'm really happy with the house hack I have in Lexington, KY. Let me know if you have any specific questions as you get started! 

Good luck!

My first suggestion is to get rid of one of your cars. They're expensive and you probably don't need more than one. This could help with your credit issues also. The BP Money podcast has has all kinds of suggestions on how to save up capital but that's often the first one! Some hard money lenders will loan 100% of the purchase price if it's a good deal. BP has a book on investing with little or no money also that I haven't gotten around to reading yet.

Most of the different BP Books have ideas for you. I just read the BRRRR Book and it had a list, and if I remember correctly "Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Turner had a really extensive list. One of the BRRRR recommendations was to choose a realtor who is also an investor. If you're in a major market, you could list your market in the question and people might have specific recommendations for you.

I think all of those are good ideas, but I want to emphasize reading! Read every bigger pockets book by the time you graduate college. Also, you could consider renting out an entire house and then sub-letting the rooms, saving yourself some money in the middle and living for free (or less).

I ran into a similar issue, and having a good mortgage officer who can help you come up with ways to work around this is helpful. You can try to look into using portfolio lenders that have different rules as far as debt to income ratios than traditional mortgages. The simplest way to fix it is to have someone else co-sign, possibly a parent, if that's something you can do. I talked to several mortgage guys and one told me basically "Sorry, can't help you", but my current mortgage officer came up with several ideas to work around it and now we're good to go!

Hey Brad, you should seriously consider house-hacking if it fits into your life. If you get a three bedroom house, try your best to rent out a bedroom or two! You could likely have them cover all or much of the house payment. Maybe you have some friends unhappy with their living situation. They could move in with you for a slightly lower rent and help both of you out at the same time. Bigger Pockets has a book on out of state rental investing that would be worth it if it's something you're seriously considering. And as far as realtors, word of mouth is a great idea, but you want to make sure you get one who is a full-time realtor and not one on the side.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice, Emily! I'm saving this for future reference.

I have some recommendations, but would love to know what others think.

@Shoshawna Merten

I just went to an info session on Air bnb’s the other day. I think there are some pros and cons to consider. For one, they’re more work than traditional rentals. You mentioned the cleaning, but you also have to handle the laundry, the furnishing, the utilities, check-ins, etc. Additionally, my town has had talks of negative legislation around this which could hurt the business.

It’s probably a great way to make money, but it’s not as passive, unless of course you hire a management company, but they’ll take their cut.