All Forum Posts by: Jean Carlo Vilalta

Killing it, @Seth Bryan - looks delicious too! Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Hey Dave,

I'm getting started as well and have been actively looking for multi-family properties in the area. As you might've already learned, house-hacking is a solid option to start off, so that's what I've had my focus on. That said, there's a few other options as well. I'd say one of your first steps would be to speak with a lender (or a few) and get an understanding of what you can afford based on your current cash reserves, credit score, etc., and understand the extent of the closing costs in our area (spoiler alert: they are on the high end relative to the numbers you might be used to from the BP podcasts). 

Once you know your price limits and the types of properties you'd be looking for, you can start reaching out to real estate agents and speaking with them until you find one who you see might be a good fit for you. I recommend asking them if they own any investment properties of their own, and try to understand how well they might know the market or may be willing to help, and see who'd be best for you. 

There's not much of a supply in Bucks County when it comes to duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes, but you can also start with single family homes depending on your specific situation. It may also make sense to flip depending on your time availability and skillset. I'll say if you occupy the property for at least a year, you'll find more options when it comes to financing.

Ultimately, there's a lot of options to start with, so I'd determine what your parameters are and then reach out to realtors to begin taking some steps towards that first purchase.

As a newbie myself, I definitely don't know as much as some of the others who will be giving you advice on here, but I'm happy to help with what I do know thus far. 

Best of luck as you start your journey!

Looking forward to meeting everyone and connecting with those of you in the area.  Thanks for setting it up, Seth! 

I'm just starting, actively looking for my first property with the intent to househack, also in Bucks.

Hey BP! I'm on my way to purchasing my first multifamily to househack, and a few of the properties I've looked at are currently tenant-occupied. I've been reading up on BP and otherwise and understand the need to get things like their existing leases along with as much information as possible about them in order to best gauge how to proceed and if the deal is even worth it to start in that regard. That said, there are several factors that I'm wondering about as I explore this as an option. My first question has to do with rent as there are many descriptions of "long-standing tenants" who are potentially paying a lower rent than the market calls for. If I were to purchase such a property, would I have to wait for their current lease to expire prior to making any changes? If so, would evicting them be an option? I'd obviously want to steer clear from burning any bridges or inciting potential harm to a property by jumping right to an eviction. 

I'm curious if anyone has any insight on the matter or perhaps has gone through a tenant-occupied purchase/experience and can share some lessons learned.

Thanks!

-Jean

Hey guys, I'm a newbie myself in Bucks County as well, journeying towards my first multi-family purchase at the moment. Very interested in joining a meetup if there's any going on (perhaps virtually during these crazy times). Let me know if anyone here succeeded in meeting up and knows if there's any more meetups going on these days!