All Forum Posts by: Jeff White

@Benjamin Boyle

Congrats on recognizing the power of real estate investing and specifically house hacking.

I've done 8 house hacks in 7 years with my wife in Denver metro, and it has allowed both of us to leave our W2s, and that is the power of it, if you are willing to do it, it can allow you to expedite the financial independence goal in 5-10 years if you are willing to do the work.

That's also smart to shoot for a small portfolio, you don't need 100s of units to achieve your goals.

Regarding your strategies:

1) Single Family with ADU - this is the most ideal strategy for couples since it is like getting a detached duplex so best of both worlds with house hacking and privacy, but unfortunately, Denver metro doesn't have a lot of these types of properties, and the ones with new ADUs are way too expensive to make it work unless you are putting down 30-40% down.

2) 2-4 units - this is the much better strategy due to way more inventory in the Denver metro market that can work, and there are lots of properties that can definitely work for what you are looking for.  The most important number is whether it cash flows the day after moving out, and there are lots of strategies to maximize cash flow.  Most 2-4 units are located in B-C areas, so A areas aren't as common because those were designed just for single families with no 2-4 units present (think of Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree), all of those places have only single family properties and no small multifamilies.  

3) Relocate to a different market - if your job allows it, definitely a good idea too because you can go to a market where there might be more ADUs or better priced multis, but the long-term appreciation might not be as good as Denver. 

I've done all the strategies from STR, rent by room/coliving, long-term market tenants, Section 8 and Sober living. All strategies work, and it depends on the property on what works best.

The best properties for house hacking with a low down-payment are 2-4 units and/or houses with ADUs/mother-in-law apartments because you can find ones that meet your need for privacy and your own unit, but you might have to sacrifice a little on location. 

The best way to cash flow in a market today is to a use a strategy that pays better than average returns like Section 8, rent by room or STR/MTR depending on the property.

The next steps for you are definitely figure out your deal breakers, could you live in a 4plex in Arvada/Westminster? Do you want a fixer? Do you want rent ready? How much time do you have to devout to your real estate strategy? STR/MTRs require more work in general, so that might not be the best strategy.

Hi All,

I'm a local agent here in Denver, Colorado, and I have a local client that is looking to purchase investment properties in Las Vegas in the next 6-12 months since he goes out there every few months for business, does anyone have a good agent referral or someone that has experience not only investing themselves but works primarily with investors?  He is open all types of properties between 500k-1 million

@Holly Radice Barnum is one of the more recent neighborhoods that has been trending upward the last few years because of proximity to Sloan's Lake and good zoning. 

For short-term and mid-term strategies working there, the simple answer is that it depends. What's the condition of the studio?  Is it in the back of the property?  What's around there?  Is it fully remodeled?   

I think the best education would be to reach out to owners doing short-term and mid-term rentals on Airbnb and Furnished Finder to see what they are getting. 

@Kevin Bartel Welcome to BP!  BP is a great place to network and find all the information that you will need for almost any question. I'm a local Denver agent primarily, but I'm familiar with some of the challenges up in the mountains because no deals make sense running the quick math. 

In fact, it is usually an automatic no deal unless you are putting 50-60% down for an investment property, but at that point, it wouldn't be worth putting that much cash down on an investment property where you can get much better returns in markets such as Denver. 

Since you are right out of residency with a good job and not married and no family, you are in a unique spot because you have flexibility right. If you are committed to staying up in the mountains, you might as well consider house hacking a single family up there. 

There are some amazing physician loans available that can allow you to purchase a owner occupied single family property with 0% down. 

In fact, one of my clients last year closed on a house hack near Keystone and turned a 5 bedroom single family home into a 6 bedroom house, and he is living in one room and renting out the 5 other rooms individually between $1,300-$1,400 per month per room because of the lack of affordable housing options up there. 

Due to the current interest rates, you probably can't live for free, but you can definitely learn how to house hack in that first year, reduced your personal housing costs, learn the rent by room/co-living strategy on-site, and then probably break-even after move out, but most importantly, it is possible to make that work in 2025 with today's rates.

It just takes being open-minded and willing to be flexible for the 1st year.  

@Nate Shields  Good points!  I would add that screening tenants and shorter leases (2-4 months) is the solution to mitigate the risk of being stuck with a problem roommate-tenant.  You can weed them out till you find good ones, and when you do, then you offer a 6-12 month renewal. Thus, the first 3-6 months is a stabilization phase with a rent by room house hack. 

That way, you are picking out the best of the bunch and keeping the peace with the others.  

@Grant Shipman Great stuff, I'm a big fan of co-living/rent by room strategy, and I do it here locally in Denver metro, and it is the best strategy in today's market for any house hacker to live for free or make money while living there, but they have to sacrifice personal space.

As a rental strategy for non owner occupants, it absolutely is a fantastic way to generate the highest return, that's true.....but also, and most importantly, your screening has to be on point, and without that, it won't be as effective because one bad roommate can ruin the environment for the other roommate tenants.  Also, you need to have plenty of parking, if you rent a 6-7 bedroom house out to 6-7 roommates, it needs plenty of parking for that.

Most importantly, no HOA. An HOA can easily restrict someone trying that strategy.

Also, there is a need in the marketplace for a co-living PM company that doesn't charge too high of rate. 

@Chase Puckett Hey Chase, I would be happy to discuss, I have a lot of clients looking in that area, want to DM more information or price that you are looking to get? 

@Tanya Maslach Welcome to BP Tanya, that's great you started investing in college, that is so smart. 

Those creative strategies are fantastic, but also, they are very advanced and not easy to find those types of deals in the Denver metro market, especially without a track record. Usually partners, capital partners want to see prior performance before being a debt or equity partner. 

The best way to do that is treat the meetups as a way to build your network, as you continually grow your network, you will find people that have the cash and no time, people with time and no cash, and people that are not looking to invest at all. 

Another alternative is to buy another house hack type property, but instead of renting rooms, why don't you purchase a 2-4 unit property or a house with carriage house, that way, you can still invest and it isn't as risking or requiring external capital partners besides finding a lender. 

 If you are willing to rent rooms, it is a simple equation and you can live for free, it literally is just finding a house where you can add multiple bedrooms and turn a 4 bedroom to a 7 bedroom or a 5 to a 7 bedroom and you take the smallest room or a trailer and renting out 7 rooms, you can definitely achieve cash flow. The difficult part isn't finding that property; the difficult part is finding quality roommate tenants and having good systems for screening, setting up rules and maintaining your future investment to achieve the best results. 

I've had many clients utilize the rent by room strategy to great success. 

@Steven Mendiola Welcome Steven! House hacking is the most powerful way to get started in real estate investing, and it sets you up for success because you learn so many things: dealing with contractors, how to screen tenants, lease negotiation, but most importantly, your goal should be to reduce or eliminate your housing cost, and there are a lot of ways to do with house hacking depending on your flexibility with strategy: rent by room, Section 8, mid-term rental, STR, etc, and you can combine multiple strategies too.

The big thing is to not shoot for the home run deal on your first one. That's great if you got a home run deal, but the reality for your first one is to try and live for free, and then get better for HH #2, and then incrementally better for HH#3, as you progress in your investing career, you will be able to recognize those great deals, but it is much harder in the beginning since you have a huge learning curve.