All Forum Posts by: Kevin Phu

So would an NDA also not allow me to have a mentor/friend help me look over and evaluate the notes? Or does the NDA just prevent me from taking the tape and selling it/pass it to someone who can steal business from the original broker?

I currently househack a my SFR in Ventura county. It has 4br but I onyl rent out two while living in the master. All in all, I'm paying less than what I was paying for my previous rent/utilities. So in my situation, it makes sense.

I also at the time don't want a 4th roommate as the place feels like just the right amount of space for 3 adults and it's comfortable for the current rommates. 

I used my VA loan so I plan on looking at potentially selling this place for a better one once my one year primary requirement is over.

I believe read that if you claimed rental income on it, you can't use the homestead exemption. Can someone confirm? 

I know, I know, you aren't giving me legal advice, consult a CPA, blah blah lol

I'll dig through some of the IRS codes myself later but I'm sure there's someone here with more knwoledge that can point us in the right direction faster. 

Would defnitely consider selling these on Ebay or Amazon. It might take a little work but it's free money and the experience you gain from selling on Ebay/Amazon may lead you to enjoy the ecommerce business.

Originally posted by @Eric M.:

Amazon is not leaving Seattle. They are building a second HQ

Who's to say building HQ2 isn't to set up for eventually moving HQ1 out of Seattle though?

Originally posted by @Mark Pitt:

@Kevin Phu @Michele Fischer @Patrick Hermans

Do anyone of you use any companies to manage maintenance requests? Is there like an uber like company that finds you people such as plumbers etc?

Are you guys just using excel sheets or some kind of automating onboarding company?

 Right now I manage all the maintenance requests as I live in the house as well. I do have a plumber that I can call for any major issues though. When I get more units, I will be using some sort of online portal where the tenant can make their payments and submit maintenance requests.

I am using an excel spreadsheet right now to track all of my property's associated income/expenses. I'm house hacking my 4BR SFR so it's pretty basic right now.

I only have two tenants that are renting rooms in my primary SFR so it's pretty simple for me right now. Only a few concerns/annoyances.

1-Having a fluid rent payment system set up in regards to how and which bank account while juggling the mortgage/utility payments.

2-As @Michele Fischer posted, find a good handy man. I have a sewer line get clogged resulting in the kitchen sinks and washer sewer line to backing up. Spent the whole day (Sunday morning) trying to find a plumber to come out. I eventually found a local guy who came in 15 minutes, handled it quickly, and for an unbelievable price.

Now if I ever have plumbing problems again, I have a great peace of mind that I know who to call right away. Now I am on the hunt for a good handyman before I need them. 

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

@Kevin Phu but you didn’t allocate any to taxes, insurance or maintenance. In Miami taxes and insurance can run about 800 a month. My friend in northern Florida is paying 800 a year! Huge difference  

My $2400/month mortgage includes my taxes. My home insurance is paid for for the entire and is the same cost as my previous renter's insurance policy (love USAA). I put aside a few hundred a month for maintenance but the place is in great condition and capital expenses were taken care of by the previous owners (new roof, plumbing/sewer line).

All in all, I am still paying significantly less out of pocket than when I was a renter. 

Originally posted by @Logan Allec:

@Kevin Phu

How did you come to the 1/8 calculation?

Let's say each unit is 2,000 square feet, so the entire property is 8,000 square feet (in reality my property is way smaller but just for sake of example).  So we have:

Unit 1: 2,000 square feet rented out

Unit 2: 2,000 square feet rented out

Unit 3: 2,000 square feet rented out

Unit 4: 1,000 square feet rented out; 1,000 square feet occupied by me

So 7,000 out of 8,000 square feet is rented out = 7/8.

And 1,000 out of 8,000 square feet is occupied by me = 1/8.

Did you calculate by total rooms in the units or just by bedrooms?

I personally used square footage, but that's not the way it has to be.  You can come up with any allocation you want, as long as it's "reasonable" (vague, I know).

 Gotcha! That makes more sense now. Thanks for the explanation.

How would I divide the sqft up for a SFR? sqft of the rented bedroom/sq ft of rest of house minus personal bedroom? sqft of rented bedroom plus common areas/sq ft of entire house?

So many ways to calculate it... *sigh* I recently filed it 50/50 since I had 2 rooms of the 4 rented out in 2017. 

@Account Closed I was in the same predicament as you before I purchased my first property with a VA loan.

What I did was figure out what my current living expenses were (rent and utilities which was about 1500/month). Then when I analyzed a property, I stayed realistic about most likely not being able to cash flow with 0% down. If I could, that would be great but as you have come to realize is that the 0% down increases your mortgage by quite a bit thus killing your potential cash flow. The goal I set was to dramatically cut down on my current monthly living expenses and coming as close to break even as possible so that my exit won't bite me in the ***. 

Anyways, I'll use the house I just recently bought and am house hacking. It is a 4br2ba SFR. My current mortgage is $2400. I rent out 3 bedrooms for a total of $2150/month. Utilities have been averaging around $200/month. So with all of that, I am essentially paying $450 out of pocket per month for living expenses compared to $1500. That's $1000 extra saved every month! On top of that, it is right down the street from work so I save a ton on commuting and I also rent out some unused space in the garage to a coworker for some storage.

Be realistic and see what is going to work best for your situation. $100 per door or $300 per month or yada yada is ideal but everyone's situation is different.