All Forum Posts by: Kyle A.

I have not yet but I may be doing one within the next year or so. There are a lot of rules you need to follow to do so but if you prefer you could also use a service that will help make sure you do it all correctly. You could contact Russ Gullo who specializes in 1031 exchanges in Buffalo. It's a great way to keep upgrading properties without having to pay any capital gains taxes after each sale in order to do so

Alex - most mortgage lenders will understand what you are trying to do and will request 2 years of financials showing your rents covering your mortgage to show that you have a favorable debt-to-income ratio. You should not have an issue being approved for another mortgage assuming you have good income, good credit, and the down payment.

I would suggest one of two paths: A) 1031 exchange to a nicer duplex/triplex/4plex or B) rent out your unit and buy another similar duplex. I would lean towards option "A" personally if you are going to live in it but that is totally up to you and what your standard of living is. I generally stick to the mid to higher end rentals which drastically increases your chances of having good tenants. Not a lot of good people with good jobs are looking to rent in the 100k price range apartments. They are out there but much harder to find. Lots of young professionals renting in Elmwood area for instance and I know a lot of people that do really well there by living in one of the units and renting the other. My one friend bought a place for 200k that's now worth around 400k plus he has been living rent/mortgage free in the meantime.

Good luck!

@Joshua Esplugas

You can buy a house in some rough areas on the East or West Side and make over a 20% return based on the numbers (assuming they actually pay you the rent) but is that a house that you want to own long term? You can buy a house on Elmwood and not make anywhere near 20% but wouldn't that be a much more desirable house that you would be proud to own and would continue to appreciate and be easier to rent to good people with good jobs who will pay on time and never give you problems?

You can make great cash flow (as many will probably brag or promise on this forum) on neglected houses run by horrible property managers and previously owned by absentee or out of state folks that should otherwise be torn down but that doesn't mean that's a house you would want to own long term. If you flip houses then you know how people cut corners by using cheap materials just to make it look nicer in the for sale/rent photos than it actually is. Don't get too caught up in the numbers. Walk the streets and find a well cared for house in a great neighborhood that you would want to live in as a renter and if the rent is comfortably higher than the operating expenses then you win. Good luck

Nice work, looks great! Can I ask where in South Buff this is? Your numbers are kind of hard to believe for a $135k house. I have 200k+ houses that don't rent for close to that much. Nice job keep it up

I have had a REALLY hard time finding good reliable contractors/handymen in Buffalo that won't rip you off or disappear for weeks on end. If you find someone please post your results.

I don't have any horror stories per se but any time I find someone reasonable they end up not being reliable or perhaps a bigger job comes along and they leave you stranded. When you have renters complaining about issues and you have contractors that leave you hanging then you get stuck in the middle trying to pick up the pieces.

Good luck to you!

Joe - if you want to house-hack you don't necessarily need a multi-family building to do so. My first place was a single family house with 4 other roommates. Rent by the room and split utilities. If you have a bunch of friends you would want to live with that would be the best way to start. Additionally, if you aren't private and don't mind a strange person in your house from time to time you can Airbnb a room in your house as well. We rented 1 of our rooms in college as a short term rental before Airbnb was even a thing.

As mentioned, the multi-family units in Buffalo are stupid expensive right now and there is a lot of competition. It seems like everyone started reading Biggerpockets and decided to buy one at the same time and now there are not many nice ones left (plenty of dumps in the ghetto though) so when a nice one becomes available it goes quick and often for cash. However there are tons of single family houses available and you will get better bang for your buck, lower down payment and financing costs, and potentially better resale since 99% of the market buys SFR.

Don't rule out a nice 4-6 bedroom house because it's not a duplex. Just another option for you if you aren't having any luck with multi's!

Jon - You are off to a good start so congrats on starting off on the right footing with your house-hack. My advice is to keep saving and get a nicer place and house-hack again. You say you are moving so I hope it's to another duplex. That's where I went wrong was that I thought I was doing well so I moved to an expensive single family house that was way more than I needed and it really slowed down my progress. If I could do it over again I would have moved to nicer and nicer multi-family homes (North Buff, Elmwood).

I would think twice about buying in the 45-50k price range. Who do you think rents houses like that? More often than not it's going to be people that are going to cause you headaches. The nicer the house the better the clientelle you can attract. There are good people in the low income price range but they are extremely rare, especially in this area.

Best of luck to you!

 Thirsty?

Hi Stephanie, welcome! - is your budget $60k total all in, or is that what you are looking to purchase for or is that your remodeling budget? I think you will have a hard time finding something in what would be considered a "good" neighborhood in that price range in Buffalo or Rochester. Prices in these areas have doubled in the past 5 years. Best of luck to you!

Do the first time home buyer program if they still offer that. It's free money. House hacking is the best way to start out at a young age. Just make sure you understand and appreciate all of the work that comes with maintaining a house. If you are in Buffalo for the long haul, you feel your job and pay are steady, and you feel ready to take on that responsibility then yes I think it's a great idea. Just be sure to buy in a nice area or you will have a really hard time finding good renters. If you feel like you have to settle for an undesirable area because of the high prices then maybe save up for another year. In investing, you make your $ by buying right so do your research. Good luck to you!