All Forum Posts by: Kyle Inbody

Anybody ever used a loan program that specializes in mobile homes, as in a short term loan for the park to buy a new home and then pay it off as it sells to the end buyer?

Bought my first small park (4 pads) and have one empty pad, I found a dealer with homes I like that can be delivered to the site. Looking at a 17 pad park as well with room to grow once I fill this spot.

Does any body have advice on where to sell or advertise a note on a mobile home. I have a mobile home I’m selling on payments. The title is in the homeowner and I hold a lein on the title. I’m thinking I want to sell the note (7,500 @ 3% interest with 24 month left)

I’d sell the note for a discount if I could cash out for about $6,500 or so. I’d like to cash out and put that cash into a small mobile home park I just bought. Any advice on how or where to advertise this note would be appreciated.

Soda Hacking

So while living in my househack I‘be been thinking of other ways to “hack” our expenses down and I thought I’d share the most creative one with you guys;

At work I drive a lot, like 4-6 hours a day around town. Often times my boss ask me to pick up lunch on my way back in and he Apple Pay’s me or gives me cash for his order. I’d say 90% of the time he wants a gas station pop, Dr. Pepper Cream Soda or Mt. Dew Baja Blast.

Now neither of these are normally on the shelf at the local grocery store but always at the gas station for $2+ each.

I saw my opportunity, I managed to find and purchase these in bulk numbers and keep them on my car so I give him his ordered soda pop at the gas station cost and pocket the difference to cover buying my own drinks. (He is aware but the convenience is worth it to him I guess) Luckily my wife happens to also love Dr. pepper Cream soda.

When looking at the numbers I broke it down. I can purchase cans for about $.29 each and bottles for $.50 each (but the bottles are never in stock and the cost of shipping would eat too much into it so it’s normally cans)

I “sell” the cans at $1 each or 2 for $1.50 and bottles for $2. Given about 4 drinks per week he buys off me at an average profit of $0.50 average per drink I make around $2 a week after expenses.

$8 per month is enough to buy 2 different 12 packs of my wife’s favorite soda pop for the month so for the little labor of picking up a few extra cases of pop and keeping them in my trunk we have effectively “soda hacked” our way to free pop!

Does anybody else have any creative “hacks” to cut down on your month to month expenses and luxuries?

@Jim K.I’m really likening use our house jack 1 bed 1 bath as a practice for backsplash but using what we already have is so tempting as I dont think I’ll use it anytime soon otherwise and it looks decent. (IMO)

I dont know yet, I’ll finish installing the cabinets and probably wait a week on the back splash before I get started. I think I’ll tear out some plaster too and run a 3 way switch for the under lighting cabinets to give a light switch at both kitchen entrances. I’ll be going back over the plaster anyways with a backsplash of some kind.

So after reading and considering everybody’s comments from Here and 2 face book groups I pulled the trigger. ( part of me was motivated by a lot of face-bookers saying I was crazy to think $1,000 would even be close and I wanted to prove to my self that self I could make it work and be reasonably nice/resistant )

Here are images of the cabinets we purchased. Full material cost came to $1,072. I already had a good bit of the supplies and There’s $110 rebate on its way back to me as we speak.

After going through the comments I figured I’d ask a few more questions and share my train of thought for the exercise.

1. Granite countertops

I opted not to go this route,

-I found scratch and dent countertops longer than I needed that I could trim off the damage all in for under $100.

-Since I do most work my self and these are not “high end” cabinets that will mostly likely need replaced one at at time over the years I want to be able to move the counter top myself and not need a crew.

2. Cheap cabinets.

- I was very satisfied with the face on these cabinets but they are particleboard in the rear, I plan on waterproofing by adding several coats of oil-based polyurethane inside and out and possibly linoleum liners on the bottom.

3. Over the range microwave

-there is not a space for a cabinet and microwave, (bulk head has Mechanical to the upper unit) doing the math I gain more cabinet space in those 36 inches then counter space lost to a microwave. Plus I can put the microwave anywhere.

The only items i don’t have purchased are the backsplash ($???) and hood vent ($69).

My questions to you,

1. Are there better ways to “tenant proof cabinets” with out buying solid wood?

2. Have you every considered tile board as a good back splash? below I have the counter top, cabinets color, floor, and a small of tile board that I have a lot of left over already in stock that I could use. It’s easily to clean and cheap to replace if needed.

Thanks again for all the input!

@Ben Zimmerman the material list came in just over 1,000 from Menards. The labor would be done by us with family.

I really like the Zillow idea for units, I’ll be sure to do that soon. For a couple only making 60K/ year I guess the 1000 just seems scary for an already functional kitchen. But in the long run it I think it might be worth it after reading your post.

Is it worth $1000?

In our duplex we are house hacking I absolutely hate the kitchen layout/ colors.

While cleaning and installing the dishwasher I found a work order and water bill from the 50s. the cabinets have been painted over a bunch in those 70 years and smell funky. There is also this terrible waste of space where the cabinets and counter go into a nook that can’t be cut into. (Stairs are on the other side)

We are considering ripping out the cabinets all-together and replacing with new. We would add a lazy Susan and L shape counter to fill in that nook with more useable counter space / storage along with the upper cabinets and a hood vent.

All in to buy, finish, and install the cabinets ourself along with a new backsplash, exhaust hood, and laminate counter top we’re looking at $1,000. I’ll reuse the stainless sink to save some money.

Is a $1,000 overhaul for a few extra cabinets and counter space worth it to you? Before we were house hacking the 600sq 1 bed/1 bath side of the duplex rented for $500-560. We installed new Vinyl plank flooring and renovated the entire bathroom for about 2K already. The other side (3bed 1 bath with a 2 car garage) already has a much better kitchen. Would there any bump in rent or is just going to be a cost of modernizing an old awkward spot if we do it?

I appreciate the opinions, I’m not sure if I want to pull the trigger or not.

Proposed layout Stove - left side of kitchen setup Right side of set up- awkward nook (you can see the new dishwasher/ flooring) Awkward nook Cheap plywood solution from previous owner

I’m currently looking and negotiating a price on an older duplex for my next house hack.

The issue I’m debating how to handle now is the utility situation. There are 2 gas meters, 2 electric meters, and 1 water meter.

The lower unit has the h20 heater hooked up to its gas. I can see this causing issues in the future when I move out since that tenant gets stuck with the water heating bill for both units.

What I’m thinking:

1: including water but putting in the lease a clause that any water bill over “X” will be spilt by the 2 units based upon occupants on the lease. (Ex- a Unit with 3 occupants would pay 3/4 of the overage and a unit with 1 occupant would pay 1/4)

2: keep the lower unit’s gas in my name and add a sub meter to the water heater and then send the lower unit a gas bill less the amount consumed by the water heater.

Or

Estimate usage on all gas and water bills then build it in the rent amount with a similar overage clause. ( I don’t like this idea as I want the tenants to know directly how much it cost to keep the windows open or crank the heat to 80, this is close to a University and I expect a lot first time renters to apply)

Does anybody have experience in including water with limits specified in the lease?

Has anybody tired sub metering a single utility in a similar fashion and sending the bill to the tenants?

There is limited room up stairs for an additional water heater and the way the plumbing is routed separating the water and adding another water heating will be extremely costly.

Thanks in advance for any ideas on the utility head ache!

Mary K. I had a few lenders tell me they wanted to see me graduated first or in a higher paying position. I was pre qualified right after I had my diploma but not until I had a secure job at the end of school that had long term potential.

Hello all,

So myself and my fiancé are looking at how to set up and manage our "House Hack" For this first unit I plan on going through first time home buy financing and renting the other units. We are trying to decide if we should handle everything in our name or set up an LLC to accept rent, pay the mortgage on our behalf, handle repairs/expenses, ect.

My fiancé should be completed with her real-estate license this month and hopes to build a career in home sales. We have heard plenty of agents say they run all of their expenses and income through an LLC for protection, if she was to set one up could "she" serve as the property manager and write off the expenses of repairs and mortgage / include rent income along with her other sales to simplify come tax time?

My last question, I also do a few side hustles but nothing structured yet. In this same LLC could (should) I run the income / expenses through to drive up our taxable income to help qualify for future mortgages. This way I could use pretax dollars (from her agent income too if she out performs my side gigs) for related truck expenses, home office, and deprecation.

I'm not sure how well it may be perceived to have an LLC handle property management, drone photography, storage / estate auction re-sales, and a Real Estate Agent but I like the idea of separating that from our other incomes and running a formal business that we both are share holders to boost our reportable income. I would look at using a S-LLC for each part of the business but I don't believe those are available in Ohio yet.

Thanks for reading and your opinions. Any input (even if it is not related to my ideas) is welcomed. I know I need to seek legal advice when we have a more firm plan in place and are better educated.