All Forum Posts by: Julian Maso

Thanks for the reply Charles! The university is opening back up for the upcoming semester, they do not have a "take your classes online, take them in person, or hybrid version" options like other universities will have. In reference to the monthly rent, the unit is a 4 bedroom and 2 bath in each unit. The average price of a bedroom here, which I've picked up on over the last 4 years of being here speaking to people around their rent rates, can range anywhere from 400-750 per bedroom. This explains the 1800$ price tag i mentioned before. Thank you for the insight as well!

-Julian

I've been looking at properties near me, specifically a duplex, the property is 359,000 and i was thinking about house hacking, with one unit being rented out for 1800 (fair price for college living around me) and me living in the other one, i would essentially being paying 650 in "rent" (house payments) to live there. If i am able to move out in a couple years and rent both units out for 1800 a month,3600 total, after all expenses the CoCROI i calculated would be about 19% which is amazing.

The only issue as of right now is that one of the units is vacant (which is fine, i could live there) but the other unit is rented out for 1000/month for another year.

This is a SWEET deal if the rent payments were at the right point, which i would definitely make them if i owned the property. Perhaps this is why someone is selling this place to potentially offset the losses that they may be getting with such a low rent paying tenant.

I know i probably should not buy this property as of right now and there will be more in the future, but with the right rent rate this deal could be a WINNER, is it advisable to look a year down the road knowing you will be making more then and then just suffer for a year of lower rent payments?

-Julian

I've been looking at properties near me, specifically a duplex, the property is 359,000 and i was thinking about house hacking, with one unit being rented out for 1800 (fair price for college living around me) and me living in the other one, i would essentially being paying 650 in "rent" (house payments) to live there. If i am able to move out in a couple years and rent both units out for 1800 a month,3600 total, after all expenses the CoCROI i calculated would be about 19% which is amazing.

The only issue as of right now is that one of the units is vacant (which is fine, i could live there) but the other unit is rented out for 1000/month for another year.

This is a SWEET deal if the rent payments were at the right point, which i would definitely make them if i owned the property. Perhaps this is why someone is selling this place to potentially offset the losses that they may be getting with such a low rent paying tenant.

I know i probably should not buy this property as of right now and there will be more in the future, but with the right rent rate this deal could be a WINNER, is it advisable to look a year down the road knowing you will be making more then and then just suffer for a year of lower rent payments?

Here's a theoretical situation (that could likely happen to me in the next year or so):

I currently live in an apartment for 1325 a month which is a bit more than i would like to pay (although unavoidable due to the rapidness of me finding and starting my job). I would like to buy a duplex near where i currently live and house hack. I did some rough calculations of the numbers on the house and it turned out to be anywhere from 500-1100 in cashflow per month IF both units are rented out to tenants (the range of the numbers is due to VERY rough estimates). 

More specifically: 

Me living in a unit: Cash flow -600 to -700 (which just means i would be paying that much for my house payments, which is wonderful compared to the rent im paying now.

Both units rented out: 500-1100 in cashflow

My question is: Does anyone have any stories of them house hacking and needing to move somewhere quickly to rent out the unit that you are staying in to increase cashflow. I know it is always possible to get an apartment pretty quickly, but if im currently mentally exhausted by paying rent in exchange for nothing rather than paying mortgage in exchange for equity, how should i anticipate this issue and be better prepared for when something like this possibly happens. Worst case i would be commuting to work from 2 hours away, or inconveniencing my friends to live with them in their apartment for a couple of months to get my living arrangements straightened out.

Please let me know if you'd like me to explain something better! Thanks for your time.

-Julian

Thanks for writing Jonathan! 

I will definitely keep this in mind, my main focus right now is learning as much as i can before purchasing anything (and mainly because i would like to save a bit more before doing so). I think it is very wise for you to point out that most area at the moment are not doing as well as they could have with what is currently going on. Have a wonderful day!

-Julian

Thank you for the insight, Dan. I will definitely look into more properties in the region outside of Waco (closer to bigger cities/possibly emerging cities). This has a been a great help so far and I've only been here a couple days! Would you mind if I sent a connection request?

-Julian 

 Thank you for the reply Dan!

I was thinking about house hacking for my first rental property which would allow me to save even more for future properties. My current market at the moment is the Waco area in Texas. (Ya know, Chip and Joanna Gaines lol). I recently just graduated Baylor University and have a full time job near the school. My current mindset is to seek out a duplex somewhere relatively close to the school so the fear of vacancy in the units i own would be reduced. 

Side note: I grew up in Dallas, and growing up in a more affluent part of the state, moving to Waco (at least where i live), i have noticed that the quality/standard of living is fairly lower. I'm worried that if i purchase properties for cheap that the quality of tenants that i get will not be as great as if i were to live in another, more established/"richer" area. Also, i don't mean to sound snarky, I'm just describing my personal observations as i have lived here or a little over 4 years. 

Also, I haven't spoken to any local investors. The majority of my instruction is from my father who does commercial real estate and rare residential real estate agent type business as he has his RA license and brokers license. I will definitely be on BiggerPockets more and more over the next few weeks looking to connect with more people, hopefully one's in the Waco area.

Thank you again for your suggestions, have a wonderful day!

-Julian 

 Thank you for the reply Twana!

Regarding house hacking, it is definitely something that I would like to do, especially knowing how much living expenses will be reduced (and compared to the rent i am paying, anything would be better lol). Thank you so much for the suggestions. I would definitely do more research into properties in my area and aim for duplex/triplex/fourplex so i can house hack. Have a wonderful day!

-Julian

@Jimmy Lieu that is awesome! I am pretty new as well, connecting would be great! Feel free to message me any time or I can message you with my phone number! Thanks for the reply!

Hi, my name is Julian and I am new (and excited to be) here. I recently graduated college with a Mechanical Engineering degree and was fortunate enough to find a job. I do love occupation that I'm in, but truthfully after only one month here i realized that i dont want to work a 9-5 for the rest of my life for someone else. I don't mean to sound snarky, but i would rather put my efforts toward improving my Pockets than someone else's. 

With that being said. I have a little bit of money saved away, enough for a 300,000 house with 15-20% down. My questions are these:

Should i spend all of my savings on the down payment if i want to get into investing in real estate as early as possible? I have a steady income, but always having savings is a good thing. Especially with the way things are in the world right now (COVID), are properties still being rented out as often as before. I wouldn't know since i don't have the resources to know this. Also, i think this is the more important "sub-question:" With some colleges going to partly online / partly in-person classes, would it be advisable to invest in college housing rather than normal residing citizen housing.

I live near a college campus, is it advisable to buy a duplex as a first investment and "house hack" for some time. Rather than this, should i stay in my 1325 $/mo apartment for 2 years (instead of 1) and save up more money before i begin investing.

I know some about real estate, more than the average 22 year old i would assume, but in these forums i probably know the least. I'm conservative with my money so the usual investments i make consist of stocks and retirement mutual fund accounts. 

This is all i could think of at this time, i am excited to be here and be apart of this community.

-Julian