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All Forum Posts by: John Steffen

John Steffen has started 12 posts and replied 66 times.

Post: Fannie Mae 5% Down Program

John Steffen
Agent
Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
  • Posts 71
  • Votes 31

At most, while getting approved for the next loan, underwriters might ask you a series of additional questions as to why you're moving especially if the new unit is relatively the same size, area, value. 

Post: Is house hacking still going to work for people in Gen Z ?

John Steffen
Agent
Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
  • Posts 71
  • Votes 31

Focus on the highest and best use of a househack. Cash flow very rarely exists in this market, so don't try to fit a square peg in a round hole. Build the equity through appreciation and principal paydown, save on living expenses, hedge against inflation, then leverage that asset to buy your next home or rental property. Rince and Repeat. I wouldn't depend on cash flow these days, but if you are cash flow positive, awesome! Stack your cash reserves!

Post: Seeking advice for aouse hacking strategy in Austin

John Steffen
Agent
Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
  • Posts 71
  • Votes 31

Austin is flooded with STRs (and str regulations now) but it can still work, just use a good agent. I would lean more MTR or LTR regardless of product type. If you go RBTR, here are a few key criteria I've seen to assure comfort of living and lower vacancy / turnover:

- at least 400sqft per tenant and no more than 2 tenants to 1 full bath 

-excess parking where folks aren't blocking each other in and you're not getting complaints from your neighbors about overtaking the street parking. Bonus if you land a corner lot.

- multiple indoor common areas (think 2 separate tv setups). 

- exterior "usable square footage" (think covered patio, pergolas).

- extra storage space so tenants don't feel the need to squeeze their entire lives into one room (extra garage space, attic, detached shed)

- room for 2 full refrigerators! + ample pantry/shelf/cabinet space for dry goods.

Post: Houston House Hacking Strategy

John Steffen
Agent
Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
  • Posts 71
  • Votes 31

Heights would be awesome. $350k might be tough to find a quality and viable house-hack. If you still have some time on your lease, you could buy a light value-add SFH with a low-down construction loan. Go under contract with a ~45 day closing, rehab for 30-60 days (costs wrapped into the loan)..during this time you can market for tenants, then move in. As long as your purchase price + rehab costs are equal to or less than fair market value then you're good to go!

Post: Moving out of my House Hacking home

John Steffen
Agent
Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
  • Posts 71
  • Votes 31

Hey Solen, I would start by asking yourself what you actually do day to day to "manage" the place currently. Most of the time, even in the RBTR model, it's really not much day to day work. I think you'll find it's easier than you're initially thinking. Like Michael said, I would use a cleaner once a month to clean or biweekly, restock the common area items (like TP, dish soap, etc), and sign up for routine lawn and snow services. The cleaner will be your steady intel on how the place is holding up. Oh, and I would also interview a few local handymen to keep on call in the case something does need a timely repair (at least 2). 

Post: Co-signers? (skittish from bad experience)

John Steffen
Agent
Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
  • Posts 71
  • Votes 31

Bill hit the nail on the head. Personally, I don't mind co-signers IF your spidy senses aren't tingling in those open-ended conversations. Trust your gut here. For example, one steady red flag I've noticed is if the tenant tries to overly sell themselves almost with a rehearsed pitch before you even start asking questions especially. Sometimes before even asking a specific question, they will start rambling a rehearsed excuse story on their credit, previous landlord troubles, job losses, etc. It's usually foreshadowing their future excuse stories for missing rent.  

Post: Light Value-add Quadplex

John Steffen
Agent
Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
  • Posts 71
  • Votes 31

Yup! 3 quality tenants in place paying just shy of fair market value. 1 vacant turnkey unit. 

Post: Light Value-add Quadplex

John Steffen
Agent
Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
  • Posts 71
  • Votes 31

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $515,000
Cash invested: $128,750

Textbook quadplex buy and hold right outside the DFW metro. 2 story brick building with 4 identical 2 bed 1.5 bath units. Just under the 1% rule at close, but we plan to convert 2 units into furnished mid-term rentals at premium rates.

Post: Horse House Hack

John Steffen
Agent
Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
  • Posts 71
  • Votes 31

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment.

Purchase price: $475,000
Cash invested: $50,000

Horse House Hack! Not just a real estate investment, but an investment into my marriage. My wife is at peace sipping coffee & feeding her horses; her peace and happiness is priceless. What is not priceless...is the house and land required to experience that moment (especially for young newlyweds in DFW!) That is until we used a 3.5% FHA for a main house + ADU on 6 acres. The ADU now covers over half the mortgage + additional monthly income per horse the tenant desires to keep on site.

What was the outcome?

Happy wife. Happy life.

Post: My First Flip

John Steffen
Agent
Posted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
  • Posts 71
  • Votes 31

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $82,000
Cash invested: $8,000
Sale price: $163,500

Remodeled my first flip TWICE before selling...double the experience and lessons learned! First GC got 70% complete, changed his name and vanished. Second GC undid all the work and started from scratch. Still walked away with a whopping $3500 profit! Thank goodness we bought it right.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The best neighborhood in Tarrant County that still offered sub 100k opportunities.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

MLS. Originally listed for $149k. Sat on market for 4 months before they dropped to $125k. That is when I offered $90k. They went under contract with another 2 investors, each who backed out after inspections. We knew he was a frustrated seller who did not want his time wasted again

How did you finance this deal?

Hard money

How did you add value to the deal?

full remodel

What was the outcome?

Sold to a happy first-time home buyer.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Many.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Rockstar hard money lender - Ryan Blake at Long Horn Investments