All Forum Posts by: Katie Phillips

@Gunnar Haugen I love the creativity, but I agree with the other posts. I would look for a home that already has 2 houses on the lot. You could also look for in-law units, garage apartments, homes with 2 entrances, a basement apartment, etc. There are many ways to house hack without having to live in multifamily properties. 

@Laurence Fru How many bedrooms does the condo have? Could you create an extra room? If you have to keep the condo, I would try to rent out each bedroom individually. This will create more monthly cashflow, so hopefully your total is not so negative. I understand your logic of losing 50k now or later, but unless your other residence is free, you could sell now, lose 50K, but use the left over money to buy your other place. Otherwise, you will lose 50K and have to pay for another place to live. 

@Kalu Adane There are benefits to a first time home buyer, but they are not something to stress over. The main difference is 3% down for a primary, vs 5%. My best advice is to find a new lender. Use the BP networking tool to find someone who specializes in investments. If your goal is to build wealth in RE, do everything you can to keep your current home as a rental if you can make monthly cash flow off of it. I would ask the lender about potential issues with refinancing. Let's say you do that now, you might not be able to move for at least another year into a multifamily. Your lender should be a great resource, not cause you more anxiety. It sounds like you and your wife are in a great situation, so I'm sure whatever you decide will be great! 

I would speak with a lender about your financial situation. If you are able to qualify for a loan on your own, I would buy your primary residence first. You'll save money in rent, the down payment is much lower for a primary over a rental, and if your home appreciates, you can use some equity for a rental in the future. I would also consider purchasing a multifamily (triplex or quad) with your friend, each live in one, and rent out the others. Win, win! 

@Carlos C. I think that is totally doable, especially with a larger house. You'll be an investor in no time! 

@Carlos C. 1000-1600 seems high for a bedroom. However, what you charge depends on a lot of factors such as parking, condition of the home, number of bedrooms, if the room is furnished, lease length, guest policy, etc. For a bedroom will a shared bathroom (with 1 -2 other people) the average is about 850-1000 for a nice room. For a bedroom with a private bathroom, you could probably get 1050-1200. However, if you are able to cover the cost of the house on your own, you can try to charge more than average and wait until you find great tenants. Let me know if you have any more questions! Will this be your first house hack?

Hi @JR Silva and @Joseph Vu I am an agent in Sacramento. Let me know if there you have any questions or if there is anything I can help you with. Feel free to reach out anytime. My number is (530) 558-5640. 

@Natasha B. Like Nathan said, a multi-family that you do not live in will require 20-25% down, so you will need to save a lot more before purchasing a property. Depending on where you live, $10,000 could be a sufficient down payment for a primary residence. 

If you quality, you should consider a conventional loan or an FHA loan. These types of loans will have much lower interest rates than a hard money lender. For example, typical rate right now for a conventional loan is about 3-3.5% (depending on financial status), but the interest rate on a hard money loan can be as high as 25-30%. Please message me if you want to talk in more detail about your options. Hope that helps!

@Simran Singh As far as I know that change is going to be around have more multi-family properties in SFH neighborhoods in order to provide more affordable housing. Here is a link if you would like more information. https://www.cityofsacramento.o...

Short answer, yes. You can put contingencies on the offer around inspections, appraisals,  financing, etc. If you do not put contingencies in the initial offer, you may lose you earnest money deposit for backing out. Make sure to have an agent/attorney look over any offers before you submit them if you are unsure of the process. The best way to do it is to run the numbers and make sure you are interested prior to writing the offer.