All Forum Posts by: Kevin Osborn

Hello Bigger Pockets,

I was searching through the BP forums and came across a post by a Marcus Coleman about 12 months ago.  The original post only received a handful of replies and I wanted to get some more opinions on the matter.  He asked the following:

Has anyone tried house hacking with an outside property manager? If so, how'd it go? Any advice for someone interested in doing this?

For example, buying a four-unit apartment building and and paying a property management company to handle finding and managing tenants.

I am wanting to purchase a 4-unit as my first deal but I don't quite have enough capital for the down-payment and extra cash reserves. I don't NEED a new place to live but with the FHA loan I would only have to live in the property for 1 year and I could get a much lower down payment (right?), enough to be able to afford a 4-unit rental in the short term. I personally would like to hire a management company because I am already attending school full-time and working a part-time job. I know that managing myself would save me a lot more money, but I don't think I would have the time nor energy after my other commitments. I would love to hear other people's opinions on the matter though.

@Miguel Castillo Thanks for sharing your story.  It is pretty crazy that someone had been paying M2M for 15 years.  I see now that everything is really situation dependent, but it's always best to be as cordial as possible and give the tenant a good heads-up on what you plan to do with future rents.

@Aziz Raji  Thank you.  I had asked a question earlier, just something simple that I randomly thought about and believed I already knew the answer to.  Anyways, I was very surprised at how many replies I received in such a short amount of time.  Each response was very helpful as well.  I have only been with BP for a very, very short amount of time, but so far I have an extremely positive view on the community here.  Everyone seems to genuinely want to help each other out, and that's great!

@Nathan Gesner  Thank you for your help in answering my question.  I will definitely make sure to read up more on my state laws.

@Thomas S. I will definitely do just that.  I am still researching things I might need to know.  There is so much that one needs to keep in mind, it seems a little mind-boggling right now.  I know that doing is potentially the best teacher, but for now I am going to learn as much as I can before I fully commit.  Thanks again.

@John Warren Thank you for your response.  This is exactly what I assumed but I just wanted to make sure.  Thank you for the information. 

Hello Everyone!

My name is Kevin and I m brand-spankin-new to the BiggerPockets community and real estate investing in general.  I am currently a student in Illinois and I am saving money for a down payment on my first real estate investment.  I plan on making my first purchase sometime next year, and I am using this time while saving my money to become as smart as possible on the subject of real estate.  I have never owned a home before and have just recently started renting myself.  In fact, the most expensive thing I have ever owned in my life was my very first car, valued at $5000 back in 2011.  I am very nervous to get started but at the same time extremely excited as well.  I am currently creating a road-map of sorts to help guide myself for the next several years, and after learning about all different types of real estate 'vehicles,' I have decided to invest in small multi-family houses using a buy and hold strategy.  If I do well enough for myself I hope to one day move to commercial property (though I don't have my eyes set on anything too crazy yet).  I first found out about BiggerPockets on YouTube and really enjoyed their videos (I can't recall what specific video I had first watched) and content on that site.  I have watched countless of the weekly podcasts on YouTube and have since decided to join the greater community here on BiggerPockets proper.  I am excited to utilize all of the tools available here on BP and I look forward to any interactions I may have here on the BP forums.

-  Kevin

Hello everyone.  I am very new to bigger pockets and I am during my research (focusing on small multi-family) and savings phase right now in my real estate venture.  I am planning on buying my first property early next year, but in the mean time I am trying to learn as much as possible.  I have a random question that I just thought out, and I can't seem to find the answer yet.  Please let me know if this has already been answered elsewhere in the forums though.

If you purchase a property that already has tenants living in the spaces, are you obligated to wait until their current contractual agreement is up before raising their rents?  Or can you simply raise the rents after you have finished purchasing the property?

Thanks for the help!

-  Kevin