All Forum Posts by: Jake Kain

Sounds like you are on a similar path as myself, except you have many advantages, and a quicker timeline!

I bought a SFR with a VA loan and house hacked for the last few years. Difference is, I made this move before I knew what house hacking was or what biggerpockets and REI was. You are in a great position! I did not have any money saved, had less than impressive credit and had no idea of a future plan.

My wife and I are currently selling the SFR and actively looking for a MF to house hack. We will again be using the VA loan.

I think you have a solid plan, and I just have 2 pieces of advice to give.

1) Try not to think too much about step 2, until you have step 1 in motion. For me, I get distracted easily, and it is easy for me to get off track focusing on step 2, when I should be laser focused on step 1.

2) Make sure you find a lender who truly understands VA loans. I have had too many Veteran brothers/sisters who were told "yeah, I know VA loans" to later find out the lender did not know what they were doing and trying to "fake it til they make it". This caused huge problems, cost more money and pushed out closing dates. Even caused one deal to fall through!

Good luck to you, and stay safe over there.

@Tamara Rodenbeck Welcome!

I am in the same position currently.  My wife and I are in the process of finishing up some things on our house and hope to have it listed next month. I have been searching for a MF that we could house hack and it has proven to be a very difficult task. I have lived here my entire life and still do not know every neighborhood and I am still learning. So I can definitely see how coming in from out of town would be a huge undertaking.

We recently did some more research on the Casita hacking and have starting looking into that as well. It seems like it could be a great opportunity if you do your research and find the right areas. We are searching the central/downtown phoenix area as well as Tempe. Hopefully, we can find something that works!

Whenever you guys get out here, feel free to reach out. Hopefully, we have found something and have been into it for a few months by then so we should be able to give you some realistic expectations!

I agree with Stone. I have been watching the MLS like a hawk for the past 4 or 5 months in the central Phoenix and Tempe areas and finding something that aligns with our criteria has been tough.

My wife and I are about to do our own direct mail campaign in hopes to find an owner who has been thinking about selling but hasn't listed yet. Since we intend to house hack and aren't looking to flip, we don't mind paying a "fair" price as long as the numbers work for us and the seller. This was an idea I got from another BP member in a different market. If I can find the post again, I will send it to you if interested. I am a licensed agent, so I was able to pull my own list from tax records and have access to the MLS.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

Thank you for sharing this! I am in the exact same spot right now. My wife and I are putting some finishing touches on our SFR to put on market by the end of the month. I bought it in 2014 and we have done some updates in the past 6 months and have some decent equity built up. I have been watching the MLS (also a licensed agent) like a hawk for months now and have not found anything that makes sense for us in the location we want. I was just starting to think I should start looking into a game plan to find off market deals just as you did. We are planning on using VA/FHA as well, but will have cash set aside to remain flexible.

I look forward to reading through all the comments on this post when I get more time. Good luck to you moving forward!

@Michael Hacker @Justin Owens Thank you guys for the feedback, I will be going there next!

Hello BP!

I am currently trying to obtain a HELOC on my primary residence. Most likely we will be using it to do some rehab on the house prior to selling it (if that plan sticks). In general just want to have access to some equity if needed. I was going through a local credit union but have decided to pull the plug. I have my car financed through them and they had great introductory offer and standard rates. They also did not charge any appraisal or other associated fees. My parents have used them for years and just recently got a HELOC through them. Since my auto loan was originated by the dealership, I was in a loophole system that I did not have to be a member of the credit union to have the loan. For the HELOC, I needed to open a checking and savings to become a member. The experience of dealing with them over the past week has been very disappointing and I will be taking everything elsewhere (yes, even the car).

Aside from that, where do you guys find the best HELOCs? Do you stick with local CU (Phoenix and Arizona specific) or have more success with online applications or big name banks? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

I know this has probably been asked, but after a quick skim of the first few pages I did not see anything related. I am also unsure of a search function, I could have swore there used to be a forum search bar?

Thank you!!

Looking forward to it!

Really wish I could make it this month. Unfortunately, I already had plans for that evening. I hope it is a good turnout! See everyone in February!

Is this event still happening tonight?

I really wanted to check it out as well but I just bought tickets to the 10X growth conference so I will probably have to pass on this one. Love his podcast so I would be interested in hearing about how this bootcamp turns out. If you go please share a review!