All Forum Posts by: Jacob Lopez

A tool that I've downloaded recently and like to far is DealCheck. It has a pretty good analysis program for rentals, flips and brrrr's. Might be worth a look. 

Hey @Jacob Lopez - I personally use the MLS and rentometer.

There are some Chicago specific rental platforms like domu.

Are you saying that you have found the US Dept of Housing to be inaccurate?

To run actual analysis we also really love deal check which @Forrest T Schue mentioned

@Jacob Lopez you can also use rentometer.if you have an interest in a specific area though set ap alerts or scan rentals in the area periodically as if you were a renter to see renrs.

I usually look through several places but one of the most consistent tools I've used to do a quick check on potential rental rates is Rentometer. I'll usually go there first to get a baseline and then further refine that with local listings, etc.. 

@Jacob Lopez

You're not wrong. Duplex house-hacking hasn't cash-flowed in Denver or Colorado Springs for years, even when interest rates were low. Rent-by-the-room house-hacking could cash flow. I imagine it's the same in Chicago.

Unfortunately, interest rates have put those days in the past as well.

But that's not a reason to not invest. Offset as much as you can, save up as much as you can, and repeat in a year or two while renting out the previous place. 

I think it's similar to dollar cost averaging in the stock market. Put in a set amount at set intervals to minimize losses from buying at imopportune times.

House hacks rarely will ever cashflow. They are meant to reduce your living expenses to save money while getting into a property way under the 20% down threshold. Once you move out then it will have cashflow. The benefit of house hacks is you can do it every year and use low money down. After a few you'll have properties under your belt to launch you into investing. It's a slow but steady way to do it

@Jacob Lopez, as others noted, house hacking is not really a cash flow play, in a traditional sense, since you are effectively removing 33-50% of the property from the rent roll.

If you plan on living in a unit for a couple years, then holding longer as an investment, I would underwrite it as an investment.  If it makes sense to buy as an investment, then it is likely worth buying as a house hack, assuming it is a property/neighborhood you want to live in.  

From a current cash flow perspective, the analysis should result in better cash flow for YOU.  It still may be negative, but so is paying rent to your current landlord.  So, if you are paying, say $1,500/mo in rent now.  When you buy this triplex, you are only our of pocket $500/mo for a similar quality of life, that equates to "$1,000 net cash cash flow to you", since you are effective saving $1,000/mo versus your current living situation.

Jacob. On smaller deals like this, the valuation is determined by the market demand as appraisers use the sales comp method. Take it or leave it. In my evaluations, I want my smaller properties to have positive cash flow. I plan to hold them long term, so I'm confident that time will be the deciding factor in my returns. I'm a lot less picky on these SFR - 4plex models. Does it pay for itself. The cash flow is negligable on these smaller ones. Typically, maintenance & repair expenses may eat up the couple of thousand you earn annually in the early years. Over time they are much nicer.

Also, when looking at a house hack, I always consider the full rent.  You would be receiving that rent if you're not occupying it, so I run my numbers "as if" it is occupied.  Consider that the other unit is paying or close to paying the debt service and you have little to no house payment.  That is your cash flow as you're keeping it in your pocket vs. paying it to a landlord or mortgage company.

Hope that helps.